More Than 800 Million Pieces of Mail Expected Monday

WASHINGTON — Monday, Dec. 20, marks the Postal Service’s busiest mailing day of the year with more than 800 million pieces of mail expected to enter the system. This represents a 40 percent increase in the average daily volume of 559 million pieces of mail.

“There’s still time to mail greeting cards and ship presents,” said Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe. “If customers get their cards and packages to us by Tuesday, Dec. 21, we’ll get them delivered by Christmas.”

Dec. 20 is the recommended deadline for sending greeting cards and holiday letters to arrive in time for Christmas. Dec. 21 is the recommended deadline for sending packages using Priority Mail. For those last-minute shoppers and procrastinators, the Postal Service recommends Dec. 22 as the last day to ship packages using Express Mail.

Customers can skip the trip to the Post Office altogether and ship online using the Postal Service’s website, usps.com. Using Click-N-Ship, customers can print shipping labels and pay for postage. The popular Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes virtually eliminate the need for a scale to weigh the package.

“Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes and usps.com offer the best shipping solutions for the holidays,” said Donahoe. “If the gift fits, it ships, for one low rate to anywhere in the country. Go online, create the shipping label and we’ll pick up your packages for free. You can even pay for your postage online.”

Customers also may request free package pickup online at usps.com. The Postal Service will pick up packages during regular mail delivery the next business day — and, unlike with other shipping companies, there is no fee for this service.

Another way customers can save time during the holiday shipping rush is by using Automated Postal Centers (APCs). Just as an ATM is a virtual bank, the APC is a virtual, stand-alone Post Office. The APC does everything short of face-to-face transactions ― dispensing stamps, weighing packages and calculating postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Parcel Post items.

The US Postal Service will introduce its previously announced “Critical Mail” service next month. The service will only be available to mailers who commit to mailing at least 5,000 pieces a year:

This new offering is an attractive marketing tool that will help companies and organizations attract and retain customers. Critical Mail will travel in the automation mail stream, a proven method for fast, consistent time-in-transit delivery performance.

To qualify, customers must have a customer commitment agreement with the Postal Service and mail 5,000 or more Critical Mail letters and/or flats during a calendar year. Critical Mail is charged one price across all destination zones regardless of weight — $3.50 for letters and $4.25 for larger flat-sized envelopes.

To sweeten the Critical Mail deal, optional electronic Delivery Confirmation service, which allows customers to confirm delivery, is included for free.

All pieces must be automation compatible, which means letters cannot exceed 3 ounces or ¼ of an inch thickness and flats cannot exceed 13 ounces or ¾ of an inch thickness.

USPS-produced Critical Mail envelopes, which have an attractive design that drives an “open-first” behavior, must be used. The envelopes are available to authorized customers only by calling USPS Expedited Packaging Supplies at 1-800-610-8734. Pre-orders for Critical Mail packaging start on Dec. 13, 2010, and order shipments begin Dec. 27.

via MailPro – Volume 4 Number 6 -November/December 2010.

The US Postal Service’s philatelic site, BeyondThePerf.com has announced that all of the USPS’s 2011 commemoratives will be “Forever” stamps, good for the first class letter rate forever:

Now, we’re pleased to announce that the entire 2011 commemorative program will join the Forever ranks. This benefits the Postal Service as well as our customers. Rather than incur the expense of destroying unsold stamps after a rate change, we can internally adjust the value — keeping our stamps in circulation until they run out.

via Beyond the Perf Special Update.

The APWU and the Postal Service have agreed to a freeze on excessing while contract negotiations continue, union President Cliff Guffey has announced. “Throughout the bargaining process, the APWU has sought to negotiate a contract that would protect jobs and lessen the pain of excessing for our members. We are pursuing those goals,” he said.

“In the meantime, the moratorium on excessing is a demonstration of good faith that will make the holidays a lot brighter for many of our members,” Guffey said. “The freeze will remain in effect as long as bargaining continues, and will apply to excessing outside of a craft or installation.”

Such excessing was imminent in hundreds of locations, and would have affected thousands of employees. The excessing will be halted at all sites while bargaining goes on, the union president said.

“Union negotiators will persevere in our efforts to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement that meets our long-term goals,” Guffey added. “We have been working diligently to reach an agreement that will benefit postal workers and the Postal Service. We will continue our efforts until we reach a settlement – or it becomes clear that an agreement cannot be reached. If we conclude that a contract is not within our grasp, we are prepared to proceed to arbitration.

“One of our top priorities is to restore work that has been contracted out or assigned to supervisory personnel. This would bring stability to APWU members who have suffered severe hardships due to long-distance reassignments caused by excessing,” he said.

“The proposals we have submitted to achieve this objective also would benefit the Postal Service,” Guffey said. “Our proposals would save the USPS money, because our members can perform these duties more efficiently and less expensively.”

In addition to job security and alleviating the pain of excessing, the parties are discussing wages, benefits and issues related to workforce structure.

Mediation, Arbitration

The contract was originally scheduled to expire Nov. 20, but the union and management extended the deadline. The 2006-2010 Collective Bargaining Agreement will remain in effect until a new agreement is reached through negotiation, mediation, or arbitration.

Under the terms of the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, if the union and management fail to reach agreement on a successor contract and do not agree on an alternate procedure, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) appoints a mediator. If a settlement is not reached within 60 days of the expiration of the contract, both parties submit all outstanding issues to binding arbitration.

If arbitration becomes necessary, the APWU will appoint an arbitrator, as will the USPS. The two party-appointed arbitrators will work with a neutral arbitrator to ensure that each side’s interests are clearly understood.

“The APWU will continue our efforts to negotiate a contract that benefits postal workers and the Postal Service,” Guffey said. “I ask union members for their continued support as this process unfolds.”

via APWU, USPS Announce Freeze on Excessing; Parties Agree to Moratorium as Talks Continue.

From USPS News Link:

The Postal Service recently marked the third anniversary of its first fully-operational Flats Sequencing System (FSS) at the Dulles, VA, Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC) — a milestone in the way the Postal Service sorts flats.

Each FSS can sort mail in delivery point sequence (DPS) at a rate of 16,500 pieces an hour, or 280,500 pieces per day to more than 125,000 delivery addresses — allowing letter carriers to start delivering mail earlier in the day.

The first FSS arrived at the Dulles facility Nov. 30, 2007, and sorted flats for the Reston, VA, Carrier Annex — the first delivery office in the nation to receive its flat mail completely in DPS. Today the Dulles P&DC has four FSS machines, processing mail for 95 ZIP codes assigned to 51 delivery units.

“FSS processed 5.6 million pieces last week,” said Isaac Cronkite, Dulles P&DC acting senior plant manager. “The machines set records for weekend and monthly processing in November.”

FSS technology also has helped the Northern Virginia District reduce costs. The district has eliminated 150 letter carrier routes, reduced letter carriers’ base delivery time by more than 400,000 hours each year and lowered rural carriers’ delivery time by more than 75,000 hours annually. Reducing routes produced additional savings by making it possible to reassign long life vehicles to rural carrier routes.

“FSS has removed a significant number of workhours and we continue to see improvements weekly,” said Northern Virginia District Manager Michael Furey. “These savings will allow us to pay for the machines quickly.”

The Postal Service plans to have 100 FSS machines deployed and operational at 47 locations nationwide by the summer of 2011. Currently about 20 machines are fully operational at eight sites.

The US Postal Service has announced early closing hours for most offices on Christmas Eve, Friday December 24. In most areas, only a handful of larger offices will remain open after noon. Details vary locally, so check with your post office, call 1-800-ASK-USPS, or check the local USPS news page for your state at usps.com.

National Association of Letter Carrier’s President Fred Rolando has written members of the House of Representatives, urging that a proposed 2 percent “payroll tax holiday” be extended to letter carriers and other federal employees still covered under the Civil Service Retirement System. Those employees are not covered by Social Security, and would not benefit from the pending 2% temporary cut in Social Security withholding.

In the letter, Rolando tells the representatives that not giving CSRS employees a 2% temporary reduction in their pension contributions would be unfair: “In the interest of maintaining equity among the federal workforce, CSRS employees should have a one-year reduced pension contribution so they too can benefit from the compromise struck between both parties. To treat the most senior federal workers differently would simply be unjustifiable.”

NALC President’s letter to Congress.

The US Postal Service filed formal “8-K” notifications with the PRC of two of its recent executive changes. According to the filing, Steven Kearney, Senior Vice President, Customer Relations, is “no longer an executive officer as that term is defined in the rules adopted under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934″. As we noted last week, Kearney retains his previous title, but no longer reports directly to the PMG, and was not included in the new PMG’s “Executive Leadership Team”.

The same form 8-K advised the PRC that Eastern Area VP Megan Brennan would be the USPS’s new Chief Operating Officer. It also noted that “Ms. Brennan will receive a payment of $25,000 to help cover relocation costs.”

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers

Can you imagine the backlash if the USPS tried to pull off something like this?

Australia Post today announced it has purchased payment gateway company, SecurePay as part of its strategy to expand its online services. SecurePay offers commercial organisations, utilities, local government and e-merchants secure Business to Business and Business to Consumer payment services via the internet, phone, or custom software applications.

Managing Director and CEO Ahmed Fahour said, “This acquisition assists with our growth in the digital world as we move to offer everything we do in the physical world, digitally.”

“There will be no immediate change to current business arrangements for SecurePay and it will continue to operate day-to-day as a standalone entity under Australia Post ownership, led by the existing management team of CEO Rob McIntyre, Sales and Marketing Manager Ric Henderson and General Manager Payments Richard Mann.

“Acquiring SecurePay strengthens Australia Post’s capability in offering business and government customers their own online payments channel and SecurePay capability in “shopping cart” payments also positions Australia Post for the rapid growth of ecommerce in Australia.”

Australia Post acts as an agent in the physical world for 750 business and government agencies. This acquisition enables Australia Post to offer business and government customers an online payment service delivered through their own website and with their own branding. This complements our existing Australia Post branded online payment channel – Postbillpay. Read the rest of this entry »

From WITI Milwaukee:

The mail carrier who delivers to one building on Silver Spring Dr. in Whitefish Bay exchanged small talk with a woman on his route and offered a favor. She said, “He said that he’d go and get the mail from the P.O. Box for me and that he’ll knock on the door when he’s back with the mail.”

The mail carrier returned and knocked on the door. The woman says, “He burst into the door with the mail, except this time he’s completely nude. No clothes whatsoever. The only thing he said was surprise, and it freaked me out so I screamed and yelled. I yelled at him and told him to leave with my eyes half closed.”

After slamming the door behind the mail carrier, the woman called police. She says, “What scared me even more was that he didn’t leave after he stepped outside the suite. He continued to knock on the door several time. After a while, it got progressively louder and louder.”

The mail carrier left before police arrived, but they did find him and cited him for lewd and lascivious behavior. The United States Postal Service is investigating this, and issued a statement saying in part, “Once the investigation is complete, appropriate action will be taken if needed.”

Full story with video report: Mail Carrier: Whitefish Bay mail carrier surprises woman with nude delivery – WITI.

And there’s more on the story at Whitefishbaynow.com :

The 52-year-old Fox Point man, who was arrested at the North Shore Post Office, 5600 Lydell Ave., on Dec. 9, admitted he had delivered the mail completely naked and that he was sorry and it was a stupid thing to do.

The man said he told an employee in that office that he was going to come back naked to deliver mail because she seemed “stressed out” and he wanted to cheer her up and “make her laugh.”

He said at that time she dared him to do it.

The employee denied “daring him or encouraging him” in any way but she also said she didn’t think he intended to harm her.