The USPS Inspector General claims the postal service could save as much as $2.3 billion a year by using part time employees to case and prepare mail for city letter carriers. The OIG arrived at this conclusion after comparing USPS work methods with those of FedEx and UPS.

Postal service management disagreed with the recommendation, pointing out that it was not possible under current collective bargaining agreements. The USPS did say that it is

currently working with NALC to examine how city delivery routes might be structured in the future. The parties are working on a test that will attempt to separate the casing and delivery functions to the extent possible while operating within the current work rules…

Management also indicated in a separate discussion that the Postal Service will pursue additional flexibility in the workforce and provided a target date of May 2012 for their ongoing test to separate the casing and delivery functions.

USPS OIG Management Advisory – Benchmarking Mail Distribution to Carriers

APWU President Cliff Guffey has been asked to testify about the union’s tentative Collective Bargaining Agreement before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, whose powerful chairman has publicly condemned the new agreement and said it is too generous to postal employees.

Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) said the April 5 hearing will “examine the sustainability and affordability of the postal workforce, in light of the USPS’s looming insolvency and poor financial outlook.” Contract renewals present the best chance for the USPS to find savings, Issa said, but the Tentative Agreement “looks like a missed opportunity.”

Rep. Dennis Ross (R-FL), chairman of the Subcommittee on the Federal Workforce, U.S. Postal Service and Labor Policy, also expressed “serious concerns” about postal employees’ pay.

The union president was undaunted. “Postal workers are part of the great American middle class. Political leaders should find ways to create new and better jobs – they should not try to knock ours down,” Guffey said.

“The Tentative Agreement is an example of the benefits of collective bargaining – even in difficult economic circumstances,” he added. “The proposed contract is good for postal workers and good for the USPS.

“The union’s main goals were to preserve jobs and to lessen the hardships associated with excessing. The Tentative Agreement will help accomplish those objectives. The USPS is seeking to reduce costs and increase workforce flexibility. The agreement will help management meet its objectives as well,” he said.

Not the First Time

The April 5 hearing will not be Rep. Issa’s first incursion into the APWU’s collective bargaining process. In September 2010, during negotiations, he wrote in a guest editorial in the Washington Times that, “No union has or ever will lobby for a layoff, so it’s up to USPS management and Congress to demand concessions.”

Citing the USPS’ financial difficulties, Issa said in September that the “postal lobby” would seek a “bailout” of the USPS, and he implied that employees are the source of the Postal Service’s financial difficulties.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Guffey said. “As we have pointed out many times, the requirement to pre-fund future retiree healthcare liabilities is the cause of the USPS economic crisis.

“This unique and unreasonable requirement of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) is pushing the Postal Service toward insolvency,” he said. No other federal agency or private company is required to make such payments, which cost the USPS more than $5 billion annually for 10 years.

“The Postal Service does not need a bailout, and no one has requested one – not the USPS, not its customers and not its unions,” Guffey added. “In truth, the USPS is bailing out the federal government.”

Two independent auditors have concluded that the Postal Service has overfunded its Civil Service retirement fund by $50 billion to $75 billion. If the USPS were permitted to apply those overpayments to the Postal Service’s future retiree healthcare obligations, the agency’s financial crisis would be resolved. The Federal Employees Retirement System is also overfunded by approximately $9 billion.

“Postal workers did not cause the Postal Service’s financial difficulties,” Guffey said, “but our Tentative Agreement has features that will help the Postal Service address them.

“Across the nation workers are being stripped of the right to collective bargaining,” he said. “We will not stand idly by and let the American dream slip away.”

In 2008 — the last time Americans faced a spike in the cost of gasoline — the Postal Service launched a television ad to let customers know that unlike the competition, USPS wasn’t going to add surcharges to its pricing to offset rocketing fuel charges.

Today, with uncertainty still surrounding fuel costs, USPS has brushed off its ad of 3 years ago and once again is airing it on national TV. It begins with a question: “With the rising price of fuel, guess which way shipping costs are going.” Anticipating consumer angst, the ad informs viewers “The Postal Service has no fuel surcharges.”

Gary Reblin, vice president, Domestic Products, knows rising fuel prices also are hitting shippers in the pocketbook (Link, 3/22). “Our competitors already have increased their pricing with fuel surcharges,” he said. “We want to work with customers, helping them get through this difficult period in exchange for their confidence and continued business long after fuel costs have stabilized.”

Reblin said USPS will do everything it can to encourage customers to continue shipping with USPS. “It worked in 2008, and it’ll work again in 2011,” he said.

via USPS News Link – March 31, 2011.

Edison, NJ and Los Angeles, CA – March 30, 2011 – 3i Infotech, a global information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company, and Zumbox, the leader in digital postal mail service, announced today a partnership to enable 3i Infotech clients to send electronic bills and other customer communications via Zumbox. Among other valuable benefits, the partnership will assist 3i Infotech clients in driving electronic bill adoption, promoting print suppression and cutting costs.

The partnership between 3i Infotech and Zumbox creates an especially compelling solution for utilities, insurance, financial services companies and others who need to accommodate changing preferences in how customers choose to receive and pay their bills. The relationship between the two companies is part of 3i Infotech’s expansion of its electronic billing and payment services, also announced today preceding the upcoming NACHA Payments conference on April 3-6 in Austin, TX.

"As consumer billing and payment preferences shift between paper, web and mobile methods, 3i Infotech is dedicated to helping companies manage this evolution while reducing costs, overhead and infrastructure requirements," said Kathy Hamburger, Chief Executive Officer and President, 3i Infotech, BPO & Developed Markets. "Zumbox’s unique approach of providing a central, digital mailbox will increase consumer adoption of online billing and assist our clients in moving more rapidly from paper to electronic communications."

Digital postal mail is an exact facsimile of paper mail, created from a diversion of the print stream before it reaches a large mailing system. Zumbox archives and presents mail to consumers in a secure, central online environment, instead of on paper. Zumbox has created a digital mailbox for every street address in the United States, connecting large transactional, financial and government mailers to consumer households for the protected, on-time delivery of postal mail online. Ultimately, Zumbox gives consumers increased flexibility in where and how they receive, manage and store their postal mail.

Zumbox will be offered to 3i Infotech customers through 3i Infotech’s Global Billing & Payments Center of Excellence (CoE). The CoE leverages the company’s deep domain expertise and global resources to best serve companies interested in optimizing their entire billing and payment lifecycle. The inclusion of Zumbox gives 3i Infotech customers a powerful tool in their drive to provide electronic billing options and reduce their use of paper bills, including an easy implementation process that allows billers to maintain their unique brand identity on their electronic documents.

"As the largest outsourced remittance processor and one of the largest billers in the US, 3i Infotech is a recognized leader in revenue chain optimization," said John Payne, CEO of Zumbox. "With this partnership, 3i Infotech can provide their clients with a valuable tool for reaching consumers through the Zumbox digital postal system, while also offering a clear path to paper suppression and postal cost alleviation."

About 3i Infotech

3i Infotech (www.3i-infotech.com) is a global information technology and business process outsourcing (BPO) company which provides technology solutions to customers in more than 50 countries across five continents. The company provides IT services and BPO to markets such as banking, financial services, insurance, government, manufacturing, retail, telecom, education, healthcare and utilities. 3i Infotech is a member of the FinTech 100 and the WorldBlu List of Most Democratic Workplaces.

About Zumbox

Zumbox is the world’s first paperless postal system. It connects large transactional, financial and government mailers to consumer households for the delivery and storage of digital postal mail via the Internet. Digital postal mail is an exact facsimile of paper mail created from a redirection of the print stream originally intended for large mailing systems. For every U.S. street address, there is a corresponding Zumbox – a digital mailbox – enabling mail and other content to be sent as digital files and received online. Zumbox represents a more cost-effective, convenient and environmentally responsible way to deliver postal mail. As a closed system of known, verified mailers and recipients, Zumbox provides bank-level security and complies with PCI, HIPAA and BITS security standards

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Expanding its line of postal services, Accenture (NYSE: ACN) today announced it will enable postal agencies worldwide to offer digital mail – a digital version of printed mail securely delivered to an online mailbox – to their customers to recapture lost revenue from a steady decline in mail volumes and to compete against a growing number of independent operators currently offering digital mail direct to consumers.

“With digital mail, postal agencies can now offer business mailers a choice on how they would like their mail delivered – hard copy, digital or both”

Accenture works with more than 20 postal clients around the globe, including some of the world’s largest posts, and its systems help deliver more than 50 percent of the world’s mail. According to the company’s research, presented today at the European Postal Conference in London, mail is estimated to decline by 44 percent by 2020 (165.2 billion pieces) compared to 2009 volumes (297.2 billion) for the 26 postal agencies included in its High Performance Post Study. While rates of mail decline will vary by geography, the postal industry should expect an average year-over-year decline of at least 5 percent for the foreseeable future.

The research also illustrates, however, that high-performing postal agencies embrace a revenue diversification strategy and are leveraging technology by offering digital mail, e-commerce and other electronic services. Accenture’s digital post services enables postal agencies to immediately compete in the digital market by converting, delivering and storing traditional mail, such as utility bills, as digital mail in a postal customer’s secure online mailbox. Mail recipients can organize and store their digital mail and, as with physical mail, postal customers will not have to pay for this service.

Unlike other players in the digital mail market, Accenture is partnering with postal agencies to help them offer digital post services to citizens. “Accenture is launching digital post services to help postal agencies expand their trusted relationship as the secure gateway between business, government and their valued customers,” said Brian Moran. Accenture’s lead executive for its global postal business. “We are focused on enabling global posts to leverage new technology to drive revenue and compete against a growing number of independent digital mail start-ups.”

Just like the cost of postage, postal agencies may charge fees for delivering mail digitally, creating an important new revenue stream. Accenture estimates that the majority of traditional mail can be converted to digital mail, making up for some of the revenue lost to decreased mail volumes.

“With digital mail, postal agencies can now offer business mailers a choice on how they would like their mail delivered – hard copy, digital or both,” said Moran. “This new multi-channel capability will help posts adapt to the changing technology environment by giving citizens the option of receiving mail in their letter box or on their smart phone.”

Important postal customers will also benefit. High-volume mailers, such as banks and utilities that opt for digital mail, can realize significant cost savings on paper, production and staff hours. They can offer consumers a choice while still being confident that their important correspondence is being delivered securely by the country’s official postal system.

Accenture is currently in discussion with several postal agencies to add digital post services to the portfolio of services it provides.

News release from the United States Attorney for the District of Minnesota:

A federal indictment, unsealed earlier today in St. Paul, charges a postal carrier with stealing approximately $4,000 in cash and gift cards from the mail she delivered.

The indictment, which was filed on March 16, 2011, charges Michelle Lynn Bressette, age 43, of Jordan, with one count of theft of mail by postal employee. The indictment was unsealed following Bressette’s initial appearance in federal court. The indictment alleges that from December of 2009 through October 21, 2010, Bressette, an employee of the Prior Lake Post Office, stole money and gift cards from the mail.

If convicted, Bressette faces a potential maximum penalty of five years in prison. All sentences will be determined by a federal district court judge. This case is the result of an investigation by the United States Postal Service-Office of Inspector General. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Deidre Y. Aanstad.

From the National Association of Postmasters of the United States:

NAPUS President Bob Rapoza and Director of Government Relations Bob Levi are talking with key Members of Congress and postal regulators concerning the Postal Service’s plans to amend postal regulations to streamline the Post Office closing and consolidation process. NAPUS is concerned about the impact the proposed changes would have on service to small and rural communities.

via NAPUS.

It has been a while since we last heard from the so-called “Consumer Postal Council”, the self-styled postal “watchdog” which is in reality a front for the radical libertarian lobbying group, the Lexington Institute. Lexington VP Don Soifer, who refers to himself as the “executive director” of the “Council” when he pontificates on postal matters, has written a rather odd opinion piece that was published in today’s Tennessean. In it Soifer comes up with a new talking point: the USPS is “ignoring the little guy”.

This is an interesting position for an organization funded not by “postal consumers”, but by big corporate sponsors; and which has been called “basically a front for defense contractors” by Forbes magazine.

Soifer contends that the USPS is harming the “little guy” by offering its Parcel Select service only to “big mailers”. Parcel Select allows shippers to drop packages close to their destinations, paying the USPS only for “last mile” delivery service:

In theory, everyone benefits. Local post offices don’t have to sort packages headed for all corners of the country. Businesses can save money on shipping by presorting their packages themselves and relying on consolidators to deliver them all to a few central locations. And shipping companies make money by delivering bulk packages more efficiently than the Postal Service could hope to do.

In short, parcel select is one of the best deals the Postal Service offers. But ordinary Americans — its household, monopoly consumers — aren’t eligible to get in on it.

The piece makes Soifer’s lack of knowledge about the postal service obvious (local post offices don’t “sort packages headed for all corners of the country”). More importantly, though, it just doesn’t make any sense.

In the first place, it’s difficult to see how Parcel Select would be of any use to the typical “postal consumer”. I’m not going to fly a thousand miles so I can “drop ship” my parcel and save a few pennies. More importantly, Soifer doesn’t seem to understand who receives those Parcel Select packages- postal consumers!

Soifer’s attempt to cloak his attack in populism ignores the fact that eliminating discounts for “big mailers” would in the end simply raise costs for their customers- the very consumers Soifer claims to defend.

via Postal Service ignores the little guy for corporate mailers | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.

Washington, DC – The Postal Regulatory Commission today issued its Annual Compliance Determination (ACD) assessing the financial and service performance of the Postal Service in fiscal year (FY) 2010.

The Postal Service’s financial situation continued to deteriorate in 2010, despite major reductions in costs. “Postal management and employees have done a commendable job in effectively adjusting to sudden volume declines due to the recent recession, but the Postal Service is at risk of insolvency and projects in its Integrated Financial Plan for FY 2011 that it could end the year with a negative cash balance of $2.7 billion,” said Commission Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway. Read the rest of this entry »

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has produced a thorough and comprehensive review of the Postal Service proposal to move to a five day per week delivery schedule. We are pleased to see they agree that the Postal Service is likely to achieve significant cost savings if this change were to be effected and that much of its success depends on how efficiently it is implemented. We agree and believe that having completed a lengthy planning process; we are prepared to make that happen.

We are aware of the concerns certain stakeholders have expressed to GAO. We consulted extensively with our customers as we developed our operating plans. They can be assured that any decision to go to a five-day schedule will carefully balance our universal service responsibility and our statutory duty to operate in an efficient manner in light of prevailing volume, cost and revenue trends. Consideration of such matters will help ensure the financial stability of the Postal Service well into the future.