USPS Press release summarizing today’s meeting of the Board of Governors:

WASHINGTON, DC — As the current economic climate continues to contribute to a decrease in mail volume, and with no reversal in the trend in sight, the Postal Service reported today it expects to end the current fiscal year with a volume decline of nine billion pieces. The end-of-year financial results will be released in November.

At today’s Board of Governors meeting, Postmaster General John Potter said the magnitude of the loss in mail requires the Postal Service to take steps now to shore up its business, which it is doing by reducing work hours. “While we deal with the economic challenges, customers and service to our customers will always be number one on our agenda, it is why we exist, it is our franchise,” said Potter.

In other financial news, the Board approved a preliminary Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation request totaling $144.6 million. This annual request to Congress includes $115.6 million in reimbursement for free services the Postal Service is required to provide, including free mail for blind persons and for overseas voting. The request also includes reconciliation adjustments for previous years based upon final audited mail volumes. In addition, the request includes $29 million for the latest annual installment from the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993. This act requires the Postal Service to be reimbursed for services it performed in 1991 through 1993 and for shortfalls in the reimbursement of costs the Postal Service incurred processing and delivering certain nonprofit mail from 1994 through 1998.

Savings and Service Improvements from New Program

The Board today approved funding for the next phase of a letter recognition improvement program that further automates mail operations, resulting in reduced error rates and manual sorting costs. Phase two of the Distribution Quality Improvement program goes beyond relying solely on the information that is contained on a piece of mail, which is sometimes inaccurate or incomplete. The new program combines information from commercially available name and address databases to match and resolve address conflicts. The system will generate the correct 11-digit barcode, enabling the mail piece to be sorted to the appropriate order of delivery automatically, avoiding several downstream manual handlings that are required using today’s letter recognition systems. Eight letter recognition improvement programs have been implemented since 1996, resulting in improved customer service as more mail is barcoded and processed electronically.

U.S. Postal Inspection Service Helps Reduce Identity Crimes

The Board also learned more about the role the U.S. Postal Inspection Service plays in a new system that is helping the law enforcement community crack down on identity crimes. The National Identity Crimes Law Enforcement network uses programming and other computer services provided by Postal Inspection Service to help law enforcement identify theft patterns, search for long-term trends in identity theft and provide for a central repository of identity crimes-related information. Authorities are now able to learn immediately whether a particular piece of identification has been reported stolen or used in the course of a crime.

The database was designed by local, state and federal criminal investigators participating in a work group, organized and led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The Postal Inspection Service utilizes the network to reduce identity crimes committed by mail. A recent Federal Trade Commission study found that only two percent of identity theft victims who knew how their information was compromised said it was obtained through the mail.

In other action, the Board:

* Approved Vision 2013, the Postal Service’s new 5-year strategic plan. The plan focuses primarily on customers — meeting their needs by creating new value through the mail and generating profitable revenue for the Postal Service in an increasingly challenging environment. Vision 2013 will be available on usps.com on October 1.
* Authorized the purchase and renovation of an existing 28,500-square-foot building in San Francisco to serve as the new Townsend Carrier Annex to support present and future delivery requirements.

A posting on the NAPS member forum by NAPS Secretary Treasurer Jay Killackey verifies what most readers probably assumed from yesterday’s NAPUS hotline article. The article said that NAPUS President Dale Goff would be meeting with PMG Jack Potter tomorrow. The NAPS posting confirms that the PMG will be meeting with the heads of all of the postal unions and management associations.

Speculation on possible outcomes from the meeting center on a restructuring of the organization, and other cost cutting initiatives. The USPS Board of Governors is scheduled to hold its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday and Thursday.

Date and Time: Tuesday, September 23, 2008, at 12: 30 p.m.; and Wednesday, September 24, 2008, at 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m.

Place: Washington, DC, at U.S. Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW., in the Benjamin Franklin Room.

Status: September 23–12:30 p.m.–Closed; September 24–8:30 a.m.–Open; September 24–11 a.m.–Closed.

Matters to be Considered:

Tuesday, September 23 at 12:30 p.m. (Closed)

1. Financial Update.

2. Fiscal Year 2009 Integrated Financial Plan Briefing.

3. Fiscal Year 2009 Goals and Performance Assessment.

4. Product Pricing.

5. Strategic Issues.

6. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues.

7. Governors’ Executive Session–Discussion of prior agenda items and Board Governance.

Wednesday, September 24 at 8:30 a.m. (Open)

1. Minutes of the Previous Meetings, May 6-7, and July 28-29, 2008.

2. Remarks of the Chairman of the Board.

3. Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO.

4. Committee Reports.

5. Financial Update.

6. Preliminary Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriation Request.

7. Capital Investments.

a. Distribution Quality Improvement (DQI) Program.

b. San Francisco, California, Townsend Carrier Annex.

8. Vision 2013–Five-Year Strategic Plan.

9. Board of Governors Bylaw Amendments.

10. National Identity Crimes Law Enforcement Network.

11. Tentative Agenda for the November 12-13, 2008, meeting in Washington, DC.

Wednesday, September 24 at 11:00 a.m. (Closed)–If Needed

1. Continuation of Tuesday’s closed session agenda.

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Postal Service announced that mail volume was down 3.0 percent, or 1.7 billion pieces, for the first quarter of fiscal 2008, according to preliminary financial results presented today to the Postal Service Board of Governors.

First-Class Mail volume decreased 3.9 percent and Standard Mail decreased 2.6 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2007.

Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President H. Glen Walker attributed the declining mail volume to “disturbing trends” in the overall U.S. economy.

“Unfortunately, two key sectors of the economy — finance and housing — suffered a downturn in the first quarter, and they’re both heavy users of the mail,” said Postmaster General John Potter.

Net income for the first quarter is estimated at $672 million on revenue of $20.4 billion.

“Although revenue is higher than in the same quarter last year, due to the price increase last May, it is $500 million less than expected,” Potter said. “We’re working to offset the disappointing revenue with cost reductions and new strategies for growth.”

Final first-quarter financial results will be released in February.

First Quarter Service Scores

National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail hit all-time first-quarter highs in two of the three categories the Postal Service tracks. National overnight service was 96 percent on-time – a first for three quarters in a row. Two-day service was 93 percent on-time. Three-day performance was 88 percent, a two-point improvement over the same period last year.

“These are excellent service scores for the first quarter,” said Potter, ”especially given winter weather conditions and our busiest mailing season.”

First-Class Mail performance is measured independently by IBM Global Business Services. The process measures First-Class Mail from the time it is deposited into a collection box until it is delivered to a home or business.

Other Board Action

The Board today approved three facility projects: expansion of the processing and distribution centers in West Sacramento, CA, and Providence, RI, and the purchase and renovation of an existing building and site to serve as the Perris, CA, Delivery Distribution Center.

The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, DC, at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on Nov. 14-15, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the Board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 15 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:

Thursday, Nov. 15 at 8:30 a.m.

1. Minutes of the previous meeting, Sept. 24-26, 2007.

2. Remarks of the Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board (Jim Miller and Alan Kessler).

3. Remarks of the Postmaster General and CEO John Potter.

4. Committee reports.

5. Quarterly Report on Service Performance (Delores Killette, Consumer Advocate and Vice President).

6. Consideration of Fiscal Year 2007 Audited Financial Statements (Governor Katherine Tobin and Glen Walker, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President).

7. Tentative agenda for the Dec. 10-11, 2007, meeting in Washington, DC.

The free market has spoken! The Cato Institute book “Free the Mails”, which featured an essay by Bush appointed BOG Chairman James C. Miller III advocating the privatization of the US Postal Service, apparently didn’t exactly fly off the shelves when it was published in 1988. A check of the Cato Institute’s online bookstore shows that there are still copies gathering dust there nineteen years later, even though the price has been slashed to just three bucks! And if you think that’s still too much to pay, you can pick up a copy on Amazon for just sixty three cents. It appears that in the marketplace of ideas, postal privatization has been judged practically worthless…

USPS Governor Mickey Barnett earned a brief mention in Sunday’s New York Times coverage of the unfolding scandal invoving the Bush Administration’s attempts to fire US Attorneys who had not been vigorous enough in their pursuit of Democratic politicians. See also the mention in Joe Monahan’s New Mexico Politics blog.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Postal Service™ Board of Governors today authorized the purchase of 5,856 new carrier route vehicles. The vehicles will replace existing Postal Service-owned right-hand drive (RHD) vehicles used on city routes that will then be redeployed to rural routes.

The purchase will conclude a three-part acquisition plan to provide 15,000 Postal Service-owned RHD vehicles to rural routes, a result of an interest arbitration decision involving the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association. The contract is expected to be awarded next month following a competitive evaluation. Deployment of the RHD vehicles to rural routes is set to occur from August 2007 to September 2008. In addition to fulfilling the interest arbitration decision requirements, these RHD vehicles will improve safety by providing easier access to curb line mailboxes and better maneuverability.

In other business, the governors approved an increase in the price of the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp from 45-cents to 55-cents, to take effect at the same time as proposed new First-Class Mail rates currently pending before the Postal Regulatory Commission. Semipostal stamps are First-Class Mail postage stamps that are issued and sold by the Postal Service at a price above the First-Class Mail single-piece first-ounce rate to raise funds for designated causes. Since 1998, the Postal Service has raised more than $53 million for breast cancer research through the sale of this semipostal stamp.

Also at today’s meeting, James Miller was reelected chairman and Alan Kessler was reelected vice chairman of the Board. The Board also welcomed Thurgood Marshall, Jr, to his first Board meeting. Marshall was appointed a governor by President Bush on December 15 for a term that expires December 8, 2011.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service will meet in Washington, D.C., at Postal Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant Plaza, SW, on Jan. 9-10, 2007. The public is welcome to observe the board’s open session, scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Jan. 10 in the Ben Franklin Room on the 11th floor. The Board is expected to discuss the following items:

1. Minutes of the previous meeting, Dec. 5-6, 2006.

2. Remarks of Postmaster General and CEO John E. Potter.

3. Committee reports.

4. Consideration of Board Resolution on Capital Funding (Chairman James Miller).

5. Consideration of Annual Report on Government in the Sunshine Act Compliance (Chairman James Miller).

6. Fiscal Year 2006 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations, including the Preliminary Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Performance Plan – GPRA (Chairman James Miller).

7. Mail Visibility, Seamless Acceptance and Payment (Pritha Mehra, Manager, Marketing Technology and Channel Management and Gary Reblin, Manager, Intelligent Mail, Planning and Standards)

8. Consideration of the Price of Semipostal Stamps (David Failor, Executive Director, Stamp Services).

9. Capital Investment – 5,856 Carrier Route Vehicles (Engineering Vice President Walt O’Tormey).

10. Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors.

11. Tentative Agenda for the March 28-29, 2007, meeting in Washington, D.C.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 6 - Technology that successfully boosted postal efficiencies in the processing, distribution, and delivery of letter mail will soon be applied to the sorting of what the Postal Service refers to as “flats” — large envelopes, magazines, catalogs, and circulars.

Known as the Flats Sequencing System (FSS) program, the initiative approved today by the Postal Service Board of Governors allows the agency to move forward with plans to employ sophisticated equipment to sort flat-mail pieces for letter carriers, who now must manually sequence this mail before leaving the office for their routes. “Using technology to sort flat mail into the order of delivery for letter carriers will increase efficiency in the office and allow carriers to begin delivering to their customers earlier in the day,” said Walt O’Tormey, vice president, Engineering. “The Postal Service experienced significant benefits in the 1990s by automating the processing and sequencing of letter mail, and we hope to extend these improvements to the processing of flats.”

The FSS equipment is designed to sequence flat mail at a rate of approximately 16,500 pieces per hour. Scheduled to operate 17 hours per day, each machine will be capable of sequencing 280,500 pieces per day to more than 125,000 delivery addresses. Phase I of the program calls for an initial order of 100 FSS machines to be deployed to 33 postal facilities beginning in the summer of 2008.

A prototype FSS was installed earlier this year at the Indianapolis, IN, Mail Processing Annex, where it was tested sorting mail in delivery sequence for carriers in that area. A full-size pre-production machine will be installed at the Dulles, VA, mail processing facility, where it will operate six days a week for one year (August 2007 to July 2008).

As this test proceeds, the Postal Service will study and measure the system’s effect on downstream transportation, logistics, work methods, and other long lead-time activities required to support deployment in 2008. ”Delivery remains our largest cost, accounting for 43 percent of all expenses,” said O’Tormey. ” That, combined with costs to serve almost two million new addresses each year, means we must pursue every opportunity to improve our efficiency and the service we provide to our customers.”

In other action, the Board of Governors approved a fiscal year 2008 appropriation request totaling $153.4 million. This annual request to Congress, as provided under current law, includes $83.5 million in reimbursement for free services the Postal Service is required to provide, including free mail for blind persons and for overseas voting. This appropriations request also includes reconciliation adjustments for previous years based upon final audited mail volumes, which are $24.9 million for fiscal year 2005 and $16 million for fiscal year 2006. In addition, the request includes $29 million for the latest annual installment from the Revenue Forgone Reform Act of 1993.

Under current law, the Postal Service is also authorized to request partial reimbursement for the costs incurred in providing universal service. However, the Postal Service has not requested funds for this purpose since fiscal year 1982.

Also at its meeting today, the Board approved the Postal Service Fiscal Year 2006 Annual Report. The report, available online later this month, highlights USPS’s “24-Hour Clock” — 700,000 men and women of the Postal Service keeping the mail in constant motion to provide the service that customers depend on and trust.