Postal News for February 27, 2007

If you had to judge solely on what has been published in the general press regarding the impact of the Postal Service's proposal for and the Postal Regulatory Commission's recommendations regarding new rates, you'd have to conclude that the creation of "the Forever stamp" has been the cat's meow. It's been a hoot to see how editors across the nation have sought to characterize this news, but this headline absolutely takes the cake: "A Stamp As Durable As Diamonds." Puh-lease! Gimme a break!

The Financial Times has reported that "Royal Mail is to call for a 6p rise in first and second class stamp prices under a radical relaxation of regulatory controls the state-owned postal operator will argue is necessary to its survival. Businesses would also lose the legal right to have franked mail delivered to every address in the UK according to the proposals, which Royal Mail will this week put to Postcomm, its regulator. Royal Mail wants this “universal service obligation” (USO) to apply to stamped mail only. The operator is also calling for an end to all regulatory controls on bulk business mail, such as lucrative junk mailings."

The New York Post has reported that "Cops have disconnected an identity-theft ring that brazenly snagged $300,000 worth of popular and pricey Sidekick cellphones, and then dispatched them around Brooklyn via crooked UPS drivers, The Post has learned. The scam unraveled after United Parcel Service noticed a large number of the phones - made famous when an Internet hacker got into Paris Hilton's and stole her stored celebrity numbers - were all tracked back to the same driver's route, authorities said."

Multichannel Merchant has reported that:

• Postmaster General John Potter’s challenge to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail 50% by 2010 appears headed in the right direction. During the Feb. 21 Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee meeting, Potter announced that the U.S. Postal Service plans to revise the agency’s Move Update rules to include advertising mail and trim the amount of time given for address updates from six months to three months.

• Building a database of business prospects that have opted in to hear more about your product, company, or industry provides a group of people that are most likely to convert into customers.

The Times has reported that "Royal Mail has left it too late to become an international business, the chief executive of its main rival said yesterday. Peter Bakker, head of TNT, the Dutch postal business, said that it would be difficult for Royal Mail to catch up after years of expansion by other operators such as his own company, Fed-Ex and DHL. “It is probably too late for them now. If you went back to 1985, everyone would have said that Royal Mail was the best mail business. The Government should have allowed privatisation then,” he said."

According to The Guardian, "The biggest private post competitor to the Royal Mail is ready to roll out a door-to-door letter delivery system in cities across the UK, bringing staff in an orange uniform shoulder to shoulder with postmen and women dressed in the familiar blue and red. TNT of the Netherlands said it would take a final decision over the next couple of months when it had gained final data from its trials in Glasgow and Manchester but was now "hopeful" that it would proceed with its plans for the biggest ever challenge to Royal Mail's position."

The American Postal Workers Union has told its members that "The APWU — along with individual customers and small businesses — achieved a significant victory Feb. 26, when the Postal Regulatory Commission announced its recommended decision on a USPS request to increase rates: The PRC rejected the Postal Service’s proposed rate structure, and instead endorsed an APWU suggestion to increase postage for individual first-class letters to only 41 cents, instead of 42 cents as the Postal Service requested."

PostCom Members!! The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. This one provides a summary of the PRC's recommended decision and charts that show the percentage rate increases recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission for key classes, subclasses, and services. PLEASE NOTE THAT AS OF MARCH 1 THE NAME AND PASSWORD NEEDED TO GAIN ACCESS TO THE RESERVED AREAS ON THIS SITE WILL CHANGE. ACCESS WILL BE PROVIDED TO MEMBERS WHOSE 2007 DUES HAVE BEEN PAID.

The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued its recommended decision (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) regarding PRC Docket No. R2006-1. The PRC has approved the Postal Service's request for the creation of a "forever stamp." The PRC recommended rates that are either equal to or below those requested by the USPS, while still providing the Postal Service with sufficient revenue to meet all its needs. The PRC has recommended a 2 cents rather than 3 cents increase in the price of a First-Class stamp. The new First-Class Mail stamp will be 41 cents. The Commission adopts the Postal Service's proposal for Standard Mail shape-based rates.

The PRC's press book is available on this site.
The summary of the Postal Regulatory Commission's R2006 rate decision has been posted on this site.
Also posted on this site are some key quotes from the PRC's recommended decision.

Here are the rate charts as they appear in the PRC's recommended decision.

PostCom members!! Here are some charts that show the percentage rate increases recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission for key classes, subclasses, and services.

• First-Class Mail

• Address Correction Service & Confirm Service

• Standard Mail Letters and Flats

• Standard Mail NFMs

• Standard Mail Enhanced Carrier Route

• Standard Mail Parcels

• Nonprofit Standard Mail Letters and Flats

• Nonprofit Enhanced Carrier Route

• Nonprofit Standard Mail NFMs

• Nonprofit Standard Parcels

• Bound Printed Matter Single-Piece

• Bound Printed Matter Presort

• Bound Printed Matter Dropship

• Media Mail

• Business Reply Mail

To compare these recommended rates with those proposed by the Postal Service, please refer to the charts posted elsewhere on this site.

ElectricNews.net has reported that "SmartCentric is to upgrade the software of An Post's PostPoint service which allows consumers to make electronic payments in local shops."

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette has reported that "Bank of America this month announced that beginning in March customers who have cellular Internet access can use their phones to pay bills, transfer funds, review account balances and perform other online banking chores. The bank will join Wachovia as the two major financial institutions offering online banking via cell phone. Such services would augment the growing popularity of Internet banking, which is used by an estimated 42 million households nationwide. Bank of America’s free service will be launched next month in Tennessee, then rolled out nationwide later this year."

Al Bawaba has reported that "Continuing its efforts to offer high quality services to customers, Empost, the UAE’s national courier company announced the launch of its Cargo and Logistics service offering air, land and sea freight operations through the Logistics division of Empost. This service will enable Empost to expand into a higher degree of customer services and will surely improve the level of proficiency."

According to Business Week, "UPS's innovation is an example of how technology can help companies capture institutional knowledge about their customers. Before, when a truck loader or driver walked out the door, the package- loading techniques or route tips they'd developed over the years usually walked out with them. Now that knowledge is accessible in a central system. That eases the burden on substitute drivers and shortens the training time for new ones, lessening the chances of a lapse in customer service. There's no question the new system has enabled UPS to run its routes more efficiently. In November alone the company's drivers logged 3 million fewer miles than they did the year before."

As Australian IT has noted, "Australia Post has strictly mandated delivery timetables but, until last year, the way letters and parcels passed through most of its vast network was all but invisible. To solve the problem the postal service turned to radio frequency identification (RFID), a technology it had worked with on international mail runs, Australia Post network services performance manager Alan Smith says. "We were looking at our existing mail monitoring methodology and how that had gone over the years and, as part of our involvement in the International Post Corporation, we had worked with RFID," Smith says. "We saw the opportunity to apply that to our domestic mail services."

The Warsaw Business Journal has reported that "TP is one of the first big customers of Polish Post (PP) to defy the latter's monopoly by placing a growing number of orders with one of its emerging rivals, Kraków-based InPost. Although PP will retain a legal monopoly of the zł.2.5-3 billion market for letters of up to 50g until the end of next year, a number of competitors encroach on its business by using disproportionately weighty envelopes."

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) has reported to its members that "A two year campaign by the Communication Workers Union for better protection of Postal Delivery staff has resulted in the agreed introduction of a new "Walk Safe" anti-violence and assaults Policy and procedures to deal with the growing problem of violence and assaults on Mail delivery staff. This is the first ever such Policy in the UK Mail service."

From PR Web: "Omniplanar, Inc. announced today that it is launching a new bar code image decoding software engine, Volo™ designed specifically for the needs of the Document Processing and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) industries. Volo instantly auto-discriminates between most popular bar code symbologies, including traditional linear (1D), stacked, matrix (2D) and postal bar codes. For the full set of bar code symbologies supported visit http://www.omniplanar.com/volo.php.

According to Forbes, "Deutsche Post World Net AG's rivals have warned the government against extending the incumbent postal service's mail delivery monopoly beyond 2008."

The National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU) has told its members that "The NAMMU Canadian Mailers on-site meeting with the United States Postal Service (USPS) in Buffalo, New York, on March 6, will be hosted by Ms. Kimberly Peters, District Manager. Canadian mailers are appreciative of this positive response to their request for a meeting to discuss the business impact of USPS data access restrictions planned for August 2007. Jim Wiseman, Transcontinental (RBW-Owen Sound), has been instrumental in setting up this session and proposing the agenda to be covered. Discussion will also include address correction proposed changes beyond 2007, providing an opportunity for feedback on directional thinking. Registration is closed, however, interested NAMMU members may obtain highlights from this session by contacting: executive@nammu.org."

Transport Intelligence has reported that "The new slimmed down TNT Group has released its first annual set of results since selling its Logistics division, showing increases in revenues and profits. Overall these are a strong set of figures from a business that has recovered its poise after several difficult years." See also DutchNews.

According to the Belfast Telegraph, "A Europe-wide enforcement network is being set up to stamp out phoney email and postal promises which con the vulnerable into parting with money for non-existent benefits."

The Hindu has reported that "Postal employees at the three-day biennial divisional conference of the National Federation of Postal Employees that was inaugurated in the city on Sunday vowed to oppose any attempt to privatise postal department."

Joplin Daily has noted that "a 1977 graduate of the former Joplin Parkwood High School, who spent the past 21 years working in a variety of congressional staff and federal administrative jobs in Washington, was recently appointed head of the commission that oversees the delivery of the U.S. Mail. On Monday, the Postal Regulatory Commission, chaired by Joplin native Dan G. Blair, will make a recommendation on whether to raise the price of a first-class stamp, as well as other services offered by the U.S. Postal Service, and grant all or part of the Postal Service's requested $78 billion in new revenue." The Joplin Daily also has an audio interview with Chairman Blair posted on its site.

The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that "International courier UPS receives an average of more than one San Francisco parking ticket every hour, giving the company the unenviable distinction of being the city's No. 1 parking violator. Last year, United Parcel Service paid $673,334 in fines for 11,788 tickets -- an average of one ticket every 45 minutes throughout the year."

The Independent has reported that "The Royal Mail, which earlier this month revealed an 86 per cent plunge in profits, is spending hundreds of thousands of pounds installing television screens in every delivery and sorting office in the country. Management will use the screens to convey information and updates on the company's performance to staff, including speeches by chief executive Adam Crozier and chairman Allan Leighton - prompting wags inside the state-controlled postal group to dub it "Allan Leighton Direct" and to compare it to George Orwell's Big Brother."

According to the Harrow Times, "staff at a Harrow Post Office are protesting against what they describe as cramped and unsafe working conditions."

NewIndPress has reported that "Postal employees staged a dharna here on Friday protesting the reported move of the authorities to merge divisions, close down offices and outsource postal functions. The agitating employees threatened to launch an indefinite strike in March if the decisions were implemented by the authorities."

PostCom Members!!...The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue:

• PostCom Counsel Ian Volner questions the constitutionality of Do Not Mail legislation in the states in this letter to U.S. Postal Service General Counsel Mary Ann Gibbons, and asks for her help in defeating the measures.

• Postmaster General Jack Potter told this week's MTAC meeting there are too many unknowns now to speculate about another rate case.

• New MTAC Workgroup # 114 is taking on an important issue in the recently enacted postal law. The group will develop recommendations for new service standards and measurement systems for the Postal Service's market-dominant products and will do it in short order.

• Postal Service VP Charlie Bravo explained some of the changes the USPS is making to CASS Cycle L in response to customer issues to this week's MTAC meeting.

• Postal commentator Gene Del Polito says the time for living with addresses that don't comply with the USPS' new CASS Cycle L and Delivery Point Validation systems is running out.

• The Postal Service responds to the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers' report on its latest financials.

• PostCom sides with the opinion expressed in the Institute for Research on the Economics of Taxation's latest congressional advisory that the Postal Service's growth in delivery points is not a burden but an asset.

• The Postal Industry Practice Group of law firm Akerman Senterfitt Wickwire Gavin, PC, has compiled a list of the Top Ten U.S. Postal Service Contractors for Fiscal Year 2006.

• Postal Service to hold flats conference May 17. FSS deployment now slated to begin September 2008. Del Polito, Lien host Rate Case Fundamentals web seminar March 14. USPS web page provides info on new postal law. March Forum gears up, exhibit hall sold out.

• Retailers pick TNT over Royal Mail, trend away continues. Royal Mail, CWU at odds over pension plans.

• A list of upcoming postal-related events.

Are you still not a PostCom member? Do you actually realize you are missing postal information that is vital to your business? Find out more about joining PostCom now!

PostCom Members!!...The latest issue of PostCom's PostOps Update has been posted on this site. In this issue:

• USPS shares phase 1 FSS sites; deployment to begin sept 2008

• USPS announces May 17 flats conference

• New FSS workgroups being formed

• And The New Name Is....Intelligent Mail Barcode™

• Flats address placement workgroup concludes

• New MTAC workgroup to develop service standards/measurement

• Intelligent mail and service performance data

• Workgroup begins to look at flats address construction issues

• The three pillars of list certification

• Workgroup recommends better communications in disaster situations

• MTE workgroup forges ahead

• USPS and mailers work through advance mailing data exchange

• Parcels and seamless acceptance – eVS deadline to be extended

• Seamless acceptance for MLOCRs closer to reality

• Moving mail service providers toward PostalOne

• Mailer rating process begins pilot

• Get ready for fast for periodicals

• PostCom's online postal operations library

Are you still not a PostCom member? Do you actually realize you are missing postal information that is vital to your business? Find out more about joining PostCom now!

From Business Portal 24: "Following the demands of the users, the worldwide address service (service d'adresse mondial, SAM) adds support for the two special postal services "Registered item" and "Airmail". The worldwide address service is a convenient way to print out a postal address, especially addresses written in a language not using Latin letters, such as Japanese or Russian."

KXAN-TV has reported that "Spurred on by angry consumers, legislators in several states have filed bills that would drastically cut back on junk mail. Colorado consumer Linda Rubright says, "We have a do-not-call registry that's wildly successful. Why couldn't we have a do-not-junk-mail registry that would serve the same purpose?" As you can imagine, direct-mail companies have an answer to that question."

Japan Post Corp. said Friday it will be able to reprogram its information system in time for the privatization of postal services, wiping out concerns that the 10-year process may be delayed from its scheduled launch in October, the Kyodo news service reported.

The Tecumseh Herald has said that "the Post Office wants you to look out for identity theft."

Les Echos has reported that "La Poste, the French postal service operator, has offered employees in France a 0.6 per cent pay increase in May, followed by a 0.9 per cent increase in July. It has also announced an increase by 2.18 per cent or 40 euros in the bonus paid annually to all staff."

In a letter to U.S. Postal Service General Counsel Mary Ann Gibbons, Association for Postal Commerce General Counsel Ian Volner wrote:

As I am sure you are aware, there is a great deal of concern in the mailing community about the recent – and escalating – state legislative initiatives to pass Do Not Mail legislation. A coalition has been formed to address this issue. While there are tactical and political issues, there is also a fundamental constitutional issue. On behalf of PostCom, I am writing to set forth our views on the constitutional question which should be at least as important to the Postal Service as it is to mailers. In brief, it is our opinion that these statutes would be unconstitutional, and we urge the Postal Service to help us make this argument to the states....

There is no doubt that Do Not Mail statutes have the potential to drastically reduce the volume of mail across a number of classes carried by the Postal service....Laws allowing postal customers to "opt-out" of the delivery of unsolicited mail could make it impossible for the Postal Service to achieve self-sufficiency....Essentially, state Do Not Mail statutes would make it impossible for the Postal Service to operate as currently envisioned by Congress....

Because of the extent of the financial burden these laws would impose on the Postal Service, Do Not Mail laws would violate the Constitution's Supremacy Clause....

While we believe that these Constitutional arguments are sound, state Do Not Mail laws will nevertheless be enforced until challenged in court. The coalition, of which PostCom is a participant, is therefore seeking to prevent these laws from being enacted. We believe that the Postal Service's voice would be an important ally in this battle. We ask that you instruct the Law Department to assist us in this endeavor. 

The Guardian has reported that "The privateers in Britain's postal industry are no doubt cock-a-hoop that the Mail Competition Forum has persuaded the European commission to investigate the government-backed finance package for Royal Mail, writes industrial editor Mark Milner. If the package is blocked on the grounds that it constitutes state aid, rather than commercial support from the company's only shareholder, Royal Mail's modernisation plans will be significantly weakened."

UPS and Airbus have signed an agreement yesterday that sets out a timetable for deciding the status of UPS's order for the freighter version of the A380. The agreement specifies changed delivery dates for the A380F and provides for possible termination of the original purchase agreement by either party later in 2007.

Graphic Ghana has reported that "Ghana Postal Company Ltd yesterday launched its same day delivery services for Accra, Tema and six regional capitals as a means of further improving its services to the public."

Reuters has reported that "Postal services firm Pos Malaysia and Services on Friday named Idrose Mohamed as its new managing director."

The Globe and Mail has reported that "Canada Post says it will cost more than $500-million to carry out the Conservative government's order to fully protect rural mail delivery. It's a complex project that will involve assessing the needs of about 835,000 customers over a period of more than five years, said post office spokesman John Caines. "This is going to be a huge cost," he told The Canadian Press. In addition, Canada Post will find $30-million over two years to maintain a fund that subsidizes postage for domestic magazines."

FijiLive has reported that "Post Fiji outlets across the country have begun selling Pacific Blue flights to and from Fiji from today giving locals easier access to the airline's fares."

In a letter written to "Our Friends at the Alliance," U.S. Postal Service chief financial office Glen Walker wrote:

Your special report on February 15 regarding the Postal Service press release on our first quarter financial results was certainly cleverly written and the many home spun idioms sprinkled throughout the article were entertaining. But the suggestion that our release was "singing the blues" is simply not borne out by the facts....These are not "dancing numbers" manufactured for some nefarious purpose....Boring as it may be, we have to deal with reality. We owe it to our stakeholders to fairly present the financial position of the Postal Service, and we will continue to do so.

According to DM News, "The diligence the U.S. Postal Service is taking to interpret the new postal law and communicate its effects to its customers became clear at the quarterly meeting of the Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee. Linda Kingsley, the new vice president of strategy and transition at USPS, announced that the agency is working closely on the bill and has published a new Web page at www.usps.com/postallaw. It will give visitors updates on any changes the agency has made to the new law."

The Postal Regulatory Commission has received a request of the United States Postal Service for a recommended decision to establish classifications and fees for premium stamped stationery and premium stamped cards (Docket No. MC2006-7).

As PC Magazine has noted, "All of the hype surrounding new communication technologies like podcasting may make you wonder why you bother paying attention. But like blogging, podcasting is a relatively easy way to increase consumer awareness and create an open dialogue between your customer and your brand, ultimately creating loyalty....Podcasting can be an effective, and cost-efficient, way for your small business to deliver messages."

According to Blackberry Blast, you can keep track of your packages with TrakPak! TrakPak allows you to track packages right on your BlackBerry, from four major shippers: UPS, USPS, FedEx, and DHL. Simply enter your tracking number, select the shipper and away you go. TrakPak will lookup the tracking information and display it on your screen.

At its Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting, the USPS gave an update on its Flats Sequencing System (FSS) initiative. Rosa Fulton, USPS FSS Exec. Director, reported that the USPS currently plans to begin its Phase 1 deployment of FSS in September 2008. The USPS' presentation provides a list of the USPS facilities that currently are slated to receive FSS machines during the Phase 1 deployment (which the USPS reported will run from Sept 2008 until Sept 2010). A full recap of the USPS' presentation will be provided to PostCom members in the next issue of Post Ops Update to be distributed tomorrow.

Monday's the day!! The Postal Regulatory Commission will announce its Recommended Decision to the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service at 11 AM, Monday, February 26, 2007 in its Hearing Room located at 901 New York Avenue, NW, 2nd Floor, West Tower, Washington DC.

The presentation given by USPS chief financial officer Glen Walker has been posted on this site.

From Business Objects: "Are you ready to face what is perhaps the most complicated rate case in over five years? Do you realize that the shape of your mail piece is now more crucial than ever in order to achieve postage discounts? And are you aware that in addition to a rate increase, we are going to face the most significant changes to address quality requirements? Despite passage of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, the USPS is still moving forward with a rate increase—targeted for May 6, 2007. Join Gene Del Polito, Ph.D., president of the Association for Postal Commerce, and Chris Lien, Business Objects commercial mail market director, as they discuss this most significant rate increase of the new millennium. Learn about the impact these changes will have on your postage, your customers, and your bottom line. REGISTER NOW."

The Associated Press has reported that "German postal company Deutsche Post AG, the parent of express shipper DHL, said Thursday that full-year net income fell 14 percent after the company reduced its stake in Postbank, cutting the amount of income it receives from the business."

From eMediaWire: "The Remote Control Mail service gives people a way to access their postal mail from anywhere in the world - at any time - via email. It's changing the way people recieve their postal mail, much like mobile phones did for telephone calls. The company has just closed a $2.84M convertible note financing round. Keiretsu Forum Angels provided majority of funding."

As DM News has noted, "The Direct Mail Coalition is continuing its fight to stop states from adopting legislation that would tax postage by claiming it does not meet contract law principles. States may tax postage as a result of an optional provision in the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement, which lists postage as a delivery charge. Created by the Streamlined Sales Tax Project, the agreement took effect Nov. 1. It lets remote sellers collect taxes on sales to people in member states that occur via the Internet, telephone or catalog. DMC co-founder Melanie Hill, a sales tax expert with Dow Lohnes Price Tax Consulting Group, Greenville, SC, said the taxation of postage purchased in this fashion ignores contract law and Uniform Commercial Code principles." [PostCom is a member of this coalition.]

According to Denmark.dk, "E-mail's pokey cousin - the old fashioned letter - is still most people's preferred way to receive important information." See also the Copenhagen Post.

The Associated Press has reported that "EU regulators said they would investigate how Britain funds its postal service, Royal Mail PLC, to check if the government offered loans on favorable terms." See also Sky News and The Times.

In the latest version of USPSNewsLink, PMG Jack Potter told his employees that "Under the new law, we all have to start thinking of the Postal Service as a business. That's because we won't be operating under a "break-even" requirement any more. Just as a private-sector business can make a profit, the Postal Service is now able and encouraged to retain earnings ? a real incentive to keep our own costs below inflation."

DM News has reported that "The buzz at the quarterly Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee meeting yesterday at postal headquarters was a surprising announcement by Postmaster General John E. Potter: The agency will expand its Move Update rules to include advertising mail and change the frequency of the program. Under current rules for Move Update, which is designed to reduce undeliverable-as-addressed mail, First-Class mailers can receive automation or presort rates when they update addresses every 180 days using the Address Change Service, NCOALink or another USPS-approved service. Now the program will be expanded. "We are going to put out a Federal Register notice and move the requirement to three months rather than six months, and we are going to do it for advertising mail as well," Mr. Potter said. He said the agency would give mailers 180 days to implement the new rules after they are finalized via the Federal Register."

The Financial Express has reported that "Encouraged by the proposed Rs 4,000-crore technological revamp of the Indian postal department, IDBI Capital Market Services (IDBI Caps), the broking arm of the IDBI Ltd, has pitched in for taping the department's 54,000 branches for offering online stock broking services."

MAILCOM Update: The 27th Annual Conference & Exhibition, May 8-11, 2007, Atlantic City Convention Center. Register By March 9 And Save $80!