CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal), published by the MRU Consultancy, has reported that:

Despite the economic crisis and declining revenues Belgian La Poste could increase its earnings last year.
The upper house of the German parliament spoke out against a general VAT liability for postal services last Friday. Instead the Federal Assembly recommended to verify in the context on the legislative procedure whether all prices under general terms and conditions are to be exempted from VAT
A 7% drop in addressed letter volume caused a decline of turnover and earnings in 2009 for Itella.
Georg Pölzl, CEO of Austrian Post, will present his mid term strategy 2013 to the advisory board this Wednesday. With reference to internal papers the daily »Die Presse« (12.02) reported, Pölzl plans to keep only 300 own operated postal offices in the future. The remainig 1,000 post offices will be closed and replaced by so called Post- Partners.
Unipost (revenue 2008: 107m euros), Spain’s largest private postal service provider is suffering from the effects of the economic crisis.
Blue Dart, India’s number one express company, faced declining volumes in 2009 due to the weak economy.
Swiss Post is currently testing walk sequence sorting.
Korea Post is going for the sorting technology of Vanderlande Industries.
Swiss Post is launching the first standardized product for secure electronic proof of identity in May on.
In response to changing customer demands and declining volume Singapore Post announced to cease mail delivery on Saturdays.

The MRU, founded in 1992, is the only consultancy in Europe, which has specialised in the market of courier-, express- and parcel services. For large-scale shippers and CEP-services in particular, the MRU provides interdisciplinary advice for all major questions of the market, as there are for example market entry, product design, organisation, and EDP.To learn more about the stories reported above, contact CEP News. (We appreciate the courtesy extended by CEP News to help whet your appetite for more of what CEP offers.)

According to BCLocalNews.com, "Canada Post is not being sold to the private sector just yet, but the Crown corporation is in the midst of selling the public on its view of today and its vision for the future. This vision includes some privatization and more post office closures."

CBS42.com has noted that "Like many US companies, the United States Postal Service, which receives no tax revenue, is also struggling. It wants to eliminate Saturday deliveries to save $3.5 billion dollars a year. The USPS says the demand to stamp and mail has fallen dramatically. It has lost more than 20% of mail that flows through the system, mainly due to advancements in online business. After slashing $6 billion last year, the USPS says there's no where else to cut. "You know what, we don't want to do this, but we've gotten to a point where we have to do something," says USPS spokesman Joseph Breckenridge. To be clear, the proposal does not include closing post offices on Saturdays, but rather cutting the nearly 300,000 routes across the country on Saturdays: an idea that's not resonated well with Congress in the past."

Reuters has reported that "Russian state bank VEB is seeking a strategic partner to buy up to 50 percent in a planned federal postal bank, a potential rival to Sberbank (SBER03.MM), Russia's leading lender."

MSN Money has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc.’s freight division said Tuesday it has expanded the scope of its two-day delivery network to link Montreal and Toronto to American cities as far south as Atlanta and St. Louis. UPS Freight added two-day service between the cities on a northbound basis last year. UPS Freight said its on-time guarantee applies to the new faster service times on less-than-truckload (LTL) shipments."

The Gaston Gazette has reported that "Mount Holly police arrested a Stanley woman Tuesday for allegedly embezzling almost $14,000 from two post offices in eastern Gaston County. Gwendolyn Shuford Etchison, 50, of the 700 block of Joseph Antoon Circle, was charged with two counts of embezzlement."

Deadtree Edition shared with its readers that "despite postal discounts, mailers should not implement full-service Intelligent Mail barcodes, a leading postal consultant says in a paper issued today. Costs of participating outweigh the minimal benefits, and the U.S. Postal Service’s processes and systems are not equipped for Intelligent Mail, Mary Ann Bennett says in “Ten Reasons Why Mailers Should Delay Implementing the Full Service Intelligent Mail barcode”. Bennett is founder of the Mailing Training Institute, President/CEO of The Bennett Group Inc., and a frequent speaker and writer on mailing issues."

St. Louis Today has reported that "SG Print & Mail, a company in Park Hills, Mo., bilked the U.S. Postal Service out of roughly $2.9 million, according to testimony in a plea hearing Tuesday in federal court."

Consumer Focus has published a paper on "Consumer engagement in the post office closure programme" in the U.K.

February 16, 2010

From PRNewswire: "FedEx Workers Join the Teamsters Union!"

Postal commentator Gene Del Polito offers some thoughts on a future postal business model: "In Search of An Alternative to Winding Things Down."

Columbus Business First has reported that "Cost-cutting measures by the U.S. Postal Service are leading to 79 job losses at a contractor-operated supplier in Jeffersonville before July, according to a state filing. Falls Church, Va.-based Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE:CSC) in a filing with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services said the Mail Transport Equipment Service Center it operates in Jeffersonville will be closed at the end of a Postal Service contract that runs through June. The Postal Service recently told the company it’s cutting its network of service centers, which supply mailbags, carts and hampers to processing facilities, to 15 from 23. Computer Sciences said it will begin cutting the 79 jobs from the site in May and expects to finish the reductions by the contract’s end. Of those jobs, 73 employees are represented by the American Postal Workers Union."

Press Release: "With over 170 attendees already confirmed, including representatives from over 35 Posts and 34 countries worldwide, this year’s European Postal Services promises to be an invaluable opportunity for the postal industry to collectively share knowledge and build stronger relationships. Taking place on 22nd, 23rd & 24th March in Brussels; please click here for more programme details and to register your place."

The Associated Press has reported that "Roughly 40 percent of Americans do not have high-speed Internet access at home, according to new Commerce Department figures that underscore the challenges facing policymakers who are trying to bring affordable broadband connections to everyone. The Obama administration and Congress have identified universal broadband as a key to driving economic development, producing jobs and bringing educational opportunities and cutting-edge medicine to all corners of the country.

Mary Ann Bennett, President of the Bennett Group postal consulting firm, wants mailers to know that there "Ten Reasons Why Mailers Should Delay Implementing the Full Service Intelligent Mail® barcode."

As Multichannel Merchant has noted, "Multichannel marketers today tend to get caught up in the frenzy of the next greatest trend. What about Web 3.0? What's the hot social networking application? How do we make our e-mails more effective? Sexy online strategies are and should be a big part of direct marketing. But that doesn't mean you should ignore some of the old-school tactics, like direct mail. That's right, direct mail. Sure, it may be true that mail pieces are much more expensive than e-mails, thanks to rising postal and paper costs. And many marketers and consumers alike often perceive direct mail to be old-fashioned and downscale. But when used wisely and analyzed carefully, direct mail outperforms many tactics, particularly with prospects and certainly with many customer segments. Newer technologies may excite and preoccupy the marketing team, but direct mail works."

According to the Cleantechblog, "Mail is being delivered on a trial basis by three-wheel electric vehicles in Florida, California and Arizona....The Postal Service is testing a fourth generation fuel-cell Chevrolet Equinox. The crossover vehicle has an electric drive system, lithium batteries, and a hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle to keep delivering electrons for extended range....A second fuel-cell vehicle is being tested in Washington, DC. In New York City, the Postal Service has had 30 electric 2-ton vehicles on the street since 2001. They were recently joined in Long Island, NY, by two 2-ton hybrid electric vehicles. The USPS uses medium-duty hybrid electric vans from Eaton Corporation (ETN) and Azure Dynamics (AZD.TO)...Quantum (QTWW) announced on February 1 that it was selected by the US Postal Service (USPS) to produce an advanced electric postal delivery vehicle based on the widely used Long Life Vehicle (LLV) platform. Quantum is also making the hybrid-electric drive system for Fisker."

According to Politics.co.uk, "Geoffrey Cox, MP for Torridge and West Devon, today welcomed a report that condemned the recent closure of Post Offices across the country and branded the public consultation process as “a sham”. The report, commissioned for the watchdog “Consumer Focus”, found that Post Office failed to effectively engage consumers, failed to communicate the right information to those opposing the closures, and missed opportunities to obtain valuable local knowledge of how cutbacks would affect communities. The MP, who mounted a determined campaign to save local Post Offices, lobbying the Chief Executive of the Post Office and securing a debate in parliament on the subject of local closures, had previously criticised the consultation effort as “a cynical public relations exercise”.

The Washington Post has reported that "Mail volume in the United States has fallen off a cliff in recent years. It has dropped so sharply that U.S. Postal Service officials have pleaded with Congress to allow a cut in delivery days from six to five. It's been a hard sell. Politicians are reluctant. Although polling data show that the public is willing to accept five-day delivery, people who count on votes for their livelihood are not at all eager to cut back on a service so basic, so trusted and so needed as the U.S. mail. Count President Obama among that number."

This week in Postal Technology International:

• A fresh start for Croatian Post
• Vanderlande to supply postal sorting systems to Korea Post
  
• Moroccan address reader passes factory acceptance test
  
• Recycling in US Post Offices expanding
  
• BBH and CapStone Technologies announce strategic partnership
  
• SingPost remains cautiously optimistic

The Courier, Express, and Postal Observer has reported that "The Associated Press has reported that the IRS and many states are cracking down on on the widespread use of the contractor model for workers. By using the contractor model, the company saves the cost of payroll taxes, workers compensation expenses, and unemployment insurance levies. The interest in this issue is likely driven by declining tax revenue during the recession as well as pressure by labor unions and competitive businesses that use an employee model. The progress of this study will be followed closely by the courier, express and postal industry, as the industry is built upon a contract worker model. Nearly all local couriers and delivery drivers are contractors. FedEx Ground and FedEx Home both use contractors for local delivery. The USPS uses contractors for providing its most rural delivery service. Outside of the courier, express and postal industry, the contractor model is used extensively in construction and information technology."

February 15, 2010

The New Zealand Herald has reported that "The boss of listed courier company Freightways has hit out at New Zealand Post, accusing it of being "reckless" in its bid to alter Freightways' terms of access to the state-owned postal company's delivery network."

The Financial Times has noted that "Murray Martin, chairman and chief executive of Pitney Bowes, the US mail systems pioneer, has always had a passion for inventing things. In his early teens, he devised a telegraph service to communicate with friends in his rural Ontario hometown of Hawkesville. In another life, Mr Martin, 62, might now be running his own private business empire rather than a stalwart Fortune 500 company with revenues of $5.6bn (€4.1bn, £3.6bn), 2m customers worldwide and 33,500 employees. But his entrepreneurial drive has survived a 23-year career with the same US group because Pitney Bowes, he insists, is different." [EdNote: This is a really nice personal piece. You should read it.]

DM News has reported that "President Barack Obama's budget for fiscal year 2011 includes language that shows his administration supports requiring the US Postal Service to deliver mail six days per week. The budget's wording explicitly says "six-day delivery and rural delivery of mail continue at not less than 1983 level." However, Joseph Corbett, the Postal Service's CFO and EVP, says that his agency will soon reveal plans for five-day delivery to Congress and stakeholder groups. He said the wording of the budget is routine language included in every appropriations bill since 1983."

According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "The Public Representative performed a service for postal stakeholders in their estimates of the required rate increases to return the Postal Service to break even by 2011 under various estimates of the Postal Service’s retiree obligations. These estimates represent the worst case scenarios for mailers as they assume that the return to break even could only come from increases in rates. Unfortunately for mailers, the Public Representatives estimates of rate increases are not enough to return the Postal Service to self sufficiency. Simply put, the break even goal for 2011, a goal that guided rate cases under the Postal Reorganization Act, is not sufficient to ensure a financially viable Postal Service....what would really happen to postage rates if the Public Representative used more realistic financial targets? Using the Office of Inspector General recommendations for financial relief, postage rates might need to rise at least 25% without more aggressive actions on restructuring the operating network or modernizing the retail model. Without relief, postage rates might need to rise by 40% or more. (Both of these estimates do not account for the impact of price increases on mail volume.) Not a pretty picture and one that no postal stakeholder believes would ensure a viable postal enterprise as vibrant as it is today."

February 14, 2010

Transport Intelligence has reported that "FedEx Trade Networks, the international ocean and air freight forwarder subsidiary of FedEx Corp., has opened six new freight forwarding offices across its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and its Latin America region as part of a global expansion plan. The company has opened 20 international freight forwarding locations in the past nine months, bringing the company's total to 22 new international locations since 2008."

AsiaNewsNetwork has reported that "The government of Japan is making final arrangements to abolish the 10 million yen limit on the amount of postal savings that can be held by each depositor, through a postal reform bill it will submit to the current Diet session. The government's plan is to lift the ceiling three years from now. As a provisional measure until it is removed, the government intends to raise the limit to 30 million yen, government sources said. If the state-financed Japan Post Bank is able to expand its business on the strength of people's trust in the government, it will most likely put pressure on private financial institutions and inevitably invite strong opposition from the private sector, industry watchers said."

The Sacramento Bee has reported that "Nearly 200 million Valentine's cards are expected to exchange hands today – the second biggest greeting card day after the December holiday season. Even though that's enough for almost every adult in the country to receive a card, it's a slowly diminishing convention. People who select a paper card from a merchant and deliver it to someone are shrinking in number and spending, according to every economic indicator."

Livingston Daily has reported that "The residents of 17 homes along Green Hills Drive in Hamburg Township are upset with the Pinckney post office for suspending their mail delivery through the winter months."

From PR-USA.Net: "IWCO Direct, a leading, U.S.-based privately held provider of direct marketing solutions has announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement to acquire Transcontinental Direct's US operations, a high-volume direct mail organization with a network of facilities throughout the United States. Transcontinental Direct's parent company, Transcontinental, is the largest printer in Canada and Mexico and Canada's leading consumer magazine publisher. This acquisition positions IWCO Direct's platform as an unrivaled solution in the industry for the optimization, execution, and delivery of direct marketing campaigns. Terms of the deal are not yet disclosed; the transaction is expected to close in the spring of 2010."

The International News has reported that "Pakistan Post will not be privatised but matter making it a corporation would be considered in view to improve working of one this maga organisations of the country, Minister for Postal Services Israrullah Zehri said here Saturday. ôWe cannot put the future of 47,000 employees of the postal service at stake by privatising it,ö he said in a panel interview with APP. Rather, he said the ministry would go for opting ways and means to improve the existing services besides adding new utilities. He said around 700 new post offices in different areas of the country to facilitate the far-flung areas customers with modern postal services have been established. He said his Ministry will sign an MoU with a private airline for quick and speedy delivery of post and pouch matching the International standards."

February 13, 2010

Bernama has reported that "Efforts are underway to ensure Pos Malaysia remain a major player in Malaysia's postal industry despite the fact that a growing number of people are now into electronic communication, Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said. He said Malaysia was not spared of this phenomenon as more people became Internet-savvy." See also the Malayasian Insider.

The Auto Channel has reported that "The United States Postal Service has awarded Bay Area electric car pioneer ZAP an engineering prototype contract for the design and development of an electric mail truck. US Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey is scheduled to tour ZAP's electric vehicle facility in Santa Rosa on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 11:30 AM PST to learn more about how this federal program is creating local jobs."

GovExec.com has reported that "The ailing U.S. Postal Service will experience a net loss in fiscal 2011 similar to that of 2010, according to agency estimates in President Obama's budget. Declining mail volumes have contributed to net losses for the agency every year since 2007. The Postal Service expects that trend to continue through 2011, when losses will total $7.8 billion. The fiscal 2011 budget, which acknowledges the Postal Service's financial concerns, commits the Obama administration to working with the agency, its employee unions, Congress and other stakeholders to keep mail operations viable. Discussions already are under way on several issues, said Gerald McKiernan, a USPS spokesman."

February 12, 2010

At the Postal Regulatory Commission:  Due to weather conditions in the Washington, D.C. area, the Public Forum has been rescheduled to 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, February 17. The public is invited to attend the Forum at Commission Headquarters, 901 New York Ave., NW, Suite 200 to discuss the 2009 Annual Compliance Determination now being compiled by the Commission. The Forum also will be webcast live and transcribed for posting later on the CommissionÆs website, www.prc.gov

Press Release: More than 200,000 tons, and counting. ThatÆs how much paper, plastics and other waste the U.S. Postal Service recycled in 2009, representing a decrease in its greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 1.67 million barrels of oil. An integral part of that undertaking is the Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program which is expanding to include an additional 2,435 Post Offices, including those in a number of U.S. national parks. That brings the total number of participating sites to more than 8,064, an increase of 150 percent from 2005, when the Post Office Lobby recycling effort started. This program is based on the success of similar mail recycling programs in the northeastern part of the United States, which began more than 10 years ago. Postal customers are being encouraged to ôread, respond, recycleö their P.O. Box mail in Post Office lobbies as a convenient and environmentally responsible alternative to taking it home to discard.

According to the Consumer Postal Council, "A 2008 paper written by Egyptian government officials posited that the international postal sector has changed more in the last 20 years than it had in the preceding 150. Egypt's own postal sector is no exception. Those changes will no doubt accelerate as the country's leaders move toward standardizing postal regulation and liberalizing the postal market. Egyptian postal leaders are pegging their hopes for growth on "increasing overall levels of private-sector investment in the postal market through open and fair competition and progressive regulation." Officials would also like to make Egypt into a regional hub for logistics by marshaling the assets of the state-owned Egypt Post (EP), various government agencies, private postal operators, and other interests."

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

• At its February 10 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce elected new directors to its governing board, and approved key resolutions deemed important to the association and its membership.
• The Postal Service released its unaudited first quarter financials for Fiscal Year 2010 which showed a volume decline in all market-dominant products, while shipping services saw a modest increase of 2.5 percent. The USPS saw operating revenue decline by $740 million or 3.9 percent from the same period last year. It is expecting an over $7 billion net loss for the fiscal year.
• The USPSÆ PostalOne! system crashed last Friday, February 5, 2010, and was not back up and running until late Tuesday night, February 9, 2010, wreaking havoc on mailers, mail service providers and the Postal Service itself. The situation made clear to business mailers that the USPS needs to improve communications, put in place a real contingency plan, and work to improve its systems to prevent these types of occurrences û which are becoming all too common.
• Business mailers and the Postal Service are working hard this week to recover from the PostalOne and FAST system crashes. Systems were restored earlier this week, but thatÆs just the start. Businesses and the USPS must now continue to expend additional resources to ensure that all jobs and postage that should have been processed during the outage period are entered into the systems.
• The U.S. Postal ServiceÆs Office of Inspector General (IG) sponsored Professor John C. Panzar to examine the pricing incentives confronting the USPS under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA).
• According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer, "Last fall the Postal Service presented its approach to future business models in the paper: Assessment of United States Postal Service Future Business Models. The Postal Service's approach was presented by Vice President of Strategic Planning Linda Kingsley and General Counsel Many Anne Gibbons at the Rutgers Conference in DC held last fall in a talk entitled A New Business Model for the United States Postal Service. Given the political opposition to most of these changes, they appear to be pipe dreams. Given the new found concern about budget deficits, changes to the retiree health care payment schedule, no matter how warranted, would require offsetting budget cuts or additional sources of revenue for passage. Changes in service levels and operating and retail networks and introducing market-based pricing require hard information on the business plan that supports these changes. Removal of limitations on product diversification requires Congress to accept a government enterprise competing with the private sector."
• According to Deadtree Edition, "mail volumes and the number of postal workers will shrink more slowly this year than in 2009, the U.S. Postal Service predicted today. The Postal Service is scheduled to reveal next week its proposal to deliver mail one less day per week. But that won't have much impact on the current fiscal year.
• William Burrus, APWU President has spoken out once again against workshare discounts.
• According to the Courier, Express, and Postal Observer ôboth the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) and American Postal Workers Union (APWU) report on their respective websites that President Obama supports six-day Delivery. Both postal unions use the following line from the 2011 budget that President Obama presented to Congress to support their argument that President Obama supports 6-day delivery. "That 6-day delivery and rural delivery of mail shall continue at not less than the 1983 level."
• Bar codes ride again - on mobile phones. USPS BOG meeting cancelled. Weather-related USPS help desk problems. UPS targeted in class action suit. Pitney Bowes to close warehouse, lay of 59. PRC reschedules open forum due to weather. DMA names Allen interim president, CEO. Comments due Feb 25 on hard-copy postage statements processing changes.
• Updates on postal matters published in the Federal Register.
• An update on DMM Advisory notices issued by the U.S. Postal Service.
• An update on business before the Postal Regulatory Commission.
• A review of recent reports released by the U.S. Postal Service's Office of the Inspector General.
• A review of postal news from around the world.
• From the Mailbag
• Postal Previews

Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.

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According to the Financial Times, "Greece can avoid a bail-out if it demonstrates convincingly to the markets that the reforms in its stability programme will be implemented in a timely fashion. To speed up and enhance the content of the reforms in the stability plan, there needs to be a bold new privatisation programme to unleash the economy's potential. Much could be gained from further privatising an economy that is probably the last "Soviet style" economy in the developed world. To kill the Greek leviathan, one has to starve its gargantuan voracity for intervention in the economy. The Greek state not only runs hospitals, universities and churches but also casinos, lotteries, hotels, marinas, ski resorts, trade fairs, exposition centres, ports, airports, water, electricity and natural gas companies, oil refineries, postal services, transport, banks, and insurance companies."

WETM has reported that "By the end of this week, the transfer of automated mail handling services from Elmira to Rochester will be complete. On Saturday, the union president tells us the remaining four mail sorting machines will be taken from the Sullivan street facility and moved to Rochester. Along with those machines are 55 workers who are being asked to transfer to other postal facilities within 500 miles. They can also take an early retirement package."

According to ReporterNews, "Two additional mail sorting machines will soon expand the workload of the Abilene mail processing facility, but no positions will immediately be created by the move."

The Straits Times has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc, the world's largest package-delivery service, said on Wednesday it has been contacted by the European Commission, which is probing price fixing in the shipping business."

The Lanka Times has reported that "In a bid to ensure a speedy and a better service on registered national and international letters, the Sri Lanka Postal Department is planning to introduce a barcode number system shortly. This new system would ease correspondence and would prevent letters from going missing, Posts and Telecommunications acting Minister Nandana Gunathilake said yesterday. He said the Postal Department was confident that the system would be implemented by the middle of this year."

The Times of Zambia has reported that "President Banda has said water transportation should be improved because it is cheaper than using roads. Speaking in Samfya yesterday, during the re-launch of the refurbished Bangweulu Post Boat, President Banda said with abundant water resources in the country, especially in Luapula Province, it was important to develop water transport. Mr Banda said the Government recognised the importance of a reliable transport system for rural communities and praised the Ministry of Communications and Transport for helping Zambia Postal Services acquire new engines to service the post boat."

From OfficialWire:

• Newly released report, Global Logistics - Air Freight, provides detailed company analysis.
• Express Logistics In France - New Market Report Published

The Washington Post has reported that "Republican groups are raising money under the guise of the U.S. Census Bureau, leaving the government's people-counters worried that a flurry of misleading letters could make some Americans less likely to respond to the real thing. "There are too many reports from too many places to ignore the fact that direct-mail fundraisers are deliberately attempting to confuse people," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y."

Reuters has reported that "Japanese Banking Minister Shizuka Kamei said on Friday that Japan Post, the huge government-owned postal and financial conglomerate, could buy more U.S. Treasuries as one way to reduce its current heavy focus on domestic government debt."

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) and the worldÆs largest express transportation company, today announced a series of service enhancements that will give customers in Friesland and Groningen improved access to the rest of the world. The new changes include next-business-day delivery service to the U.S. and Canada, benefiting local businesses operating internationally in the area. It will also help boost the regionÆs connectivity to key international business centres, thereby becoming an attractive commercial destination for companies looking to relocate, as well as strengthening the local economy.

On Hellmail today:

• Finland Sees Mail Volume Fall By 7 Percent
• Swedish Post Notes Rise In E-Commerce Sales
• Fresh Start For Croatian Post

February 11, 2010

Business Week has reported that "President Barack Obama, when asked to name a chief executive he admires, chose one with an unusual pedigree: FedEx Corp.Æs Frederick Smith, who raised more than $100,000 for 2008 Republican presidential nominee John McCain and was George W. BushÆs fraternity brother."

Understanding the controversy surrounding the Postal Service's obligations regarding CSRS and Retiree Health Funding can be tough. Here are two documents you might find worth reviewing:

• Retiree Health & Pension Benefit (RHPB) Reform
• Explanation of Pension Overfunding Problem
  

MAILCOM 2010 UPDATE:

Board Resolution 02.10.10-5 Resolved, PostCom should continue itÆs leadership role, and build on the momentum and consensus achieved at the January 28 Leadership Summit, by proposing and pursuing a permanent correction and elimination of the annual USPS Retiree Health Benefit payment. The OIG report, Hay and PRC reports all document that postal payers have been overcharged. The annual health cost payment is pushing the USPS to cut services and shift costs to rate payers when it isn't necessary. It is a ôstamp taxö on postal payers. PostCom should urge itÆs members and other postal associations and stakeholders to ask Congress to:

• Recognize that the USPS and rate payers have overpaid the federal treasury for postal pension obligations that arose when the Postal Service was part of the federal government.
• This overpayment has fully or substantially satisfied the Postal ServiceÆs retiree health cost obligations.
• Congress should stop this Stamp Tax by recalculating the overfunding of the pension obligation and reduce or eliminate the annual retiree health cost payment.

Resolution 02.10.10-6 Resolved, that the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce approves and accepts the document prepared by the General Counsel entitled: "Antitrust Compliance Guide for Members and Staff of the Association for Postal Commerce" as representing the official policy of the association. All who are members and staff of the association are hereby instructed to comply with the principles and practices stated within this document.

Resolution 02.10.10-8 Resolved, that the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce approve as policy of the association the document entitled: "Conflict of Interest Policy."

Board Resolution 02.10.10-15 Resolved, that PostCom strongly urge the USPS' COO to extend the use of electronic mailing data (EMDs) for the purposes of tracking drop shipments via 8125s.