Move Update Requirements
Police: Postal worker threw away mail because it was printed on inferior paper
The discerning postal employee…
A former postal worker in upstate New York has been arrested for tossing mail.
Glen Helmer was arrested Thursday morning and charged with destroying mail he was supposed to be delivering.
According to the criminal complaint Helmer admitted to throwing away bulk mail circulars.
Investigators caught Helmer in the act when they followed him on his route last summer.
It is estimated that Helmer tossed business mail between 100 and 120 times during the last eight years.
On the criminal complaint, Helmer said he didn’t like the flyers because they were printed on inferior quality paper.
Helmer’s next court appearance is set for June.
Environmental Impact of Direct Mail
Below I have attached a link to an interesting study that was done on the environmental impact of direct mail. It is actually amazing how little impact direct mail has on the environment, especially when compared to other sources of pollutants, like cars.
Another fallacy this study addresses is that all forests will be lost to make paper for direct mailings. Let’s think about this seriously, manufacturing paper and paper products is a huge industry. Do you really think that paper manufacturers want to put themselves out of business by destroying the very source of their product? Let’s get real. Tremendous effort is put into renewing their raw materials and significant dollars are spent on R&D to develope new products that can be manufactured cleaner than recycled paper products.
Take a look, it is quite interesting.
Postal carrier saves life
Staff writerÂ
Carriers for the Coeur d’Alene post office are building an impressive reputation.
SHAWN GUST/Press Deb Allred, mail carrier for the United States Postal Service, delivers mail Wednesday in a downtown Coeur d'Alene neighborhood during her shift.
This week, another postal carrier saved the life of an elderly person who had fallen in her home and been unable to get up for days.
“It’s awesome — we have a very good group of people here, they’re very concerned about what goes on in the community,” said Postmaster Dave Hoover.
Deb Allred, 49, got a bad feeling during her Tuesday route when she saw two newspapers still crammed in the mail slot of 79-year-old Yvonne McDonald.
“I know Mrs. McDonald, she picks up her mail every day,” she said.
Allred found the door open and entered. She saw the TV was on, but when she called McDonald’s name, she only heard the woman’s four dogs barking boisterously from a room in the back of the house.
Worried she could risk a dog bite if she searched the home, she returned to her truck and continued to deliver mail.
But she couldn’t shake the image of all that stacked-up mail.
“I just knew something was wrong — we know she has health problems, we know she had problems getting around,” she said.
Mustering the nerve to take a chance with the canines, she returned to search McDonald’s home. She found the woman on her bathroom floor, where she had been laying immobilized since Sunday.
“What was so touching to me was that when I talked to her, the first thing she said wasn’t ‘help me,’ it was, ‘I need someone to take care of my dogs,’” Allred said.
Allred called 911, and an ambulance collected the dehydrated and disoriented woman.
A neighbor saw the ambulance and volunteered to take care of the dogs until McDonald returned.
Hoover said he has already nominated Allred for a Postmaster General Award.
“She’s an exceptionally good carrier,” he said of Allred, who has worked for the Postal Service since 1981. “She’s highly relied upon as a city carrier and here’s a prime example of her level of concern for her customers.”
The situation strongly reminded him of Isaac Fish, the 21-year-old postal carrier who found an elderly woman in the same circumstances in January.
Hoover didn’t know statistics of how often postal workers discover fallen elderly people in their homes.
“I know it seems Coeur d’Alene has had its fair share,” he said.
Heather Lessler, spokeswoman for Legends Park Assisted Living, suggested that elderly people get a Lifeline medical alert service for their homes.
Lifeline provides a button that elderly people can wear around their arms or necks that automatically calls the paramedics when they push it.
“I know quite a few people who do use it,” Lessler said.
Allred, who lives in Post Falls, said it gives her great comfort to know McDonald is all right.
“I was sitting at home last night thinking that if I hadn’t trusted my instincts and followed through, Mrs. McDonald would still be laying there on the bathroom floor,” she said. “The way I feel is if everybody could help one other person, it would make this world so much better.”
Pompous self-righteous dork
Ok Ok, my feelings are expressed in the title of this blog, I just don’t get it, and maybe I’m the idiot dork. What would the world be like without mail? Do you think you won’t get bills or other bad news? Do you know how many industries are supported by direct mail, what are you thinking? And do you think that little of savvy direct marketers that they think they can just use, as you call it “spam” or email instead of direct mail? If it were that easy and effective don’t you think this would have been done long ago? Is this really the bright spot of the economic downturn, less junk mail, is it really that bothersome? All questions i would love to know the answers for.
 You tell me, check out the video:
It ain’t easy!!!
YONKERS – Police have charged a Yonkers woman with attacking a 50-year-old male postal worker as he delivered mail on Wednesday morning.
The woman, identified by Yonkers City Police as Rosemarie Santos, 20, approached the mailman and claimed that her monthly benefit check was in another person’s mailbox. When the postal worker did not open the other mailbox, she became enraged and punched and scratched the man. She also stole his Bluetooth headset and refused to return it.
Police arrested Santos and charged her with second-degree robbery. The letter carrier was treated and released at a local hospital for a laceration to his left hand.
Modern Day Boston Tea Party using the mail
TEA PARTY
TAX DAY PROTESTORS ARE USING THE MAIL
One of the many protest mailings sent in February.
Remember the Boston Tea Party?
One of the many protest mailings sent in February.
The 21st century equivalent is at hand. A grassroots organization that normally uses the Internet to protest government objectives and initiatives is mailing teabags to the White House and members of Congress. The campaign began in February and will continue through April.
Teabags are lumpy, and tea leaves escaping from envelopes can look suspicious. So the Postal Inspection Service has responded to concerns about some of the mailings.
GET ANGRY…OR JUST LAUGH
The following is a perspective by postal commentator Cary Baer, who serves on the Board of Directors of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) in behalf of Reader’s Digest. Baer previously served as Chairman’s of PostCom’s board and was an active member of many other industry associations. The reader should note that the views expressed here are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official views of this association.
I don’t know if I should get angry or just laugh at the recent USPS request inviting “commercial companies, entrepreneurs, and creative people to inspire us†… . According to a USPS website, Innovations@USPS, the Postal Service is seeking suggestions for business concepts that relate to:
- New products and services
- Improved financial performance
- Enhancements to existing products, services or operations.
Clearly the Postal Service is asking for industry suggestions that would increase mail volume or reduce postal costs.
So let me see if I understand this. After:
- Increasing rates by 4% during a severe recession;
- Establishing new and, for some, difficult address location requirements to meet the more stringent requirements of a new and presumably better postal flat sorter;
- Establishing confusing and expensive to implement requirements to meet the intelligent mail bar code requirements, which provide little benefit to the average mailer;
- Establishing new address update requirements, known as mail update, with severe penalties if a mailing fails a compliance test; and
- Establishing new requirements for “slim jim†mailing packages that could significantly increase the costs to use these popular mail piece formats.
After all these, and I suspect other USPS actions that will significantly increase mailer costs, impose mail package design constraints and restrict creativity, the Postal Service is now turning to its customers and asking for suggestions that would increase mail volume. That’s the definition of chutzpah. Â
Before it embarked on many of the projects noted above the Postal Service should have reminded itself of the quote, often attributed to the Hippocratic Oath; “first do no harmâ€.Â
However, with regard to the Postal Service’s request for ideas, it is in the industries own best interest to respond positively with ideas/concepts. However, in my view, for each idea/concept presented there is an obligation on the Postal Service to provide a meaningful response. Let me make my point “perfectly clearâ€. Just saying no to a concept/idea should not be considered an adequate response. Some explanation must accompany any rejection. I make this point because I’ve made, what I thought were a couple of worthwhile suggestions that were rejected without explanation. Â
Since I believe one of my suggestions offered a very significant opportunity,  and because I’m stubborn, I will repeat that suggestion here in a more public forum. This  suggestion deals with an important address and mail processing issue.Â
By its own accounting the USPS spends approximately $2 billion annually to handle, process, forward, deliver, return or destroy incorrectly addressed mail. Unfortunately in spite of significant efforts(in my view many misplaced) on the part of the Postal Service this expense has been relatively unchanged over at least the last ten years. Although, given the current recession, we should expect fewer Americans to relocate this year. This should lead to a reduced USPS address quality related expense. However, it will still remain a huge expense. Â
In an attempt to dramatically reduce this address quality related expense PMG Potter, in a major Postal Forum speech a number of years ago, set, as a goal, a 50% reduction in this expense. In the intervening years, as best can be determined, there has been no meaningful change in this expense. Indeed, about a year ago USPS Memphis address quality managers admitted that it had only recently been decided how to measure and determine if the PMG’s goal was being met. Â
Why has the Postal Service been so slow to achieve any progress on this significant financial goal? Â
In my view the basic reason, besides a lack of management leadership or Board of Governor oversight, is that the USPS has been acting as a regulator to try and solve the problem. All that has been done is to add additional and more stringent requirements regarding how soon before mailing a mailing list must be matched against a USPS approved NCOA based list. Â
The reality is that there has been no fresh thinking on this issue. Â
As you might expect I’ve got a thought on impacting this $ 2 billion expense.Â
First, it has been revealed that $800Â million, or 40%, of this $ 2Â billion of expense is incurred by the return to sender, of undeliverable First Class mail. In other words, this undeliverable mail, from all across the country is returned to mailers, all across the country. This is sheer madness, and should be stopped, or correctly charged for. It must be noted that the very first NSA(negotiated service agreement) has provided the obvious solution to this problem. That is, provide the undeliverable information electronically, without returning the mail piece. Â
Significant requirements are in place in order to receive the automatable First Class mail rate, the lowest rate available. Why not add one more requirement? That requirement is, if an automation rated First Class mail piece cannot be delivered or forwarded, the mailer, will not be permitted to receive the mail piece back, but rather must be electronically notified. The mailer should be provided with an electronic composite of the delivery address, including the addressee’s mailer provided account number. The Postal Service already does this for periodical(magazine) mailers. This will permit the mailer an easy, low cost update of their mailing list. The mail piece should then be destroyed. This was essentially the agreement in the very first NSA.Â
If the mailer desires, or for legal reasons, needs the mail piece returned the mailer should pay the return cost. I would guess that this cost is at least $1.00. Given the $1.00 + charge, I believe those mailers would quickly determine how to process bad address information without the mail piece, and still avoid any legal consequences. Frankly most mailers would probably realize that it can be done at much less than their current cost.Â
This change, the non return of the undeliverable mail piece for automation rated First Class mail, should eliminate a significant portion of that $800Â million expense.Â
To make it easier to gather support for this proposed change I would use much of the savings that will result, to reduce the rate for automation rated First Class mail. If automation rated First Class mailers share in some of the processing savings that the USPS will achieve it should make the program an easier sell. Indeed, a lower automation rate might entice more mail into this most efficient category. Â
USPS: Too much discretion in price setting?
Commissioner Goldway compares USPS finances to the banking industry
The Postal Regulatory Commission yesterday approved the Postal Service’s market dominant product price adjustments scheduled to take effect next month. The approval came despite concern about changes the USPS made in the method for setting workshare discounts, specifically “de-linking†the prices for single piece first class mail from those for presort First-Class Mail.
Commissioner Ruth Goldway dissented from the PRC opinion- here’s some of what she had to say:
It strikes me that there are close parallels between what is happening to the Postal Service financially, and what has been happening to the banking industry. The banking industry was given wide discretion to lend how and on what terms it chose. The assumption was that this was safe because the managers’ discretion would be bounded by certain basic principles (e.g., that investors would have knowledge of the kind of securities marketed, and the risks would be publicly known either through an SEC filing or prospectus) and accountability would be provided by a diligent board of directors.
It is now clear that these basic principles and institutional safeguards were allowed to become mere window dressing. I fear this to be the direction in which postal regulation is headed. Congress intended that there be a certain economic “rhyme and reason†to both class prices and product discounts; hence, provisions such as section 3622(c)(2) (attributable cost floor) and section 3622(e) (discounts match avoided costs).
Are these on the way to becoming window dressing? The uneconomic approach to rate setting can be a factor contributing to the Postal Service slide into financial distress. If the Postal Service is to be excused again for violating 39 U.S.C. § 3622(e), the reasons given must be carefully chosen so that the Postal Service, and the postal community, do not get the impression that there is not now, and never will be, any enforceable standard for workshare pricing.
Mail delivery 5 days a week is positive
One can be reasonably sure that when you drop a letter in the mail, it will arrive across the street or across the state or even across the country within a few days. In addition, whole industries rely on direct mail to generate income. Direct mail has helped fund the humanitarian efforts of The American Red Cross and The Salvation Army, just to name a few, as well as generated revenue that contributes to the research of depilating diseases and illnesses that afflict millions of people around the world.
The postal service’s operation is quite impressive when you consider that it has become an intrinsic part of our every day lives.
My personal opinion is that it makes perfect sense for the post office to deliver mail 5 days a week. With many people converting to online payments, companies will not be affected as much by the one day reduction in delivery. It is just another new schedule to get used to and in a few months people will adapt, as we having been adapting to change for thousands of years.
A Modest Proposal for the United States Postal Service
By Mark Fallon
The United States Postal Service is in trouble.
It seems whenever and wherever you turn to for news, another large organization is announcing bad news. Banks, insurance companies, and car manufacturers are reporting record losses and requesting assistance from the federal government. Is it really surprising that the United States Postal Service (“USPS”) is in trouble, too?
Faced with a weakened economy and the diversion of bills and payments to the Internet, the USPS saw mail volumes drop by 4.5% in Fiscal Year (FY) 2008. (The USPS follows the same FY as the federal government, October to September). Against revenues of $75 billion, the USPS posted expenses of $77.8 billion, a $2.8 billion loss.
The first quarter of FY2009 brought more bad news. Volumes continued to decline, and the USPS posted a $348 million loss. And the news was worse in January, with an estimated $751 million loss. Even with the modest postage rate increases this year and continued cost-cutting plans, the USPS is on track to lose over $5 billion in FY2009.
Postmaster General Jack Potter testified before a Senate subcommittee in late January and outlined the challenges facing the USPS. Mr. Potter explained the cost-cutting measures that management had implemented by streamlining operations. He then requested assistance in two areas: that Congress remove the requirement for the USPS to deliver mail 6 days per week, and that Congress adjust the schedule that the USPS must follow to prepay future retiree health benefits.
The second request – adjusting the schedule for the prepayment of future retirees’ health benefits – would have an immediate positive impact to the USPS and no impact on the American public. Last year, the USPS paid $5.6 billion to pre-fund future premiums. Without this payment, the USPS would have posted a net profit for FY2008.
Of course, that wasn’t the point that the Senators, or the news agencies, seized upon. Just the suggestion of cutting mail delivery services by one day produced a backlash that the USPS was unprepared for. For the next several days, the USPS was on the front page of major newspapers and the homepage of news websites. If Mr. Potter was trying to draw attention to his agency, he succeeded.
To add fuel to the fire, 2 weeks later, the USPS announced its annual postage rate increase, 2 cents for First-Class Mail®. At the same time, it was made public that Mr. Potter and other postal executives had received almost 40% in pay raises since 2006, and significant bonuses for their pensions. These pay increases took place while the USPS was losing money.
Another Congressional hearing is scheduled for March. The chairman of the House subcommittee is Stephen Lynch (D-MA). His mother was a postal clerk for 25 years and his two sisters work for the USPS (my father was also a postal clerk for 25 years). It should be an interesting hearing.
Despite all this bad news, I remain a staunch supporter of the USPS. Outside of the military, it’s the only government agency included in the US Constitution. For the 5th year in a row, it was named the “Most Trusted Government Agency” in a survey of 7,000 Americans. And, the USPS is the lynchpin of a nearly $1 trillion print and mail industry that employees 9 million people.
The USPS does need to change. Some of the decline in mail volume is temporary, and an improved economy will help. But much of the mail volumes, especially bills and payments are gone, forever. Lower volumes don’t mean lower expenses, as the number of delivery points – homes and businesses – continues to expand.
To be successful, the USPS needs to bring in new leadership with a renewed focus on service, employee morale, and an efficient operating model. These challenges aren’t competing priorities, but complementary issues. And bringing in an outsider may be the only way to be successful.
On-time delivery of First-Class Mail® has risen over the last several years. But that is only one measure of service. New regulatory guidelines and proposed changes to mailing requirements have put additional pressure on mailers – the people and businesses who are the primary source of revenue for the USPS. Recently, there’s been a significant increase in fines and penalties on mailers in apparent attempt by the USPS to find other ways to collect new income.
Many of the recent proposals and changes reveal that the USPS doesn’t understand “mail”. The USPS doesn’t know how companies create, manufacture and process mail. That would be okay, if the USPS would understand that it’s not in the “mailing” business. Rather, the USPS is in the logistics and delivery business.
As a logistics and delivery business, the USPS needs to expand services, not cut back on services. The USPS is the only organization that delivers to every address in the country, including Saturdays. The largest competitors, UPS and FedEx, don’t want to deliver to all addresses, especially on weekends. The USPS has already partnered with FedEx and UPS on certain delivery and return products. These partnerships need to be further exploited, especially with the continued growth of people purchasing merchandise over the Internet.
The announcement of record losses, the cutbacks in staffing through attrition, and the announcement of massive pay raises for executives have had a negative effect on employee morale. The tensions between management staff and union employees have increased. To get a small sample of the bad blood, check out some of the comments posted by both sides on sites like www.postalnews.com.
From an outsider’s point of view, the USPS is top-heavy. Automated reporting from equipment, information gathered from barcodes on letters, and better business practices have eliminated the need for so many supervisors. Mr. Potter has cut the size of the staff at the USPS headquarters, but more cuts are needed.
At the same time, the unions need to support some of the hard changes proposed by USPS management, especially in the area of consolidating processing facilities. The unions have a responsibility to their members to question changes and validate management’s assumptions. But, the unions also have a responsibility to make sure the USPS remains a viable organization.
Which leads to the current business model for the USPS. Since 2001, the USPS has consistently worked to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. While successful, the current financial situation calls for even bolder changes.
Most of those changes will require further consolidation of sorting facilities and closing small post offices. That means job cuts, which will be opposed by the unions and members of Congress. But those cuts must be made. And closing post offices is harder than you may think.
I’m not recommending closing post offices in rural areas. In many of these places, the local post office is often the center of the community, and the nearest post office may be 15 or 20 miles away. A better target is where there are many post offices in a smaller geographic area.
For example, the city of Newton, Massachusetts. There are 8 post offices in an area less than 19 square miles, and located on some of the most expensive real estate in Greater Boston. But to close those post offices would require confronting two powerful US Senators and a very powerful US Representative. A difficult proposition.
Where do you find a leader willing to take on these challenges? Where would you find someone whose organization has gone through such significant changes during tumultuous times? The same place where many postal workers began their government career – the military.
The last several years have seen the retirement of generals and admirals whose service began during, or immediately after, the Vietnam War. These people were leaders during the 1970s, a decade requiring major organizational restructuring, changing focus and overcoming morale issues. Challenges that have only increased over the past decade with the changing political environment, at home and abroad.
Most importantly, these men and women are committed to public service. The spirit of service to our country must be the preeminent requirement for the leader of the USPS. The USPS is an important part of our government and provides an invaluable service to our citizens. The USPS isn’t a business, but a government agency that should be run like a business.
Even if you don’t work in the mailing industry, the future of the USPS will impact you and your business. Get involved and write, email and call the President, your Senator and your Representative. Express your concerns about the one government agency that touches every American, six days a week.
Our United States Postal Service is in trouble.
From CNN: Postal Service draws criticism for $1.2 million home buy
By Abbie Boudreau, Scott Zamost and Jessi Joseph
Special Investigations Unit
LAKE WATEREE, South Carolina (CNN) — At a time when the U.S. Postal Service says it is experiencing a financial crisis, it purchased a $1.2 million home from an employee so he could relocate, a CNN investigation has found.
The Postal Service bought this 8,400-square-foot South Carolina home so an employee could relocate.
Postal Service spokesman Greg Frey said the home will be resold, as others have been.
“It’s not like we threw away a million dollars,” Frey told CNN. “We are hoping it’s going to go for the appraised value.”
But a real estate agent in the area said the home could be a tough sell in a depressed housing market — and the USPS said it lost an average of more than $58,000 on the 500-plus homes its relocation program bought and sold in 2008.
The 8,400-square-foot, six-bedroom home on Lake Wateree, about 30 miles north of Columbia, is likely to be the last million-dollar home purchased by the Postal Service. A $1 million cap on homes eligible for the relocation program took effect in February, Frey said.
But the program has raised eyebrows among critics and is under scrutiny by the USPS inspector-general’s office in the wake of a CNN investigation.
The South Carolina home belonged to Ronald Hopson, the former postmaster in Lexington, South Carolina, and his wife, Evelyn. The property includes five acres, four bathrooms, two half-baths and an indoor swimming pool.
Hopson is now the customer service manager for the USPS branch in Carrollton, Texas. He would not discuss the house and referred CNN to the service’s press office for additional questions. But property records show that the house was purchased by the Postal Service’s relocation contractor, Connecticut-based Cartus Relocation, in February.
Just weeks earlier, Postmaster General John Potter told a congressional subcommittee that the post office was considering cutting back mail delivery because of the economy.
“The Postal Service, like the rest of the economy, is experiencing a severe financial crisis, and I’m here today to ask for your help to protect America’s postal system,” Potter said.
He added that the post office has cut travel expenses and frozen executive salaries.
Faced with those cutbacks, Billie Bierer — who owns the lot next door to Hopson’s old home — called the purchase “crazy.”
“I mean, this should not be allowed in any company, and in this economy, things need to change,” Bierer said.
The Postal Service is a semipublic corporation, chartered by the U.S. government but not supported by taxpayer funds. Corporate relocation services are a common executive perk in the corporate world, where companies typically buy a property from an employee who is transferring to another city and resell it later.
Some U.S. government agencies do the same thing, but with limits on how much they will spend. For example, the Food and Drug Administration limits its relocation assistance to homes under $330,000.
Frey said the average cost of the 1,022 homes purchased through the USPS relocation program in 2007 and 2008 was $257,874. Fifteen of those remain on the market, he said.
Of the 1,022, 14 cost between $1 million and $2.8 million. All of those have been sold, Frey said, but typically at a loss once closing costs, attorneys fees and commissions are paid.
In 2007, after the U.S. housing boom peaked, the USPS lost an average of $50,542 on each deal, he said. In 2008, with the market in full retreat, the average loss climbed to $58,397.
And in Lake Wateree, real estate agent David Beckroge said, buyers for million-dollar properties are hard to come by right now.
“That would be very tough,” he said.
The purchase of Hopson’s home drew criticism from Pete Sepp, vice president of the National Taxpayers Union, a Washington-based government watchdog group.
“At a time when the Postal Service is considering cutting back on delivery, raising stamp prices, perhaps even going to the federal government for a taxpayer bailout, this sends the wrong signal. It is likely to make customers very angry,” Sepp said.
And Sen. Chuck Grassley, who has been a critic of the Postal Service relocation policy, has asked Postal Service Inspector-General David Williams to investigate the deal. A spokesman for Williams’ office said it was conducting a preliminary review of the case.
“We need to know that the Postal Service is for the patrons of the Postal Service, the people that are buying stamps, the people that are supporting it, that they’re getting their money’s worth,” said Grassley, R-Iowa.
Subscribe
Recent Comments
- Congress Won’t Let The Post Office Be Successful | I Acknowledge Class Warfare Exists on Less mail equals more opportunity
- https://twitter.com/#!/gadgets_micro/status/157834439186071552 on 3D Printing close to becoming a household reality
- Adam Hartung, Chicago, IL on Are You Disruptive?
- Tweets that mention Why Direct Mail Will Always Be In Style | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Why Direct Mail Will Always Be In Style
- Tweets that mention Less mail equals more opportunity | Going Postal -- Topsy.com on Less mail equals more opportunity