Chairman’s Message

On June 18th, the Postal Regulatory Commission published a decision changing the analytical principle defining the benchmark used for calculating worksharing discounts for certain types of First-Class Mail. This particular rulemaking docket is noteworthy because it was prompted by a Petition for Rulemaking submitted by a mailer.

Petitions for rulemaking provide opportunities for interested persons to bring thoughtful, well-supported proposals before the Commission for review in a public docket. I encourage all interested persons to continue to share their constructive proposals with the Commission in this manner.

Ruth Y. Goldway
Chairman

via Postal Regulatory Commission: Home.

“gopost” gets seal of disapproval in San Francisco – postalnews blog.

The most telling line is about how USPS officials were “suprised” by the San Fransisco reaction.  Perhaps they should talk to people, and when they do, listen more often.

The Association for Postal Commerce PostCom, in its continuous effort to support Congress in passing comprehensive, postal reform, has released a white paper outlining nine legislative principles.  (Click on link to access pdf)

These principles reflect what our membership believe need to be the cornerstone of any meaningful, postal reform. Our membership represents the diverse industry in which we serve, consisting of direct marketing firms, businesses, printers, lettershops, suppliers, logistic companies, parcel delivery firms and others who either use or support the use of mail and parcels for business communication and commerce.

via Postal news from around the world.

The Ed Show

The Ed Show: US Postal Service remains under attack.

These days, marketing is all about digital. We are emailing, blogging, Tweeting and Facebooking our little marketeer hearts out. So direct mail (the kind that the postal delivery person puts in your mailbox, remember?) must be dead in the water. Right?

Wrong. According to the Direct Mail Association (DMA) Factbook for 2013, 65% of consumers of all ages have made a purchase as a result of direct mail.

via Why Direct Mail Still Yields the Lowest Cost-Per-Lead and Highest Conversion Rate – Business 2 Community.

This is a great article – worth reading the entire text…

The changes proposed by House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa R-Calif. on Thursday would allow the financially ailing Postal Service to eliminate an annual $6 billion payment to pre-fund health costs for future retirees, a major concession that is likely to help the bill’s chances in the Senate.

The pre-funding requirement and plummeting mail volume have pushed the mail agency into multi-billion-dollar deficits in recent years, and postal officials have warned they will default on a third pre-funding payment this year.

However, the proposal is likely to meet opposition from Democrats in the House and Senate, who see the provision allowing layoffs as unfriendly to labor. The Senate approved a bill last year that postponed five-day delivery for two years, among other provisions; the House did not bring a bill to the floor.

via Issa proposes new legislation to restructure Postal Service.

From the DMM Advisory:

IMb™ Services Update

Business Customer Gateway (BCG)/eAdmin — Patch Release 4.4.1 will be deployed to Production on Sunday, June 23, 2013, from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. CT. No outages are planned with the patch release, which will include additional enhancements to the BCG application. Release Notes will be provided in RIBBS prior to deployment.
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After releasing the new BCG with little to no outward testing, the USPS has used everyone in the system as Beta Testers this week, resulting in this patch release.  There may be additional “enhancements” but there are certainly going to also be fixes to customer reported bugs as well.  We’ll have to wait until the last minute when the release notes are finally published in order to get details.

How do you all like the new Business Customer Gateway?  Accolades, issues, comment the blog or drop me a note.

From the USPS:

USPS Service Alerts–
Improving the Online Customer Experience

Mail Service Updates on USPS.com now has a new look and a new name –USPS Service Alerts.

USPS Service Alerts provides customers with near real-time information about postal facility service disruptions due to weather-related and other natural disasters or events.  “Feedback from residential customers and business mailers following natural disasters like Hurricane Sandy prompted us to take a close look at Mail Service Updates,” said USPS Consumer Advocate Krista Finazzo.  “We wanted to find ways to more effectively communicate with our customers during service interruptions.”

The upgraded website provides commercial mailers with more detailed information on the operating status of mail processing facilities and delivery units, allowing them to better plan drop shipments and other operational activities.  Other improvements include a new section for residential customers who can now learn whether their mail is being delivered or if their Post Offices are open.  Please visit the USPS.com homepage or USPS Service Alerts       http://about.usps.com/news/service-alerts/welcome.htm

–Consumer & Industry Affairs

From the PostalOne help desk last night, 10:49pm Eastern.  No update since…

We are currently experiencing technical difficulty with our after hours support line.

Currently there is no estimated time when this issue will be resolved.  If you have any issues that need to be reported immediately please utilize the PostalOne!® email account to report your issues.  We will provide a status update as soon as possible.    We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

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Has anyone out there ever experienced this much downtime, inaccessibility, glitches, patches, releases, changes with other large-company systems they use?  Curious, send in your comments…

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Update – 1:30 pm Eastern –

The technical issues with the PostalOne!® after hours support line have been resolved.  If you have any additional questions please call the Help Desk at 800-522-9085.