GPS Mail Logger

Here is an interesting item we found on the internet while searching for interesting articles to post. This item is a GPS mail tracking unit that can identify where your mail has been. This looks like a great item for bulk mailers to determine where mail delays may be taking place. Take a look at the website for the BrickHouse Security Micro GPS Mail Logger. The site reads as follows:

Discover Delays And Inefficiencies In Delivery With GPS Location
The U.S. Postal Service delivers more than 212 billion pieces of mail annually and they are constantly looking for new ways to improve efficiency and eliminate delays. The answer? The GPS Mail Logger. At half of an inch thin, this GPS Mail Logger is the world�s only GPS Tracking Device that can be mailed in an envelope. Evaluate the effectiveness of your delivery service by pinpointing inefficiencies or delays in the delivery process.

Features

* Tracks your mail with GPS location
* Records your mail�s downtime to pinpoint inefficiencies and delays in the delivery process
* Customized time interval records your mail�s movement as often as your like
* Battery lasts for up to 2 weeks on motion-activated "e;Tilt Mode"e; or 20 continuous hours with minute-by-minute updates
* Fits into an envelope at � of an inch thin
* Integrates directly with Google Earth
* Use it to track mail anywhere in the world
* GPS Location information is stored onto a removable MicroSD card for later review
* Records location, speed, and altitude anywhere in the world for later review

If you have used this item, please leave a comment or a screen capture of a tracking report. Thanks!

new automation mail preparation standards

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Ross-Simons Slams Proposed USPS Rule Change For ‘Slim-Jim’ Processing
"...the USPS says in its proposal that “many slim-jims will jam letter automation equipment or become significantly damaged during processing. To avoid these problems, slim-jims often are run on flat-sorting equipment, where they process without significant problems, but at significantly greater cost. To rectify this situation, the Postal Service is developing new automation mail preparation standards for letter-size booklets and folded self-mailers that more accurately characterize which pieces can be run on its primary letter-sorting equipment”..."
Reference: multichannelmerchant.com

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Postal Carrier Dogged for Making a Point

Chihuahua delivered to mayor's doorstep "...contends that he has complained about the puppy wandering loose in his neighborhood, and animal control failed to correct the problem. After the pooch "made sexual advances"..."
Reference: blogs.roanoke.com from a story in the Dallas Morning News

How can I be a postal service mystery shopper?

Postal Service looking for secret shoppers: The Real Deal 4/30/08 "...You can’t just sign up for the program, however. Certain zip codes are chosen, and people living in those zip codes are sent letters at random. While secret shoppers may get to keep items they buy while on the job, the Postal Service isn’t offering you anything in return for your taking part in the program..."
Reference:

The National Postal Museum Needs Your Help

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The Smithsonian National Postal Museum is looking for photographs and memorabilia of postal employees
"...especially interested in photographs of employees from the 1940s to the present. The photographs are being sought in connection with the upcoming “Portrait of the Postal Worker” exhibit, scheduled to open in March 2010...."
Reference: www.npmhu.org

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schedules for economic stimulus payments

Below are the schedules for economic stimulus payments related to tax returns processed by April 15, 2008:

Letter Carriers Food Drive is May 10, 2008

ABOUT STAMP OUT HUNGER
On Saturday May 10th, letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect food items and deliver them to local food banks to help some of the millions of Americans, including an estimated 13 million children, who face hunger every day.

Since 1993, families have donated more than a half-billion pounds of food to Stamp Out Hunger. You can help make this year our most successful ever.
Simply place bags filled with nonperishable food items like canned meats and fish, canned soup, juice, pasta, vegetables, cereal and rice next to your mailbox on Saturday, May 10th. *

Your letter carrier will pick up the bags and deliver them to your local food bank.

* Please do not include out-of-date items or those in glass containers.

Forever Stamp

Every Time a Bell Rings… Another Forever Stamp is Sold: Postal Service Customers Prepare for New Prices on May 12 "...The Forever Stamp, as the name suggests, can be used to mail a one-ounce First-Class Mail letter at any time in the future without additional postage, regardless of when the stamps are purchased or used and no matter how prices may change. Customers who buy Forever Stamps now at the current First-Class Mail stamp price of 41 cents will save a penny when the price of stamps — including the Forever Stamp — increases to 42 cents on May 12...."
Reference: www.usps.com

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www.fedexwatch.com References Book

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New York Times Reporter Writes About FedEx in New Book "...The New York Times is serializing parts of Greenhouse’s book. The April 20 Sunday Times had an extensive excerpt that focused on former FedEx Ground driver Jean Capobianco..."
Reference: www.fedexwatch.com

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Cookeville Postal Retiree Serves Online Radio To The Masses

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We always like to find articles about what postal employees do when they retire. Here's an article on Bill Barnes who is riding the waves ...internet waves that is. Surf on over. Support a retired postal worker by dropping by his website and requesting a song. Tell him "The Postal Newsgroup" sent you! Here is the article out of Cookeville, Tennessee.Cookeville man hits the Internet radio waves "...COOKEVILLE -- Bill Barnes of Cookeville has amassed thousands of songs in his years as a DJ for hire. Now he's going to share those songs with the whole community through a two-hour online radio show which airs from 3-5 p.m. every Monday through Friday at http://community.loudcity.com/stations/thebman38502-yahoo-com...."
Reference: www.herald-citizen.com

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TSP Snapshot

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Here is the April 2008 TSP SnapShot:
Click to enlarge image please


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The Juan Rodriguez Postal Collection

Postal collection reminds Juan Rodriguez of his years of service "...The pieces bring back memories of his time as a postal carrier in Miami, delivering mail to such places as residential neighborhoods and the Miami International Merchandise Mart..."
Reference: www.thevillagesdailysun.com

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Classic Car Stamps

Postal Service provides ‘sneak peek’ at Classic Car Stamps "...Ever wanted to own a classic car but couldn’t afford one? Later this fall, 50 million Detroit classics will roll out of the nation’s 37,000 Post Office show rooms as the second issuance in the America on the Move commemorative stamps series. The 50s Fins and Chrome 42-cent First-Class stamps go on sale Oct. 3, and feature paintings by renowned automobile illustrator Art. M. Fitzpatrick—a ’57 Chrysler 300C, ’57 Lincoln Premiere, ’57 Pontiac Safari, ’57 Studebaker Golden Hawk and a ’59 Cadillac Eldorado. The stamps were modeled after cars still on the road today...."
Reference: www.usps.com

TSP Auto Enrollment?

Board to press for automatic TSP enrollment of new employees
"...draft legislation prepared by the board, new or rehired employees would have 3 percent of their basic pay automatically contributed to one of TSP’s L Funds as soon as they begin work, unless they specifically decline to participate. Employees would have 90 days to opt out of the program and receive a full refund. ..."

Source: www.federaltimes.com

Collection Box Blues

Postal Worker Finds $2,300 In Envelope

"... The owner accidently dropped the enveloped in the postal collection box instead of the bank's deposit box...

Source: www.newsnet5.com

CPI-W

Charting average weekly earnings for U.S. workers
"... ..."

Source: www.reliableplant.com

Provide public comment on universal postal service

Postal Regulatory Commission Initiates Public Outreach on Universal Postal Service Study "...The Postal Regulatory Commission today established Docket No. PI2008-3 and invited public comment on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States. The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) requires the Commission to submit a report to the President and Congress on “universal postal service and the postal monopoly in the United States, including the monopoly on the delivery of mail and on access to mailboxes. The report is to be submitted not later than December 19, 2008...."
[Reference: www.graphicartsonline.com]

Reference Material:

Universal Postal Service: The obligation that everyone in every part of the country gets the same type of mail service for the same price.

Postal Regulatory Commission

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United States Postal Service ‘Electronic Postmark’

Striata Adds the United States Postal Service ‘Electronic Postmark’ to its Secure eDocument Delivery and eBilling Solutions "...This new offering guarantees email document delivery, increases inbox penetration, adds the legal protection of the United States Postal Service Electronic Postmark™ and significantly enhances consumer trust...."
[Reference: www.emediawire.com]

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OPM Launches Enhanced Telework Website

Does the postal service offer employees the opportunity to work at home via the internet/intranet? The postal service participate in telework. The telework website lists a telework cordinator.

U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director Linda M. Springer today announced the launch of an enhanced interagency telework website, www.telework.gov. The updated site features a series of user-friendly improvements designed to make telework information more accessible and understandable to Federal employees.

The site: www.telework.gov/

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Postal Carrier Lisa Harrell Saves Baby

Postal worker saves infant who fell from second-floor window "...City police said Lisa Harrell was making a package delivery to 306 Second St. about 11 a.m. when she noticed the child in an upstairs window that was open and did not have the screen pulled down. Harrell started to walked to the front door when she was struck in the head, police said. Unsure of what hit her, she put her arms out and the child fell into her arms, according to police...."
[Reference: www.dailygazette.com]

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