"... The Intelligent Mail® barcode (formally known as the 4-State Customer Barcode) is the next generation of USPS® barcode technology used to sort and track letters and flats. Intelligent Mail® barcode technology, among other things, combines the capabilities of the POSTNET barcode and the Planet Code® barcode into one unique barcode..."
"...Mailers were very happy to hear one MTAC report, regarding plastic pallets. Mailers have been facing challenges posed by the wooden mail pallets the USPS has been distributing. The wooden pallets can weigh up to 60-70lbs, skewing tare weights and posing safety problems for mail handlers. The USPS announced that they have purchased and are testing a half million new plastic pallets, that are both lighter and less expensive than the older plastic pallets. Real-world testing, including some pallets implanted with GPS devices, is being conducted with these pallets right now. ..." 
"...serious stamp collectors know that one of the rarest stamps in the world is the inverted Jenny. The Jenny stamp was issued by the U.S. postal office on May 10, 1918 in which the image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane was accidentally printed upside-down, making this postal error one of the most famous of all time...."
"...The lines of communication between the principal players in Dakota County have reached a new low, with the latest impasse forcing the cancellation of a three-way meeting that had been scheduled for May 19. "We canceled it because of our deep frustration with the Postal Service," Dakota County Commissioner Tom Egan said. Egan has been speaking with Republican Sen. Norm Coleman's office, ..."
"...Voluntary Early Retirement Authority (VERA) allows agencies that are undergoing substantial restructuring, reshaping, downsizing, transfer of function, or reorganization to temporarily lower the age and service requirements in order to increase the number of employees who are eligible for retirement. The authority encourages more voluntary separations and helps the agency complete the needed organizational change with minimal disruption to the work force. By offering these short term opportunities, an agency can make it possible for employees to receive an immediate annuity years before they would otherwise be eligible..."
"...One federal source said the prime vendor for the contract and OPM have had concerns regarding aspects of the program that the vendor says are out of the scope of the contract. A former OPM employee also said there has been problems with data cleansing for the system, noting that annuity calculations have not consistently been correct as a result...."
"...A state court can award a former spouse a share of the employee's retirement annuity, a survivor annuity, or both. A court also can award a former spouse of a federal employee a portion of the employee's Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account balance as part of a divorce settlement...."
"...This is an important victory for postal and federal employees,” APWU President William Burrus said. “The ruling makes clear that postal workers enjoy the same protection against retaliation as employees in the private sector..."
A quick search of the web offers numerous possibilities in this arena. However, all the sources verify that there is not a postal buyout offer on the table at this time. Rumors are purely speculation and wishful thinking on the part of many. It appears that the environment is ripe for such offers. Some think that the USPS feels they can reduce employment numbers adequately through attrition. Although many feel reduction through attrition will not be sufficient due to the harsh economic realities this country is now facing, therefore many postal employees are either delaying retirement or not even considering it anymore. With the economy in such bad shape and postal pay raises being so small under the latest union contracts, many feel there will have to be an early out retirement cash bonus before retirement will be considered. If you are seeking more information on this subject, a search of the web offers the following informative links:
According to OPM, the supplement is computed as if you were age 62 and fully insured for a social security benefit when the supplement begins. By law, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) first estimates what your full career (40 years) social security benefit would be. Then we calculate the amount of your civilian service under FERS and reduce the estimated full career social security benefit accordingly. For example, if your estimated full career social security benefit would be $1,000 and you had worked 30 years under FERS, we would divide 30 by 40 (.75) and multiply ($1,000 x .75 = $750). The result would be your special retirement supplement, prior to any reductions...."
"...Earlier this month, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the United States Postal Service broke the law when a Destin postal supervisor threatened an employee for filing a labor complaint..."
"...The Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) increased 0.7 percent in April 2008 according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS). Released on May 14..."
"...Do you know the circumstances under which you can withdraw funds from your Thrift Savings Plan account without a tax penalty? Are your heirs..."
"..."They wanted to amputate my legs, but I wouldn't let 'em. I still have the letter to prove it," said the 77-year-old retired postal worker...."
"...of public service privatisation and commercialisation. Not for them the pickled nostrums of the past: if the corporate world could deliver the goods, it had to be given the freest of reins. The farce of their claims couldn't have been more clearly demonstrated than in the liberalisation and creeping privatisation of Britain's postal service...."