"...Because Quad ships so many pieces of direct mail and publications, over the years it has created such a tight relationship with the U.S. Postal Service that Quad in some ways effectively acts as an extension of the Post Office. Quad pre-sort magazines and catalogs, which creates efficiencies for the Post Office "mail-stream" and entitles Quad to bulk mailing discounts...."
"...(February 24, 2014) All excessing related to Area Mail Processing events has been place on an indefinite hold. The Postal Service is releasing the residual vacancies withheld for placement of employees who were potentially impacted by AMP events...."
"...A single letter stamp, currently 63 cents, would rise to $1 per stamp on March 31 (85 cents if you buy in bulk, 75 cents if you use a meter machine, and under 70 for large-volume mailers). And within five years, everyone would have to walk to a “community mailbox” to pick up their mail...."
"..."This is a very serious issue," Mikulski wrote in her letter. "Constituents report that they are waiting for prescription medications which are a week overdue." Hours later, other Maryland lawmakers, including Sen. Ben Cardin and Reps. Chris Van Hollen, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and John Delaney, as well as Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District of Columbia as a delegate in Congress, signed a similar letter to Donahoe...."
"... post office in Yeadon on January 22nd and then robbed the Darby branch with a gun on the same day. Investigators were able to track Thomas down because of the mask he was wearing, one that resembled bumbling Police Inspector Clouseau from the 'Pink Panther' series. ..."
"...“CBRE conflicts of interest could lead to financial loss to the Postal Service and decrease public trust in the Postal Service’s brand,” the Postal Service Inspector General’s office said Wednesday in a “management alert” that strongly recommends that the arrangement be scrapped...."
"...In an effort make up for missed operational days last week due to the winter storm, the USPS is opening up 27 offices across the metro Atlanta area on Monday...."
"...Investigators did not cite a motive for the bombing. They said they were running tests on the explosive materials, which appear to have been planted rather than delivered by a mail or package service...."
"...Investigators looking into the mail bomb that killed a retired lawyer at his Tennessee home Monday, and his wife days later, may have found a clue amid the debris: a note officials believe was attached to the bomb...." Police find note attached to mail bomb that killed Tennessee lawyer, wife
"...On the Setzers' quiet rural street, neighbors were terrified about whether a bomb might arrive in their mailbox. Some told WZTV that officers went house-to-house Monday night to check mailboxes for devices...."
"...In one case a Maple Heights man had more than 50 pounds of marijuana mailed to an office space he rented in Beachwood and to his home. Postal inspectors also..."
U.S. Postal Service Announces Giant Ammo Purchase
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| GameFly |
"...There is no word on when — or if — the committee will reconvene to finish consideration of the legislation, S. 1486. Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee meeting, Jan. 29, 2014 Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee meeting, Jan. 29, 2014 “The bill would be devastating for postal workers and the people of the country..."
"...Since 2000, the Postal Service has shed 300,000 career jobs — a drop of almost 40 percent. The Postal Service eliminated 37,400 jobs in fiscal 2013 alone. And it’s not going to get any better. Over the next few years, postal jobs are going to keep disappearing — at a faster rate than in any other sector of the labor force. According to the Occupational Outlooks Handbook just put out by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, by 2022 the number of clerks, mail processing workers, and letter carriers will decline another 28 percent — 139,000 more jobs gone...."
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| Keith Jardine [myspace photo] |
"...the postponement of the implementation date for the revised service standards for market-dominant mail products that were scheduled to take effect on February 1, 2014, as part of the Network Rationalization initiative. The new implementation date will be announced by the Postal Service in the Federal Register at least 90 days before it takes effect...."
In an article from the American Postal Workers Union, "The Postal Service announced in the Federal Register on Jan. 24 that it is postponing Phase 2 of its latest mail processing consolidation plan, which was slated to begin on Feb. 1. The USPS is also delaying implementation of changes to service standards that would have further slowed the mail, to the detriment of customers and postal workers."
Mail processing facility closures were contingent upon revisions to mail service standards changes. The postponement of service standard changes are a major victory for the citizens of the United States of America, employees of the Postal Service and mailers alike. It is obvious that the citizens of this country have spoken loudly and want to save the timely delivery and universal mail service to all patrons. To have purposely slowed the mail in this country would have been a disservice to everyone and would have only led to the possible destruction of the Postal Service as well as a move toward privatization which we all realize would lead to exorbitant rate increases for first-class mail. This decision may be a realization that our government is actually listening to the desires of the citizens of this great country and will preserve an institution that is vital to the infrastructure of our country. We applaud the intelligent decision to, at least, temporarily put a halt to the destruction of the United States Postal Service and the network as we know it today. The Postal Service is like the United States Military, as it was not designed to be a 'for profit' entity, but was constructed to provide an efficient and effective service to its citizens.
Is the Postal Service becoming too dependent on a management program that has been discounted by some as a proven failure? It appears they are employing 'Six Sigma' heavily[1], but history and the S&P 500 may be proof as to why the Postal Service may be investing in the wrong direction with Six Sigma. Read more on the process and you decide.
"...In fact, of 58 large companies that have announced Six Sigma programs, 91 percent have trailed the S&P 500 since, according to an analysis by Charles Holland of consulting firm Qualpro (which espouses a competing quality-improvement process). ..."
Link Appreciation Return: http://postalaffairsblog.intelisent.com/six-sigma-postal-service-touting-program-of-failure-to-managers/