Each year, the U.S. Postal Service spends millions of dollars to replace equipment that leaks out of its network. With wooden and plastic pallets ranging from $7 to $20 each, cardboard and plastic letter trays ranging from 65 cents to $2.75 per tray, and plastic flat tubs costing around $4 each, losses quickly add up.
Postal customers often find these tubs and trays are handy for personal use. However, by not returning them to the post office, the postal service experiences costs that are passed on to the customer through increased postage charges. Look closely and you will see a message on the equipment that reads: “Warning – Maximum penalty for theft or misuse of postal property $1,000 fine and 3 years imprisonment”.
Recovery efforts are proving fruitful. More than 21,000 pallets and other items worth close to $1.75 million have been returned to post offices within the past year.
Postmasters in the area are asking customers to return those plastic tubs and letter trays. Letter carriers can collect them with regular mail delivery or they can be returned to any post office or contract postal unit.
For more information about purchasing stamps, stamps by mail, postal regulations, a free subscription to USA Philatelic magazine, Post Office events, the location of the nearest postal store or contract unit, or for answers to your specific Postal Service questions, contact USPS at 1-800-275-8777, or visit www.usps.com.
To schedule a presentation for your community, club or group on how the Postal Service brings the Post Office to your home or office computer, call 239-573-9638.
We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com
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Mr. Zip’s Tip: The Postal Service is recognized as an environmental innovator and leader, earning more than 75 major environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle awards for environmental stewardship and 10 WasteWise Partner of the Year awards for best government performance from the Environmental Protection Agency
Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. We’re everywhere so you can be anywhere: www.uspseverywhere.com. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.
