[D-Link]

Philately

UPDATED ANNOUNCEMENT 02-F

2002 Stamps and Postal Stationery

"2002 Stamps and Postal Stationery" (Announcement 02-F, October 2002), which appears on page 6, is intended to replace the quarterly announcement of the same name, previously printed and sent to customers on request through Stamp Fulfillment Services in Kansas City. The announcement is a listing of stamps and postal stationery items scheduled for issuance during calendar year 2002. Post Offices may wish to post this schedule on their bulletin boards.

Customers may also be directed to access the Postal Bulletin through the Postal Service Web site at www.usps.com, then by clicking on Info, and then Postal Periodicals and Publications.

This announcement will be updated every 2 to 3 months, as changes warrant.

How to Order First Day of Issue Cancellations and Covers

Customers may purchase new stamps or postal stationery items at their Post Office, from the USA Philatelic catalog, by calling 1 800 STAMP-24, or online at www.usps.com by clicking on Buy Stamps & More. Then they should prepare their own covers by affixing new stamps to the upper right corner of envelopes or postcards of their choice, and address those envelopes, postcards, or postal stationery items to themselves or others. (Postage must equal the current First-Class Mail rate.) For sturdiness, include a card of postcard thickness in each cover (envelopes only) submitted, and tuck in the flap. Place the cover in a larger envelope addressed to: NAME OF ISSUE, POSTMASTER, CITY, STATE, and ZIP CODE (followed by -9991). Covers submitted for first day of issue cancellations may include additional uncancelled stamps only if the uncancelled stamps were issued before the first day of issue of the new stamps or postal stationery items. All orders must be postmarked on or before the deadline indicated in the "2002 Stamps and Postal Stationery" announcement that follows.

The U.S. Postal Service offers uncacheted first day covers for new stamp issues and postal stationery items postmarked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has its own catalog number in USA Philatelic, issued quarterly. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24, by sending an e-mail to sfs@email.usps.gov, or by writing to:

INFORMATION FULFILLMENT
DEPT 6270
US POSTAL SERVICE
PO BOX 219014
KANSAS CITY MO 64121-9014

- Stamp Services,Government Relations and Public Policy, 10-17-02

2002 STAMPS AND POSTAL STATIONERY
This schedule is subject to change. Announcement 02-F (October 2002)

This is a periodic announcement of new stamps and postal stationery items being issued during the calendar year. For additional information on stamps and stamp products visit our Postal Store Web site at www.usps.com.

Note Descriptions

C: Change in previously announced date, site, and/or rate

N: New issue

P: Pictorial first day postmark

+ Customers must affix additional postage to bring total postage to at least the minimum First-Class Mail rate for an envelope or stamped card, depending on which is used. Also, the cost for a stamped envelope is the value of the postage plus 8 cents, and the cost for a stamped card is the value of the postage plus 2 cents.

Pictorial Cancellations Announcement

As a community service, the Postal Service offers pictorial cancellations to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation. A list of events for which pictorial cancellations are authorized appears below. If available, the sponsor of the pictorial cancellation appears in italics under the date. Also provided, as space permits, are illustrations of those cancellations that were reproducible and available at press time.

People attending these local events may obtain the cancellation in person at the temporary Post Office station established there. Those who cannot attend the event, but who wish to obtain the cancellation, may submit a mail order request. Pictorial cancellations are available only for the dates indicated, and requests must be postmarked no later than 30 days following the requested pictorial cancellation date.

All requests must include a stamped envelope or postcard bearing at least the minimum First-Class Mail® postage. Items submitted for cancellation may not include postage issued after the date of the requested cancellation. Such items will be returned unserviced.

Customers wishing to obtain a cancellation should affix stamps to any envelope or postcard of their choice, address the envelope or postcard to themselves or others,insert a card of postcard thickness in envelopes for sturdiness, and tuck in the flap. Place the envelope or postcard in a larger envelope and address it to: PICTORIAL CANCELLATIONS, followed by the NAME OF THE STATION,ADDRESS, CITY, STATE, ZIP + 4 CODE, exactly as listed below (using all capitals and no punctuation, except the hyphen in the ZIP + 4 code).

Customers can also send stamped envelopes and postcards without addresses for cancellation, as long as they supply a larger envelope with adequate postage and their return address. After applying the pictorial cancellation, the Postal Service returns the items (with or without addresses) under addressed protective cover.

- Stamp Services,
Government Relations and Public Policy, 10-17-02

Stamp Stock Items Withdrawn From Regular Sale and From Sale at Philatelic Centers

Effective close-of-business October 31, 2002, all Post Offices, stations, branches, postal stores, vending outlets, and authorized philatelic centers must (1) withdraw the stamp stock items and products listed below and their related vending and store-prepared stamp items from sale and (2) prepare them for destruction. Submit items to destruction sites according to local established procedures, under the guidelines in Handbook F-1, Post Office Accounting Procedures, Subchapter 45, Destroying Stamp Stock.

Do not permit sales of the stamp stock items, products, and their related vending and store-prepared stamp items listed below at retail counters and outlets after October 31, 2002. Items listed are also withdrawn from sale at Stamp Fulfillment Services (SFS) after December 31, 2002.

Item numbers listed with an asterisk (*) were advertised as off sale March 31 or May 31, 2002, for field offices.

The following stamp items are withdrawn from sale at Stamp Fulfillment Services (SFS) on December 31, 2002. However, they remain on sale at regular retail counters until depleted.

- Stamp Services,
Government Relations and Public Policy, 10-17-02

Special Cancellation Die Hubs

Postmasters and plant managers who have any of the special cancellation die hubs listed below may use them for the periods designated. At the end of the period, these die hubs must be withdrawn and stored. Postmasters and plant managers who do not have these special die hubs may not request them from the sponsors.

Post Offices

®

This office will be CLOSED

Monday,
November 11, 2002,

to observe
Veterans Day.

This office will be CLOSED

Thursday,
November 28, 2002,

to celebrate
Thanksgiving Day.

Retail

REVISED FORM

PS Form 1091-A, Post Office Box Fee Register

PS Form 1091-A, Post Office Box Fee Register (see below), has been revised to reflect the June 30, 2002, group fee changes. A new Post Office box fee category will be introduced for Post Office box service in the lowest cost cities and highest cost rural areas. This new fee group will provide a bridge to eventually move high-cost and low-cost ZIP Codes toward more appropriate fee assignments.

Supplies are available at the Material Distribution Center (MDC). You can order the revised PS Form 1091-A by one of the following means:

• Touch Tone Order Entry: Call 800-332-0317, choose option 1, then option 2.

Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, choose option 8, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message (wait 48 hours after registering before you place your first order).

• E-Mail: Complete PS Form 7380, MDC Supply Requisition (manually or using F3 Fill), and send it as an attachment to the e-mail address MDC Customer Service or to mcustome@email.usps.gov.

• Mail: Mail a completed PS Form 7380 to the MDC at the following address:

SUPPLY REQUISITIONS
MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
500 SW GARY ORMSBY DR
TOPEKA KS 66624-9702

Here's the information that you'll need to order PS Form 1091-A:

PSIN: PS1091A
NSN: 7530-02-000-7341
Unit of Issue: EA
Bulk Pack Quantity: 0
Quick Pick No.: 111
Price: $0.0201
Edition Date: 09/02

Recycle/discard old forms (version September 1993) and replace them with the revised PS Form 1091-A (version September 2002).

- Retail Operations,
Delivery and Retail, 10-17-02

ALL POST OFFICES WITH RURAL DELIVERY SERVICE

Rural Carrier Guarantee Period

Postal Service managers must effectively manage rural carriers who work under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) section 7(b)(2). Those carriers are paid overtime for all hours actually worked in excess of 2,080, up to 2,240, within the 52-consecutive-week guarantee period.

If a carrier works more than 2,240 hours within the guarantee period, the agreement under FLSA , section 7(b)(2), is considered void, and the carrier must be compensated for all hours worked during the guarantee period in accordance with FLSA, section 7(a).

It is important that we make every effort to minimize the number of hours carriers work over 2,080 and strictly monitor these carriers to ensure that no carrier works in excess of 2,240 actual work hours.

Last year's guarantee period was from Saturday, November 3, 2001, through Friday, November 1, 2002. The guarantee period for this year runs from Saturday, November 2, 2002, through Friday, October 31, 2003.

- Delivery Support,
Delivery and Retail, 10-17-02

REVISED FORMS

PS Forms 5139, Non Postal Service Temporary Employee, and 5140, Non Postal Service Contractor Employee

Two forms, PS Form 5139, Non Postal Service Temporary Employee, and PS Form 5140, Non Postal Service Contractor Employee (see page 31), have been revised and are available from the Material Distribution Center.

We have modified these forms to incorporate the changes in Administrative Support Manual (ASM) 13 as defined in the article "ASM Revision: Photo Identification Requirements" in Postal Bulletin 22076 (5-16-02, page 19). That article states that every Postal Service employee; Postal Service contractor; and temporary employee, including casual employees, must have a photo identification card. We have revised PS Form 5139 to include space for a photo.

Employees may order copies of PS Forms 5139 and 5140 by one of the following means:

• Touch Tone Order Entry: Call 800-332-0317, option 1, then option 2.

Note: You must be registered to use TTOE. To register, call 800-332-0317, choose option 8, extension 2925, and follow the prompts to leave a message (wait 48 hours after registering before you place your first order).

• E-mail: Complete PS Form 7380, MDC Supply Requisition (manually or using F3 Fill), and send it as an attachment to the e-mail address MDC Customer Service or to mcustome@email.usps.gov.

• Mail: Send a completed PS Form 7380, MDC Supply Requisition, to the MDC at the following address:

SUPPLY REQUISITIONS
MATERIAL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
500 GARY ORMSBY DR
TOPEKA KS 66624-9702

The relevant ordering information is as follows:

- Surface Operations,
Network Operations Management, 10-17-02

ALL IRT AND DEBIT/CREDIT CARD OFFICES

Setting Clocks for Standard Time

Managers must ensure that before opening for business on Monday, October 28, 2002, the clocks in all integrated retail terminals (IRTs) and debit/credit card terminals under their control are set back (in most locations) 1 hour to reflect the change to Standard Time. Facilities with Saturday night operations should reset the time as soon as possible after the 2 A.M. start time, Sunday, October 27, 2002.

The correct system time in IRTs is critical since their internal clocks are used to verify Express Mail® and Global Express GuaranteedTM acceptance times and service commitments. The IRT system time is also printed on customer receipts and employee reports. It is very important that the debit/credit card terminal clocks be set to the correct day, date, and time as this will help reduce the possibility of accepting an expired debit/credit card.

Integrated Retail Terminals (IRTs)

On the UNISYS III Supervisor Disk, select item 11, Set System Date and Time, from the Control Menu, and perform the following steps:

1. Observe that the date appears.

2. Press the ENTER key to accept the current date. The time appears.

3. Press the CE key to clear the time.

4. Enter correct Standard Time in military format (e.g., 8 A.M. = 0800, 1:30 P.M. = 1330).

5. Press the ENTER key to save the corrected time. The Control Menu appears.

6. Observe that the corrected time is displayed in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.

Debit/Credit Card Terminals

For debit/credit card terminals, follow these steps:

You must make an entry for each selection, even if the display is correct.

Note: The date and time of Tranz 380s located in Europe should be set to Eastern (New York) time. The date and time of Tranz 380s located in the Pacific should be set to Pacific (San Francisco) time.

To verify the existing date and time, follow these steps:

Retail Consolidation Unit (RCU)

The time for the RCU/CONA will be updated automatically by the Raleigh Distributed Systems Service Center, Operations and Support Services.

Mobile Data Collection Devices (MDCDs)

The Delivery ConfirmationTM handheld scanners will automatically change to Standard Time. No manual changes are necessary.

IBM and NCR POS ONE Terminals

The IBM and NCR POS ONE terminals will automatically change to Standard Time. No manual changes are necessary.

- Customer Service Systems Support,
Delivery and Retail, 10-17-02

Postal Bulletin Distribution

The GPO distributes the Postal Bulletin for the Postal Service to all postal facilities except classified stations and branches, contract postal units, and detached mail units, which receive copies from their administrative post office. The Postal Bulletin is also available online at http://www.usps.com (click on Info, then Postal Periodicals and Publications).

If your postal facility has access to cc:Mail, you may send a request for a new subscription order, an address and/or quantity change, or a subscription query to the cc:Mail address POSTAL BULLETIN. If you are using another email product, you can use the Internet emailaddress pbulleti@email.usps.gov.

If you do not have access to email, you may complete the order form and mail it to:

ATTN POSTAL BULLETIN
US POSTAL SERVICE
475 L'ENFANT PLZ SW RM 5540
WASHINGTON DC 20260-5540

Either way you send it, please include the "PO0"subscription number from your address label.