USPSNEWS@WORK

American heritage: Declaration of Independence, coming soon to a town near you

The founding document of American freedom is being delivered by the United States Postal Service. The Declaration of Independence is touring the country the next three- and-a-half years. And USPS is the Official Carrier.

• Television producer Norman Lear purchased a copy of the country's founding charter at auction in 2000 with the intent of bringing the "People's Document" to the people of the nation.

• The Declaration of Independence Road Trip is a multi-media mobile exhibit designed to inspire civic activism - especially in young people.

• The road trip kicked off last September in Charleston, SC. USPS will be transporting the Declaration of Independence and exhibit to these cities and towns this spring:

• Little Rock, AR, Feb. 22; Independence, MO, March 3; Kansas City, MO, March 8; Omaha, NE, March 29; Madison, WI, April 9; New Orleans, LA, April 13; Minneapolis, MN, April 26; Sioux Falls, SD, May 7; Bismarck, ND May 11. The exhibit will travel to many additional cities and towns through 2004.

• As America's communications provider for over 200 years, the Postal Service was a natural choice to transport our country's charter. USPS has an 80-foot tractor-trailer and a flexible fuel delivery vehicle dedicated to the project and identifying the Postal Service as the official carrier of the Declaration of Independence.

• The Postal Inspection Service is providing security as the document travels to cities and towns across the nation.

• The project is co-chaired by former presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter. Depot is the presenting sponsor of the road trip.

New vehicle security video "Lock It Up" has been distributed to offices nationwide

Security is the watchword. Safety is the goal. "Lock It Up" is the new video on vehicle security distributed to Postal Service facilities nationwide.

• The USPS fleet is big and highly visible. It represents a massive ground-based distribution and delivery network that serves every business and residence in the country, every day. But that familiarity can pose a threat if a Postal Service vehicle is taken and used by someone intent on causing harm.

• Accompanying the video is a letter from Chief Operating Officer Pat Donahoe, a mandatory stand-up talk and a recent Postal Bulletin article (Postal Bulletin 22089, 11-14-02, page 8) on vehicle security.

• "The video focuses on simple, corrective measures that everyone can use to protect our vehicles," says Donahoe. "Removing keys, closing windows and locking doors are just a few easy actions everyone can do to ensure the safety of our vehicles."

Flat out strategic: USPS Flats plan hinges on customer involvement

"Our Corporate Flat Strategy calls for bringing flat mail - newspapers, catalogs, magazines and other periodicals - up to the same level of sophistication that letter mail processing provides today," Operations Senior Vice President John Rapp said to a recent meeting of the Postal Service Board of Governors.

• Presenting the near- and long-term strategy for processing flat mail, Rapp said USPS plans to "automate sorting down to the order that letter carriers deliver their routes."

• Between 1993 and 2001, letter mail processing productivity increased 83%. Following deployment of 534 Automated Flat Sorting Machine 100s just two years ago, flat mail processing productivity jumped 78%.

• To continue this success, Rapp said the Postal Service must find ways to increase customer involvement in developing rate structure incentives, mail make-up requirements and communicating the importance of correct bar codes and readable addresses.

• Rapp also outlined a delivery plan to sequence letters and flats into a system that provides one "package" of mail for each address. Two options are being explored.

• One hinges on the feasibility of a Delivery Point Packager R&D effort. Equipment is expected to be available for testing in the next two to three years. If the R&D effort is successful, deployment could begin in 2007.

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• A second simultaneous R&D effort to create a Flats Sequencing System will place flats into delivery order. If successful, that system could begin deployment in 2006.

F3Fill users are getting into the flow - FormFlow.

More than 75 Postal Service forms have been converted to the new USPS electronic forms application, FormFlow. Filing out and filing forms has never been so good - or so easy.

• "FormFlow's tremendous flexibility makes the difference," says Online Services Manager Norm Cloher.

• FormFlow has a built-in function that helps users navigate through standard operations like filling out, printing and spell-checking. FormFlow's navigational tool is a tabbing feature that moves the user's cursor from field to field.

• FormFlow Filler Hot Tips, available online at http://blue.usps.gov/formmgmt/ff_tips.htm, provides new users step-by-step instruction on completing forms using Form Flow.

• All Postal Service forms currently in F3Fill will be converted to FormFlow and ready to use by fiscal year end. Since differences in data format and structure will limit USPS ability to convert all F3Fill data to FormFlow, documents that employees have saved in F3Fill must be printed and filed away - and soon.

• Look for FormFlow updates in the Postal Bulletin, USPS News Link and Hardcopy in coming weeks.

Drop a line about drop shipments

Publication 804, Drop Shipment Procedures for Destination Entry, will be updated and rewritten this year. That's where you come in.

• If you receive drop shipments at a BMC, SCF and DDU or if you're involved with the drop-ship appointment process, USPS would like to hear from you.

• Got a suggestion? A better procedure? Send an e- mail to PVDS@email.usps.gov by Feb. 28.

again

Two more missing children have been safely recovered, thanks to a lead generated by an ADVO card delivered by the Postal Service. That brings the total to 122 children recovered through the America's Looking for Its Missing Children Program.

Perfectly franked

Official mail of members of Congress is sent without prepayment of postage and bears instead either a written or printed facsimile signature or a specified marking. Read DMM E050 for more on franked mail.

Terror alert raised to code orange, the Postal Service ratchets up security, employee caution

The White House has raised the national terror alert to code orange, signifying a "high" risk of terrorist attack. In response, USPS is asking employees to increase their attention to security of the mail and Postal Service facilities and to exercise caution in performing their duties.

A detailed message has been sent to all USPS field facilities outlining daily security measures. They include taking all necessary steps to ensure facility security, taking extra care when accepting mail at the counter and exercising caution when collecting and delivering mail.

The Postal Service is asking letter carriers and other employees to immediately report any suspicious mail items to Postal Inspectors and local law enforcement officials.

Other daily safety guidelines:

• Exercise diligence when observing mail that is accepted at the counter. It is very important to ask questions to determine if packages contain hazardous materials.

• Provide either caps or shirts with the Postal Service logo on them for casual employees who deliver mail.

• Letter carriers using satchel carts to perform their duties must keep the cart in view at all times.

• If an employee is unable to keep a vehicle in full, direct sight the vehicle must be locked.

• Vehicle Maintenance Facility (VMF) managers must make sure that surplus vehicles are properly prepared for disposal. If contractors do this work, the (VMF) manager must verify that it is performed correctly.

• Field operational units must perform daily inventory of all Postal Service-owned and leased vehicles.

• Ensure that both front and rear GSA- or P-tags (commonly used on the administrative or "non-mail hauling" fleet) are accounted for daily.

• Notify Inspection Service/local Postal police and the VMF manager immediately of any lost of missing vehicles or government license plates.

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• Account for on a daily basis the inventory of USPS ID badges, Air Operations Area (AOA) access badges, and other control cards provided to USPS employees and contractors. Most importantly, USPS IDs must be returned to the Postal Service when contractors are separated or no longer have business with USPS. Access control cards must be deactivated whenever they are reported lost and for separated employees and contractors.

• Ensure that updated Continuity of Operations Plans (COOP) and other contingency plans are available.

These protective measures will remain in effect until further notice.

Child Alert

Customer Relations

Mail Alert

The mailings below will be deposited in the near future. Offices should honor the requested delivery dates. Mailers wishing to participate in these alerts, for mailings of 1 million pieces or more, should contact Business Service Network Integration at 703-292-4041 at least 1 month preceding the requested delivery dates. The Postal Service also offers electronic Mail Alerts via ADVANCE. For more information, see the ADVANCE Notification & Tracking System Technical Guide on the Internet at http://www.ribbs.usps.gov/files/advance/ADVTECH.PDF or contact the National Customer Support Center at 800-458-3181.

Domestic Mail

CONFIRMATION SERVICES CUSTOMERS AND MANIFESTING SYSTEM VENDORS

New File Transmission Procedures for Confirmation Services Customers and Manifesting System Vendors

Attention all Confirmation Services customers and manifesting system vendors!

In an ongoing effort to improve our services, the Postal Service is implementing changes to our process for sending and receiving data for Delivery ConfirmationTM, Signature ConfirmationTM, and Express MailŪ Manifesting services. We are replacing our current File Transfer Protocol (FTP) servers with new dial-up FTP servers that are more reliable and stable and that offer standardized commands. These new servers will require minor changes within your shipping/manifesting software or communications process.

Important: If you currently transmit to the Postal Service using dial-up FTP, you must transition to the new FTP because our current dial-up FTP process is being eliminated. Mailers using our Internet FTP are not affected by this change.

During the transition period, which runs through July 1, 2003, we will maintain our current FTP processes and also provide the new FTP service. Because the current Postal Service dial-up FTP processes will terminate after July 1, 2003, you will need to transition to the new FTP by that date. If you use vendor-supplied software, please contact your vendor about this change.

In January, we mailed the specifications for the new FTP process to all customers who currently use Delivery Confirmation, Signature Confirmation, and Express Mail Manifesting services. We are also publishing them in this article, and you can also request them by calling 877-264-9693, Option 1. We will also incorporate these specifications into the next printed and online versions of Publication 91, Confirmation Services Technical Guide.

If you have any questions regarding these required changes, or if you need assistance with the new process, please call our Technical Support Group at 877-264-9693, Option 1, or send an e-mail to dconfirm@usps.com.

Connecting to the Postal Service Network

Note: In these instructions, the term postaluserid refers to the mailer's USPS Logon ID - for example, mmc001.

Establish a Dial-Up connection using your PPP postaluserid and dial-up password all in lower case. The USPS toll-free access number is 1-800-852-9437.

Once connected to the Postal Service Network, establish an FTP session.

Using FTP client software or the command line, connect to: PTSMFTP.USPS.GOV using your postaluserid and password. postaluserid and password are case sensitive. You are now connected to the USPS FTP Server. The server uses standard FTP commands.

Sending Electronic Files

Change the directory to /postaluserid/inbound (all lowercase). This is the directory where you will be placing your electronic files. The command used to change to this directory is: cd /postaluserid/inbound

Set the transmission mode to ASCII unless you are sending compressed (zipped) files, in which case the mode must be binary. PKZip is the only compression method accepted. Change the transmission mode by entering the appropriate command: ascii or binary

Files must be sent using the following naming convention: <postaluserid>.manifest

Example: mmcw93.manifest

If sending multiple separate files in one session use the following naming convention for subsequent files to avoid overwriting your previous file(s).

<postaluserid><seq>Manifest Begin with the letter a for the sequence identifier and continue with b,c, etc. for subsequent files.

Example: mmcw93a.manifest

Use the put command to transfer the file to the directory: /postaluserid/inbound

Example:

put <localfilename> <postaluserid>Manifest

When sending Shipping Partner Event Code Files, use the following naming convention:

<postaluserid>.consolid

If sending multiple Shipping Partner Event Code Files in one session use the following naming convention for subsequent files to avoid overwriting your previous file(s). <postaluserid><seq>.consolid

Example: mmcw93a.consolid

Retrieving Reports Using Dial-Up FTP

Change the directory to: /postaluserid/outbound. This is the directory from which your reports are retrieved. The command used to change to this directory is:

CD /postaluserid/outbound

To see what files are available for pickup use the directory list command. The command is: dir

Use the get command to retrieve file(s) from the directory: /postaluserid/outbound

Example: get ERRWRNO.RPT.11203520

The following reports can be found in the outbound directory:

• Confirmation Services Error/Warning Report

• Extract File

• Shipping Partner Error/Warning Report

The naming convention used for these files are as follows:

• ERRWRNO.RPT.MMddhhmmss for the Confirmation Services Error/Warning Report

• DETEXTRO.RPT.MMddhhmmss for the Extract File

• ERRWRNO1.RPT.MMddhhmmss for the Consolidator Error/Warning Report

MMddhhmmss signifies the following:

• MM = numeric representation of the month,

• dd = day of the month,

• hhmmss = the hour, minute, and second that the file or report was generated.

Copy the files to your local computer. You may choose to delete the files from the USPS host. If you do not delete the files, the USPS host site will automatically delete the oldest copy (generation) of each file type on the 31st generation of that file.

To delete the file, use the del command.

Example: del ERRWRNO.RPT.MMddhhmmss

Changing the FTP Password

Note: When you first receive your postalid, the corresponding password matches the id. It is highly recommended that you change your password as soon as you first access your account. To voluntarily change your password, the command chpw must be used. The command syntax is quote chpw <newpassword>.

Example: quote chpw mspacman

- Product Information Requirements,
Product Development, 2-20-03

HANDBOOK DM-109 REVISION

Clarifications to Handbook DM-109, Business Mail Acceptance

Handbook DM-109, Business Mail Acceptance, provides information about mail verification and acceptance policy for mailings deposited by customers in business mail entry units (BMEUs) and detached mail units (DMUs). The following information clarifies certain policies and procedures in Handbook DM-109 involving Chapter 4 and Chapter 7.

We will incorporate these revisions into the online version of Handbook DM-109, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site at http://blue.usps.gov/cpim; click on HBKs. We will not print copies of Handbook DM-109 at this time. Managers, Business Mail Entry (MBMEs), and other acceptance personnel are encouraged to print a copy of Handbook DM-109 from the Postal Service Intranet to keep as a reference at their work sites.

Handbook DM-109, Business Mail Acceptance

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4 Verification Procedures

[Add the following paragraph as the first paragraph on page 4-1:]

Chapter 4 is intended for use by sites that do not have Mail Evaluation, Readability Lookup INstruments (MERLIN). MERLIN sites will follow verification procedures documented in the MERLIN operations training manual, which is available at business mail entry units (BMEUs).

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7 Non-ABE

[Add the following paragraph as the first paragraph on page 7-1:]

Chapter 7 is intended for use by sites that do not have Mail Evaluation, Readability Lookup Instruments (MERLIN). MERLIN sites will follow verification procedures documented in the MERLIN operations training manual, which is available at business mail entry units (BMEUs).

* * * * *

- Marketing Technology and Channel Management, Business Mail Acceptance, 2-20-03