USPSNEWS@WORK

QUITE THE COMBO: Service and customer satisfaction at record levels

Meet the dynamic duo - the Postal Service'sTM tag team of service and customer satisfaction. Both are at record levels, according to the latest independently measured results.

Postal Service employees collected, transported, processed and delivered First-Class Mail® items the next day 95 percent of the time during fiscal year 2003 quarter 4, as measured externally and independently by IBM's Business Consulting Services unit. That's the third straight quarter the Postal Service employees have maintained that record External First-Class service levels.

And building upon that service success, a majority of postal customers - 94 percent of them - have a positive view of the Postal Service. That's the highest score ever. Customer satisfaction measurement is independently measured by The Gallup Organization, which surveys customers on postal issues and services, including accuracy and consistency of delivery and courtesy and knowledge of retail employees.

Five districts tied for the lead in on-time delivery performance with scores of 97 percent: Erie, PA; Hawkeye; Northland; Portland, OR; and Spokane, WA.

BE SENSIBLE, GET FLEXIBLE: Flexible spending accounts can help you save money

You work hard for your money. Why not keep more of it with a flexible spending account? Put more money in your pocket. Budget for your health care expenses. Set aside dollars for day care and other dependent care expenses.

Every dollar you put in is tax free. When you enroll in the Flexible Spending Account program, you decide how much you want set aside from each paycheck before taxes are deducted. This lowers your taxable income and reduces the amount of tax you pay for the year.

Do you have a child in day care? Then you know how much you're going to pay during the year, right? Set aside dollars in a flexible spending account.

Did you get the news from the orthodontist that your son or daughter needs braces? And you don't have insurance coverage for orthodontics? Set aside dollars in a flexible spending account.

Remember, you can set up two different flexible spending accounts - one for health care and another for dependent care. You can do either - or both. It's up to you to decide what works best for you.

Open season for the Flexible Spending Account program is under way right now. Postal Service employees can use PostalEASE to enroll. Call the toll-free PostalEASE number at 877-4PS-EASE (877-477-3273) or go to: http://blue.usps.gov/corporate/empss/welcome.htm.

THE LAST MILE: UPS will use Parcel Select service

United Parcel Service (UPS) will start using the Postal Service's Parcel Select® service for final delivery of some of its customers' packages.

Most of these packages are for residential customers who live in rural areas. UPS successfully tested Parcel Select service in July.

Employees at destination delivery units that serve targeted ZIP CodesTM will receive detailed information about handling Parcel Select packages entered by UPS.

INTELLIGENT MAIL: New mail tracking and reporting Web site

The Postal Service is making it easier for customers who use postal tracking services to get information online. Instead of separate Web sites, this information is now available in one place - Mail Tracking & Reporting at http://mailtracking.usps.com.

This is the place to go for information and reports on all postal tracking initiatives such as Confirm®, Entry Information, Parcel Select Performance, Delivery ConfirmationTM and Signature ConfirmationTM. The Web site also can be accessed from the Customer Gateway; go to www.usps.com and click on National & Premier Accounts.

Customers who use old Web addresses - such as Confirm customers who go to www.planetcodes.com - will automatically be directed to the new mail tracking Web site. They'll get the same information as before - and much more. For example, as part of the new site, the Postal Service will release a new Confirm Web-based report system.

USPSNEWS@WORK

MAN OF THE YEAR: V.P. Jaffer recognized for efforts

Public Affairs and Communications Vice President Azeezaly Jaffer received the 2003 Man of the Year award from the American Stamp Dealers Association. Jaffer was recognized for his extraordinary efforts to promote the hobby of stamp collecting.

During his tenure as director of Stamp Services (1995-1999), Jaffer spearheaded the launch and promotion of the classic Looney Tunes stamp series; the highly successful Celebrate the Century commemorative stamp program; and the nation's first ever fundraising stamp, the Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamp.

BEST OF THE BEST: 2003 USPS Quality Supplier Awards

They are companies that helped us increase efficiency, add value to our services and improve customer satisfaction. They're the winners of the 2003 USPS Quality Supplier Awards.

The 10 companies helped the Postal Service save or avoid $469 million in costs this past year, according to Supply Management Vice President Keith Strange.

This year's winners in the small business category are Auth-Florence Manufacturing Company (high-security cluster box units), Cleanwise Inc. (cleaning supplies), Johnston McLamb (software systems), NECS (tax recovery for commercial fuel purposes) and Wheeler Bros. Inc. (spare parts for postal vehicles).

Large business winners are Grainger (maintenance supplies), Hewlett Packard (computer equipment), Lockheed Martin (automated package processing systems), Northrop Grumman (flats sorter enhancements), and U.S. Bank Voyager Fleet Systems (credit card services for vehicles).

LEVERAGING ASSETS: Investment Recovery Plan

Too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. Excess equipment is one example - it's not doing us any good if it isn't being used.

Supply Management (SM) has guidelines for handling excess postal equipment and material, as well as stuff that's nonrepairable or obsolete. It's all part of SM's In- vestment Recovery Plan found at http://blue.usps.gov/purchase/root/smoframes.htm. The plan also makes sure that the Postal Service is consistent with the Environmental Protection Agency's requirements for recycling, decomposition and material disposal.

The Postal Service's investment recovery efforts showed some pretty big increases in revenue, cost avoidance and reallocation for 2003 - to the tune of some $98 million. That's up $30 million from same period last year.

MOVING MILITARY MAIL: New process improves tracking

Getting mail to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces can be a challenging task. Factor in some far-flung locations, a mobile population and some rough terrain, and the challenges might seem daunting. But the mail still goes through. And now, tracking the receipt of that mail just got a whole lot easier.

The Postal Service and the Military Postal Service Agency (MPSA) have developed a new way for the U.S. military to record receipt of mail inexpensively and easily, at any military location or embassy worldwide - even aboard ships at sea. The folks in Intelligent Mail, Planning and Standards, International Network Operations, and International Business Information Technology, along with the MPSA, worked hard to make it happen.

The new system uses hand scanners and Internet communication to record arrival of mail bags and trays containing military mail. Before that, the Postal Service relied on data passed to it from the military on a complex and expensive communications network that used outdated equipment.

Field testing is under way now, with deployment scheduled later this month for Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The Navy is testing shipboard compliance and is expected to begin deployment as early as next month.

The Postal Bulletin - Help Us Save Paper and Money

The Postal Bulletin has been around for 123 years, and it's the most relied-upon, trusted source of information in the Postal ServiceTM today.

In the 1970s, when our nation became more concerned about our environment, the Postal Service began using recycled paper to print the Postal Bulletin. We have also tried over the years to print just the right number of copies to save our nation's resources.

Despite our efforts, some offices tell us that they receive too many copies. We need to do something about this.

Reducing or Canceling Your Subscription

Therefore, if you want to reduce the number of copies your office receives or if you want to cancel your subscription altogether, send an e-mail to pbulleti@usps.gov or call 202-268-5776 (if you reach a recording, be sure to leave a message with your name, telephone number, and ZIP CodeTM). Please be assured that we will not reduce or cancel your subscription unless you ask us to do so.

As we review our subscription list, we will begin calling facilities that seem to have duplicate subscriptions. If we call your facility, please help us determine if we can reduce your subscription.

Accessing the Postal Bulletin Online

Remember, each issue of the Postal Bulletin since 1995 is available online. To access the online version of the Postal Bulletin, please follow either of these routes:

• On the Intranet: Go to the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site at http://blue.usps.gov/cpim; click on View Postal Bulletins.

• On the Internet: Go to www.usps.com; click on About USPS & News, then Forms and Publications, then Postal Bulletin.

More Information

For more information on the Postal Bulletin, please see our article in Postal Bulletin 22097 (3-6-03, pages 5-6) titled "The Postal Bulletin - Your Source for Trusted Information."

We started publishing this article in early April, asking you to let us know if we can reduce or eliminate your subscriptions. Since April of this year, many of you have responded, and together we have reduced the total number of printed copies by more than 14,000!

We've come a long way, and we'll continue to evolve with the times. Our job is to make your job easier. As you know, the Postal Bulletin is here to serve you, as it has been for almost 125 years.

- Policies and Procedures Information,
Public Affairs and Communications, 11-13-03

Administrative Services

ASM REVISION

Preserving the Postal Service Brand

Effective October 14, 2003, the policy regarding Postal ServiceTM brand equity is revised to define what the Postal Service brand and brand identity are and how to gain approval of their use.

We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed edition of the ASM and into the next update of the online version accessible on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site at http://blue.usps.gov; click on More References; then Manuals.

Administrative Support Manual (ASM)

* * * * *

4 Relations With Other Organizations

* * * * *

43 Postal Service Brand Equity

[Revise subchapter 43 to read as follows:]

431 Postal Service Brand

The United States Postal Service brand carries the reputation and good will of the entire organization. It is the sum of all the tangible and intangible characteristics that make its products and services unique to customers, employees, and other stakeholders. The Postal Service brand is the essence of a customer's perception of the Postal Service. Thus, it includes not just the corporate trademark but also the look, the feel, the impression, and the image of the "face" that the Postal Service presents to the customer.

432 Brand Identity

The Postal Service's brand identity is a unique set of attributes that defines the Postal Service based on the experiences, impressions, and emotions of its customers, employees, and other stakeholders when they have contact with the Postal Service. The corporate trademark - the combination of the Eagle symbol and the corporate logotype - is the main symbol of the Postal Service's brand identity and is used to advertise, promote, and communicate the Postal Service brand identity internally and externally. From corporate stationery to packaging materials, the consistent use of the corporate trademark carries the Postal Service brand.

433 Brand Equity

433.1 Responsibility

It is the responsibility of the vice president of Public Affairs and Communications to monitor the use of the Postal Service brand, including the context in which it appears, so as to preserve, protect, and build the brand.

433.2 Review and Approval Process

433.21 General

To ensure that the Postal Service brand is presented clearly and consistently everywhere and in every form it appears, the manager of Brand Equity and Design must approve all uses of the brand, including but not limited to the following:

a. Advertising.

b. Visual and verbal messaging that is produced for internal and external uses.

c. Web pages.

d. New ventures that require naming and/or using a logo, symbols, or graphics.

e. Film.

f. Packaging.

g. Presentations.

h. Printed materials (stationery, directives, forms, reports, etc.).

i. Signage.

Note: This applies to all aspects of the Postal Service brand - i.e., all Postal Service trademarks, trade dress, symbols, indicia, seals, and names - including letter carrier and clerk insignia, uniforms, vehicles, or other items that symbolize, are indicative of, or imply the Postal Service.

433.22 Postal Service Developed Communications

Before the Postal Service brand may be used in any context, submit a prototype or mock-up of the proposed use to the manager of Brand Equity and Design for approval. (To facilitate matters, contact the manager of Brand Equity and Design early in the conceptual development process.)

433.23 Use of Postal Service Brand by Other Organizations

The Postal Service brand may be used by organizations other than the Postal Service only when the manager of Brand Equity and Design determines that such use advances the brand in a positive manner. All requests by outside organizations to use the Postal Service brand, whether submitted to field or headquarters officials, must be directed to the attention of the manager of Brand Equity and Design. The manager of Brand Equity and Design will contact the organization interested in using the Postal Service brand to request such information as the manager deems necessary to determine if the use should be approved.

* * * * *

- Brand Equity and Design,
Public Affairs and Communications, 11-13-03

Postal Service Charges Fees for Some FOIA Requests

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) allows public access to U.S. Postal Service® records, provided the records are not protected from release by law. On September 30, 2003, the Postal ServiceTM updated the fees charged for processing certain FOIA requests.

The new fee schedules are available in Handbook AS-353, Guide to Privacy and the Freedom of Information Act, in Section 4-7, Fees.

Handbook AS-353 is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site; go to http://blue.usps.gov; click on More References, then HBKs. It is also available on the Internet; go to www.usps.com; click on About USPS & News, then Forms & Publications, then Browse All Periodicals & Publications, and then Handbooks (either PDF Format or Text Format).

The following is an overview of fee changes:

• Fees have increased to $32 per hour for manual search and review time.

• The same hourly fee is charged, regardless of which category of employee is making the search.

• Fee assessments have changed from quarter-hour to half-hour increments.

• Fees for computer searches have been revised based on current technology.

• The fee for obtaining business change-of-address information has been eliminated.

We will offer FOIA processing training to eligible employees later this fiscal year.

- Privacy Office,
Consumer Advocate, 11-13-03

Compliance Information at Your Fingertips

We have updated our Intranet Web site to include information that will help you comply with areas of law that impact how we do business. The newly added information includes plain English overviews, answers to frequently asked questions, contact information, and references for the following areas:

• Alternative dispute resolution

• Commercial protection

• Consumer protection

• Delivery and retail

• Employment and labor

• Enforcement

• Ethics information

• FOIA/privacy act

• Marketing

• Purchasing

• Rates and classification

• Revenue protection

To access our site, go to http://blue.usps.gov, click on General Counsel, and select a subject under "Resources." Please take some time to become familiar with the new information to prevent unnecessary litigation in the future.

- General Counsel,
Dispute Resolution and Prevention, 11-13-03

Directives and Forms Update

Effective immediately, Publication 223, Directives and Forms Catalog (June 1999), is revised. The tables below contain the document ID, edition date, title, PSN (Postal ServiceTM stock number), and the Postal Service and public supply source for all new, revised, and obsolete directives and forms. Use this article to keep Publication 223 current. Information on how to order directives and forms is available in chapter 1 of Publication 223.

IWEB = Intranet = http://blue.usps.gov; click on
More References.

WWW = USPS www page = www.usps.com.

PE = Postal Explorer = http://pe.usps.gov.

F3 = F3 Fill Software.

We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of Publication 223 and also into the online version of Publication 223, which is available on the Postal Service PolicyNet Web site. Go to http://blue.usps.gov; click on More References, then Publications.

New Directives

Handbooks

Labels

Memorandums of Policy

Notices

Posters

Publications

New Forms

Revised Directives

Handbooks

Labels

Notices

Posters

Publications

Revised Forms (revised forms appear on the Web before they are stocked at the MDC)

Obsolete Directives

Handbooks

Labels

Posters

Publications

Obsolete Forms

- Policies and Procedures Information,
Public Affairs and Communications, 11-13-03

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 ServiceTM 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.