USPSNEWS@WORK

Now you're talking! Voice of the Employee surveys roll in record numbers

Every year, hundreds of thousands of Postal ServiceTM employees take part in the Voice of the Employee (VOE) survey. In fact, more people answered their VOE surveys in 2004 than ever before.

VOE is your chance to voice your opinion - about what we do well and what can be improved - about your workplace and the Postal Service overall. Every employee deserves a chance to be heard, and this is your chance.

Surveys were mailed Feb. 1-2 and they're due back by Feb. 28. If you receive one, fill it out and send it back.

Why? Because what we do for our customers is important. And, it's just as important that we work in an environment that helps us do our best for our customers. Knowing what you think about a wide range of job-related issues can help us do that.

You have time on-the-clock to complete the survey - it only takes about 15 minutes. When it's completed, you can return it to your survey administrator or mail it back yourself in the envelope provided.

Talk up a storm, talk shop - talk VOE. USPS® is listening.

Welcome access: LiteBlue use climbing steady

LiteBlue, at http://liteblue.usps.gov, is the Postal Service Web site you can reach anywhere you have Internet access. The site continues to grow in popularity since PostalEASE was added during December's open seasons.

The last week in January, LiteBlue logged more than 65,000 visits! That means an average of 13,000 people used LiteBlue every business day. Total weekly page views are averaging almost 105,000 - up from an average of less than 50,000 before PostalEASE was added.

But LiteBlue's success is no bolt from the blue - it makes good sense. You can log on to LiteBlue from the comfort of your own or anywhere, any time you choose.

And there's so much you can do with LiteBlue - use PostalEASE, check out the latest employee deals, peruse internal job openings and read USPS News Link and other organization-wide communications. Just have your employee ID number and USPS PIN ready.

A really high five: Carrier Pickup Online Notification passes the 5 million mark

Catherine Harvey had only good things to say about the Postal Service and Carrier PickupTM service when Waldorf, MD, Rural Carrier Emerson Paraoan collected the 5 millionth Carrier Pickup package from her after she used Carrier Pickup Online Notification.

Harvey owns "Beary Good Pals," an online provider of teddy bears and décor, and has watched her - based business grow from 2-3 packages per day to more than 100 packages per week. She gives the Postal Service a lot of the credit.

"The Postal Service has played an enormous part in the growth of my business with Priority Mail® packaging supplies and Carrier Pickup" says Harvey. "I've incorporated USPS.com® into my Web site and my shipping records are easily accessible. That lets me focus on my business without ever leaving the house."

Through Carrier Pickup Online Notification, customers can notify their Post OfficeTM when they have packages to be picked up. The postmaster relays the message to the letter carrier, who picks them up during regular deliveries.

Harvey joins a growing list of customers moving their business to USPS. A recent online survey shows 18-20 percent of customers switched from a competitor's shipping company because of Carrier Pickup Online Notification.

"Carrier Pickup Online Notification is essential to our customer acquisition strategy for packages," said Package Services Manager Jim Cochrane. "Our competitors pick up from these customers every day and we need to do the same if we are going to penetrate this market."

The postal way: CNBC comments challenged

The financial troubles of several airlines have been much in the news lately.

When CNBC commentator Lawrence Kudlow remarked about not "Post Office-izing" the airlines, USPS Public Affairs and Communications Vice President Azeezaly Jaffer didn't let the remark go unchallenged.

"To us, doing things the Postal way means honoring the hard work of our more than 700,000 employees, in every city and town in America, who deliver the mail - your mail," Jaffer wrote in response.

The Postal way meant setting records in on-time delivery and customer satisfaction last year, Jaffer said, and feeling pride in more than 200,000 Postal Service employees who have served in our nation's military - especially the 3,500 employees currently on active duty around the world.

Jaffer said doing things the Postal way also is pledging more than $38 million to local and national charities through the Combined Federal Campaign, and collecting more than 70 million pounds of food last year for food banks and shelters in cooperation with the National Association of Letter Carriers annual food drive.

"So, obviously we view any efforts to `Post Office-ize' in a very different light," Jaffer concluded.

To read Jaffer's full response, go to: Setting the Record Straight on USPS.com.

How you look at it: Gateway, ICG partner to fix revenue glitch

Sometimes, all you need is another pair of eyes looking at a problem.

When nearly $4.1 million in revenue wasn't showing up on the books in the Gateway District, the postmaster, bulk mail entry and retail units partnered with the Internal Control Group (ICG) to find out why.

"We're not the `gotcha' folks," said Gateway's Internal Control Manager Dan Sorenson. "We're helping managers by reviewing data and looking for answers."

Together with Gateway officials, ICG reviewed the data, found a gap in one of the "checks-and-balances" used to make sure information is entered correctly, and fixed the problem. It turns out that two databases weren't talking to each other. Mailings were properly accepted and paid for, but the database disconnect meant $4.1 million in revenue was never credited.

ICG said lessons learned from Gateway's experience will be used to make sure similar situations don't happen in other offices.

Good intentions gone awry

Sometimes, the best intentions can result in the worst actions. That was the case at a mail processing facility recently when an employee came across a package leaking a white powder. Properly suspicious of it, he moved it outside the facility and notified the Inspection Service.

The Inspection Service arrived, the powder was tested and it turned out to be harmless - but there was nothing harmless about the way the employee handled the package.

And that's too bad, because the employee did a number of things right just to identify it as a suspicious package. Thanks to his safety training, he knew to check the shape, look, addressing and packaging of letters and parcels. The leaking white powder was certainly a tip-off.

It was in the handling of the package that he failed to do the right thing. Moving it outside the building only increased the chance of exposure for himself and his coworkers.

The employee should have left the package where he found it, untouched, and isolated the area. His next step should have been to notify his supervisor - who would then decide whether it was necessary to evacuate the area. If the supervisor couldn't be found, the employee should have seen to it the area was evacuated.

Once that happened, it would have just been a matter of implementing the facility's emergency plans and then contacting the Inspection Service, local police and community first-responders.

So remember, if you find a suspicious package or letter, think of the three "Ps" of dealing with it: Package, People, Plan.

• Package - don't handle it. Isolate the area.

• People - notify your supervisor, who determines if it's necessary to evacuate the area. If your supervisor is not available, evacuate the area.

• Plan - per your facility emergency plans, contact the Inspection Service first, local police and community first-responders.

Need more information? The Emergency Preparedness Web site on the Postal Service Intranet has an entire section devoted to suspicious packages:

• Go to http://blue.usps.gov.

• Click the Inside USPS tab.

• Under "Other," click on Emergency Preparedness.

• Under "Tools," click on Suspicious Mail.

(The direct URL is http://blue.usps.gov/emergencypreparedness/ep_suspicious_mail.htm.)

Play the Zone, district-style

Think it's just postmasters, station and branch managers competing for all of the goodies in the Play the Zone competition? Think again. Awards will be given to top district finishers as well. So, which district is leading? Central Plains with 3,776 points. Louisiana is second with 3,302 and Mid Carolinas is a close third with 3,152 points. With more than four weeks left in the competition, it's still anybody's ball game.

International velvet

Holiday numbers prove how smooth USPS overseas shipping can be. Global Express Mail® to Europe and Global Airmail® Parcel Post volume was approximately 20 percent higher over the same period last year (SPLY), while service increased from 89.5 percent to 91.8 percent over SPLY for the last 10 weeks of 2004. Overall, International Express Mail® and air parcels volume grew more than 20 percent for the first quarter of fiscal year 2005 as compared to a year earlier.

Doing well by doing good

The Postal Service has sold 588.4 million Breast Cancer Research semipostal stamps, raising $40.8 million for research, since it was issued in 1998. Before leaving the market Dec. 31 with 132.8 million stamps sold, the Heroes of 2001 semipostal stamp generated nearly $10.6 million in relief assistance for families of 9/11 victims. With sales of 21.9 million stamps since October 2003, the Stop Family Violence semipostal stamp has netted $1.3 million for domestic violence programs nationwide.

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 202-268-2225 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.

Title of Mailing	Class and Type of Mail	Requested Delivery Dates	Number of Pieces (Millions)	Distribution	Presort Level	Comments
Monroe & Main	Standard/ Catalog	2/22/05-2/25/05	1.53	Nationwide	Barcoded, Basic, 3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	RR Donnelly, Warsaw, IN
The Sportsman's Guide, March/March Intro & March TGW/March TGW Intro	Standard/ Catalog	2/22/05-2/26/05	3.1	Nationwide	3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	RR Donnelly, Lynchburg, VA
Queen of Clean	Standard/ Flat	2/23/05-2/25/05	1.7	Nationwide	3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	Rodale Press
PV the Sugar Solution	Standard/ Flat	2/28/05-3/2/05	8.0	Nationwide	3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	Rodale Press
Country Door	Standard/ Catalog	2/28/05-3/3/05	2.7	Nationwide	Barcoded, Basic, 3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	Quad Graphics, Lomira, WI
Midnight Velvet	Standard/ Catalog	2/28/05-3/3/05	3.4	Nationwide	Barcoded, Basic, 3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	Quad Graphics, Lomira, WI
REI 2004 Dividend Mailer	Standard/ Flat	2/28/05-3/3/05	2.493	Nationwide	3/5-Digit, Car-Rt	Quad Graphics, West Allis, WI
— Business Service Network Integration, Service and Market Development, 2-17-05