USPSNEWS@WORK

Free Package Pickup: Fall advertising campaign kicks off

Fall mailing season - meet the fall advertising campaign. The Postal Service kicks off its fall campaign this week with a variety of advertisements touting Free Package Pickup, which takes advantage of our Carrier Pickup feature on USPS.com.

And who better to deliver that message than our letter carrier ambassadors?

If it can be seen, heard, read, delivered or streamed over the Internet, the Postal Service has it covered. Over the next several weeks and months, ads will appear on TV, on the radio, in magazines and on the Web. And a Direct Mail campaign on Free Package Pickup is being sent to 2 million small businesses across the country.

Television ads began running recently. The first ad features an animated lamp and a Global Priority Mail box pondering the age-old question "Can I use Package Pickup for International shipping?" Cedar Rapids, IA, Letter Carrier Ambassador Darren Bogner swoops in and answers in the affirmative.

In the print ad shown on the cover of this issue of the Postal Bulletin, Santa Ana, CA, Letter Carrier Ambassador Neosia Morris and Free Package Pickup are just the shipping solutions this time-strapped specialty shoe store owner needs. "I'm all about Free Package Pickup," the store owner says. "Running my shop is a lot easier when I'm actually in my shop."

Free Package Pickup - just another way the Postal Service makes doing business quick, easy and convenient for our customers. Look for the ads in a media near you!

Survey shows record-setting improvements in Remittance Mail

Time is money, a simple equation with significant implications for USPS and remittance mailers. Now, according to the results of an independent study, USPS is providing record-setting service to this important customer group.

Phoenix-Hecht, a leading financial services research firm, reports that service performance for Remittance Mail improved by 1.2 nationwide workhours since last year and by 6 hours over the last decade. A "nationwide workhour" is a measurement of time for non-local mail to reach its destination.

USPS credits improved focus, internal training and the nationwide rollout of the "Best Practices Handbook" for the improvement. For a summary of the Phoenix-Hecht study, go to http://blue.usps.gov/remittancemail/_pdf/PH_ExecSum061.pdf.

USPS awards seven air transport contracts

Postmaster General Jack Potter (center) shakes hands with American Airlines Chairman and CEO Gerard Arpey as USPS Network Operations Vice President Tony Pajunas looks on. American Airlines is one of seven passenger airlines USPS signed contracts with recently.

USPS Network Operations Vice President Tony Pajunas said the contracts contain tracking provisions so USPS can account for a customer's mail the entire time it is in the air transportation system. The airlines are required to scan mail at three key points - when they take possession from the Postal Service or when mail is loaded onto a flight, during transfers to connecting flights and when mail is delivered to the Postal Service after the flight's arrival.

The 5-year contracts cover domestic transport of Express Mail and First-Class Mail items, and Priority Mail items originating from designated Transportation Security Administration sites.

August financial results released — Net deficiency of $1.5 billion posted after escrow allocation

USPS revenues for August were $6.3 billion, or $143 million over plan, and 6.6 percent more than August 2005. Expenses for the month were $6.3 billion, or $223 million over plan, and 6.9 percent more than same period last year (SPLY). The net loss was $38 million before the escrow allocation. The net deficiency in August after the escrow allocation was $288 million.

Year-to-date (YTD), revenue through August was 0.8 percent, or $507 million higher than plan, and 4.2 percent above SPLY. Expenses through August were 0.8 percent, or $535 million higher than plan, and $2.9 billion above SPLY.

YTD, the net income before the escrow allocation is $1.3 billion. A YTD net deficiency of $1.5 billion exists after the escrow allocation.

Full results are posted on USPS.com at http://www.usps.com/financials/fos/welcome.htm.

Seatbelts did their job for one letter carrier

Letter Carrier John Marasco is still attached to his seatbelt.

Marasco was behind the wheel of his long-life vehicle (LLV) with his seatbelt attached when a car backing out of a driveway hit him. The LLV rolled over. But Marasco emerged with no serious injuries.

Officer in Charge Keith Krempa believes that Marasco's experience will have a greater impact on his fellow carriers than the usual motor safety lectures. "There's a reason the Postal Service is so adamant about carriers buckling up when in their vehicles," Krempa said. "But getting a first- hand account from a co-worker puts policy in a proper perspective."

New EEO hotline available

A new hotline number for filing an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) claim has been established - 1-888-EEO-USPS. If you've been discriminated against because of age, race, sex, color, national origin, religion, physical or mental disability, or retaliation for previous EEO activity, you can file an EEO claim. Deaf and hard-of-hearing people can call 800-877-8339 (Federal Relay Service) to begin filing a claim.

When you call the hotline, an interactive voice response system will collect pre-complaint information such as your name, address, finance number, Social Security number and telephone number. A counseling packet will be mailed to you. Complete the enclosed forms and mail them to the address indicated. When the EEO office receives your packet, your request for counseling will be assigned to an EEO specialist for processing.

This is part of the EEO program improvements implemented in fiscal year 2004 when all EEO investigations were centralized. The hotline will take advantage of proven technology and move the Postal Service further along in its efforts to be a model federal employer. Response time will improve and employees will have more convenient access to the EEO process.

Second hydrogen fuel vehicle added to USPS fleet

Irvine, CA, Letter Carrier Aldo Vasquez waters some flowers with the emissions from the HydroGen3 van he'll be using to deliver mail. USPS is testing a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle in Irvine.

The Postal Service has been testing one vehicle in Washington, DC. Now, GM has provided a second hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicle that USPS will station in California.

USPS has reported good results with the vehicle it has been operating over the past 2 years. Postal Service engineers say the minivan has held up well to the rigors of stop- and-go driving and dramatic shifts in weather.

A vehicle powered by hydrogen fuel cells emits just pure water and is twice as energy efficient as an internal combustion engine.

For more pictures from the event, go to https://liteblue.usps.gov/news/link/2006sept28gallery.htm.

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