USPSNEWS@WORK
24-hour clock — keep the mail moving
on time
When we keep the mail moving, we give our customers
the service they depend on. The 24-hour clock serves our
customers better, and it also makes everyone's job easier.
Meeting our 24-hour clock commitments helps the next
shift - or the next plant or Post Office further along the
mailstream - meet its deadlines too. It all adds up to
smoother mail operations.
Like clockwork, 24 hours a day. Know your role in the
24-hour clock.
Giordano named vice president of
Public Affairs and Communications
 Postmaster General
Jack Potter has announced the appointment
of Joanne Giordano as
vice president of Public
Affairs and Communications. Giordano most recently served as senior
advisor to the administrator of the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID), where
she spearheaded a campaign to brand U.S. foreign assistance as
coming "from the American people." She joined USAID in 2001 as head of Public
Affairs, developing and directing all internal and external
communications to support the agency's mission and operations in more than 100 countries.
Before her work at USAID, Giordano was senior vice
president of Communications at America's Promise - The
Alliance for Youth, founded by General Colin Powell. She
also spent 11 years with communications consulting firm
Burson-Marsteller in its New York and Singapore offices,
rising from account representative to vice president and
leaving the firm in 2001 as Global Client Leader.
"During her time at Burson-Marsteller, Joanne was instrumental in generating a great deal of positive publicity for
USPS during our 1992 Olympic sponsorship," Potter said.
"So she is no stranger to the Postal Service."
Financial analyst helps save USPS $34
million
 Network Operations Financial
Analyst Mike Cotter's
persistence paid off, saving
USPS more than $34 million in
tax payments.
Network Operations Financial Analyst Mike Cotter single-
handedly reviewed several
offshore exemptions and excise tax payment issues revolving around our FedEx air
contracts. He felt that the
FedEx contract should receive
the same deductions for offshore product that commercial
air was receiving.
So Cotter developed several models using invoice data to
calculate prior tax years and
another model to address future tax exemptions. This information was submitted to be credited against USPS' quarterly excise tax payments.
In early 2006, the Internal Revenue Service opened an
inquiry to gain a better understanding of the tax credit, validate the amounts and understand how the tax code supported the application of the credits.
The result? The IRS approved the offshore excise tax
exemptions. The total savings for 5 years is estimated at
more than $34 million.
Postal reform: A message to employees
from the postmaster general
As you know, the U.S. Senate and House approved
postal reform legislation - the Postal Accountability and
Enhancement Act of 2006 - on Saturday, Dec. 9. The legislation now needs the president's signature before being
enacted into law.
A key provision of the legislation moves the obligation
for additional retiree benefits afforded veterans participating in the Civil Service Retirement System from USPS to
the Treasury. This change, combined with elimination of the
escrow funding requirements, results in a benefit worth
about $30 billion to the Postal Service and rate payers. And
it puts us on a path to fully fund retiree health benefits.
I would single out the extraordinary efforts of Senators
Susan Collins, Joseph Lieberman and Thomas Carper, and
Representatives Thomas Davis, Henry Waxman, John
McHugh and Danny Davis to make reform a reality.
New safe driving course to debut in 2007
 A driving safety instructor takes his
turn at delivering to a curb-box on the
newly designed delivery skills course.
USPS has one of the
largest vehicle fleets in
the world, and we want to
maintain it with the best-
qualified, best-trained
drivers in the world.
That's why we're launching a new driver safety
program early next year,
based on the new Handbook EL-804, Safe Driver
Program.
The program features
a newly designed 8-hour
classroom course on postal driving requirements with a
computer-based pass/fail test at its conclusion. In addition,
it uses the National Safety Council - Defensive Driver
Training 6-hour classroom course and also focuses on improved vehicle familiarization training.
Transferring what employees know in their head to practical street knowledge is the goal of the newly designed
skills courses - and there's one each for delivery vehicles
and large trucks. There's even a re-designed road test at
the end of the course.
USPS in top 30 of Forbes list
It's the holidays, and making it on the "nice" list is a high
priority for many. A recent article posted on Forbes.com
featured the results of consulting firm Reputation Institute's
international survey of 30,000 people about how they
viewed 600 of the world's biggest businesses.
Guess who received a top ranking for "Most Reputable"
U.S. businesses?
That's right! The Postal Service finished in the Top 30.
USPS was one of only seven transportation and logistics
companies to make it and one of only two postal administrations in the whole world on the list. The Postal Service
earned a 67.25 rating, finishing just behind Pricewaterhouse Cooper.
Three-million-package month for Carrier
Pickup
 Pearl, MS, Rural Carrier Sonia Carter
picks up packages from an
Unwind.com employee. More than 3
million Carrier Pickup packages entered
our system in November.
November was the
second record-breaking
month in a row for Carrier Pickup - soaring past
October's all-time high of
2.8 million packages -
to finish above the 3 million mark for the first
time.
New enhancements
such as Delivery Confirmation for APOs and
FPOs and the recently launched Shipment Confirmation
Acceptance Notice (SCAN) are making it more convenient
than ever for shippers this holiday season.
Just ask CEO Toby Shenefelt of Unwind.com, an Internet supplier of relaxation and stress relief items. "When we
were told about Carrier Pickup with SCAN, I couldn't wait to
sign up," says Shenefelt. "Now, when a customer calls
about an item, I can give the tracking number and tell him or
her exactly when it was shipped and give an estimated delivery date. With Carrier Pickup and SCAN, businesses like
ours will be knocking on your door."
USPS National Emergency Hotline
Is your facility operating?
Call 888-363-7462
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