USPS Notice To PRC Requesting Changes To Service Standards
Excerpts from USPS filing to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) requesting an advisory opinion regarding service standards. USPS received 4,200 comments from its Federal Register notice in September 2011.
Based on an analysis of fiscal year 2010 costs, the Postal Service has determined that a combination of service changes centered on eliminating overnight service for significant portions of First-Class Mail and Periodicals could generate a net improvement to postal finances of approximately $2.1 billion on an annual basis. While this would not cure all of the Postal Service’s long-term financial ills, this constitutes an opportunity for such a substantial improvement in financial stability that the Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service has directed postal management to pursue expeditious implementation of the service and operational changes to hasten the time when full savings from the initiative can be realized.
As implemented by 39 C.F.R. § 3001.72, section 3661(b) requires the Postal Service to file its advisory opinion request not less than 90 days before the scheduled implementation of the planned service changes. Assuming no disabling legislative enactment, the Postal Service would be authorized to implement the service changes within the scope of this Request no earlier than March 5, 2012.15 In any event, the Postal Service will not implement any service standard changes within the scope of its Request before the completion of the aforementioned rulemaking affecting 39 C.F.R. Part 121. Assuming a 60-day comment period and an additional 30 days to consider and address all comments before determining whether to publish notice of a final rule change in the Federal Register, the rulemaking can not realistically conclude until some time in the first half of March 2012. No service changes associated with this Request will be implemented earlier than some time in the first half of April 2012. Accordingly, the filing of this request today satisfies the section 3661(b) requirement that it be filed “a reasonable time prior to the effective date” of the proposed changes. USPS Request To PRC To Change Service Standards| All files relating to USPS’ Request for Advisory Opinion can be found at the PRC web site Daily Listing for December 5, 2011.
USPS FAQs On PRC FILING TO CHANGE SERVICE STANDARDS
On Monday, Dec. 5, the Postal Service will transmit to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) a request for an advisory opinion regarding service standards associated with a significant rationalization of its mail processing network. Shortly thereafter, the Postal Service will publish a notice in the Federal Register soliciting public comment on the proposed service standard changes.
On Sep. 15, 2011, the Postal Service announced it would begin studying 252 mail processing facilities for possible closure. At that time, the Postal Service announced that it was considering changing service standards and an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was being filed with the Federal Register that day. [ PR link: USPS Study List] Read more
President Obama Names Republican Tony Hammond to Postal Regulatory Commission
Filed under: politics, postal, postal news, PRC, press releases, usps
Ignores Union’s call to appoint Democrat to the Postal Regulatory Commission
December 2, 2011
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts:
- Tony Hammond – Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission
Tony Hammond, Nominee for Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission
Tony Hammond served on the Postal Regulatory Commission and its predecessor agency, the Postal Rate Commission, from August 1, 2002 to October 7, 2011. During that time, he was elected to two separate terms as Vice Chairman of the Commissions. Previously, Mr. Hammond was owner and managing member of T. Hammond Company, LLC, a private consulting firm. In addition, he was Senior Vice President of the direct marketing firm FL&S, and Senior Consultant to Forbes 2000, Inc. Mr. Hammond served for ten years on the staff of then-Southwest Missouri Congressman Gene Taylor, the ranking member of the House Post Office and Civil Service Committee. Mr. Hammond received a B.S. from Missouri State University. – White House Press Release
If confirmed, Mr. Hammond will join the Commission with his fellow Republicans Mark Acton and Robert G. Taub, and Democrats Ruth Y. Goldway and Nanci E. Langley. Read more
PRC Issues Order Denying Postmasters Complaint Over Management Of Post Offices
Filed under: NAPUS, post offices, postal, postal news, Postmasters, PRC, usps
The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued a decision to deny a complaint by NAPUS and the League of Postmasters to renew an expedited complaint or a request a stay to prevent the Postal Service’s Final Rule from going into effect on December 1, 2011. The PRC did grant the Postmaster associations the right to re-file a complaint.
The Postal Regulatory Commission Issues Order Denying Motion for Renewal and Alternative Request for a Stay of the Effective Date.
Effective December 1, 2011, this change will allow the Postal Service to convert a Post Office into, or replace it with, another type of USPS-operated retail facility (including changing it to a station or branch) without following the discontinuance process. The change would also make it possible to change the staffing of a Post Office such that it is staffed only part-time by a Postmaster, or not staffed by a Postmaster at all, but rather by another type of USPS employee, and it would not be a discontinuance action.
The other “final rule” change would also allow a Post Office to be operated or managed by a Postmaster or by another type of postal employee at the direction of a Postmaster, including when the Postmaster is not physically present.
Leaders of both Postmaster organizations will confer with legal counsel next week to consider their options. Additional information on this very important issue will be provided as it becomes available.
read full story from NAPUS
Commissioners Robert Taub and Mark Acton begin their new terms at the PRC
Washington, DC – Officially sworn in on October 8th, Postal Regulatory Commissioner Robert Taub assumed his new responsibilities, while Vice Chairman Mark Acton began his second term. They join PRC Chairman Ruth Y. Goldway and Commissioner Nanci Langley.
Currently, the Commission is engaged in crucial deliberations regarding the future of the United States Postal Service, including the number of its post offices, the level of service it will provide and its future financial stability.
Immediately prior to joining the PRC, Taub served as Special Assistant to United States Secretary of the Army John McHugh. Earlier, Taub worked in the U.S. House of Representatives, including service for a decade as Chief of Staff to then Congressman McHugh. He has extensive expertise with postal policy and was instrumental in developing the 2006 Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act. Taub also served for 12 years on the U.S. House of Representative’s Oversight & Government Reform Committee in a series of senior positions, including service as Staff Director of its former Postal Service Subcommittee.
Commissioner Acton was nominated to his first term by President George W. Bush in November of 2005 and subsequently nominated for a second term by President Barack Obama in May of 2011. He was elected by his fellow commissioners to serve a one-year term as Vice Chairman this past December. Prior to his appointment, Acton served as Chief of Staff at the former Postal Rate Commission, assisting in managing all aspects of agency operations since 2002.
Chairman Goldway said, “I am very pleased to welcome back Mark Acton whose diligence and sense of fairness have contributed to the widespread acceptance of Commission decisions. And I am enthusiastic in welcoming Robert Taub whose proven combination of professionalism and devotion to postal issues will add to our strength as an independent agency.”
The Postal Regulatory Commission is an independent federal agency that provides regulatory oversight over the U.S. Postal Service to ensure the transparency and accountability of the Postal Service and foster a vital and efficient universal mail system.
source: PRC
USPS Saying Rural America Will Be Served Better After Post Office Closings Is Truly Nonsense
Filed under: NLPM, post office closings, postal, postal news, Postmasters, usps
The National League Of Postmasters filed the following testimony with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) addressing the USPS Retail Access Optimization Initiative.
Highlights of the testimony:
…. the minimal imagined savings to the Postal Service are a critical factor in evaluating a proposal that essentially produces a drastic reduction in availability and service. I know that the Postal Service has said that they will be able to serve rural America just as well if not better once all these post offices are closed, but that is truly nonsense. I suggest that the real proposition here is that the Postal Service is under financial stress and its urban-based leadership wants to back off from providing rural America the type of service it provides today, in order to concentrate its focus on providing service to large urban and suburban areas. Read more
Update: List Of Post Offices No Longer Under Review For Closure
Filed under: politics, post office closings, postal, postal news, PRC
September 21, 2011 – RAO Initiative Candidate Facility Status Update submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission. The list of post offices no longer review are highlighted.
Update: List Of Post Offices No Longer Under Review For Closure
Postmaster to PRC: Financial Challenges That USPS Face Today Are Manufactured
Filed under: politics, post office closings, postal, postal news, Postmasters, PRC, usps
The following are excerpts of comments submitted to the Postal Regulatory Commission regarding the Retail Access Optimization Initiative:
The financial challenges that face the Postal Service today are, at heart,manufactured, the result of dysfunctional Congressional oversight and a myopic postal management that seeks at every turn to undermine the very basis for its existence. The postal network we have developed over generations provides not only mail delivery but an essential governmental presence in every community and corner of the nation. This
network, which should be viewed as an asset rather than simply as overbuilt industrial capacity, truly has served to bind the nation together. Dissolving and dismantling this important piece of our national infrastructure would be a tragic mistake. Read more
USPS Defends Plan to Close Thousands of Offices at PRC Hearing
Appearing at a hearing before the Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent agency with oversight over the Postal Service, James Boldt, the national manager of customer service operations in the USPS Office of Delivery and Post Office Operations, answered a battery of questions from representatives of postal employees’ associations and the mailing community about the proposal to evaluate more than 3,600 retail locations for potential closure. Read more
USPS Net Loss For July $1.3 Billion – Year To Date Loss Reaches $7 Billion
USPS preliminary net loss for July 2011 –$1.327 Billion, year to date nearly $2 Billion more than planned.
The US Postal Service filed its preliminary financial results for ten months of Fiscal Year 2011 with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). USPS reported a net operating loss of $1.327 billion ending on July 31, 2011. After ten months into FY 2011 USPS reported a net loss of $7 Billion ($6.985) ending in July 2011 (same time last year USPS had a net loss of $6.143, the plan was $5.004 Billion .In October 2010 USPS saw a net profit of $283 Million, November 2010 net loss $456 million, December 2010 net loss $156 million, January 2011, net loss $451 million, February 2011, net loss $1.1 billion, March 2011, $657 million, April 2011 net loss of $747 million, May 2011 net loss $1.3 Billion, June 2011 net loss $900 million. Read more
Postcom: USPS to submit network realignment plan to PRC in mid-September
According to PostCom
: ♪♫”Oh I heard it — Heard It — Yes, I heard it through the grapevine. . . .” ♫♪
The word has it that the USPS will be submitting its network realignment as a major service change to the PRC in mid September. My understanding is that the PRC will have around 90 days to make recommendations to the USPS but has no authority to prevent the USPS from implementing the changes. .