For Ninth Straight Year FedEx Is USPS’s Largest Supplier
Husch Blackwell’s Postal Service Contracting practice group today released its list of the top 10 U.S. Postal Service suppliers for fiscal year 2011. For the ninth straight year FedEx claimed the No. 1 spot. Another air carrier, Kalitta Air, Inc., which transports military mail bound for Iraq and Afghanistan, claimed the second spot. The list is compiled by David P. Hendel, a partner in the firm who has served clients’ postal contracting needs for 30 years. A list of the top 150 postal suppliers can be found here. Read more
Editorial: Myth, Reality, and the U.S. Postal Service
Video: 50,000 Packages In Limbo At UPS Distribution Center
Some UPS customers said the U.S. Postal Service and Fed-Ex had no problems delivering their packages these past few days.
Thousands of people in the metro area will open their presents a little late this year because the day started out with 50,000 packages in limbo at the United Parcel Service holding facility in Commerce City, Colorado.
source: http://denver.cbslocal.com/2011/12/24/50000-packages-in-limbo-at-ups-distribution-center/
The UPS Store and USPS Team Up to Provide Small Businesses With New Direct Mail Program
Retail Outlets Offering Affordable Direct Mail Program from Print to Distribution
San Diego, September 22, 2011 – The UPS Store ® (NYSE: UPS) and the U.S. Postal Service ® are working together to provide small businesses with a new, cost-effective direct mail program.
By identifying geographic areas by city, neighborhood or a specified distance from their businesses, the U.S. Postal Service’s Every Door Direct Mail-Retail (EDDM Retail or EDDM-R) service allows small businesses to advertise to every delivery address in their target markets without the need for a mailing list. Read more
UPS Store In California Using Direct Mail Promotion To Capitalize On USPS Post Office Closure
USPS held a public meeting for Walnut Creek residents on April 18, 2011 to discuss its proposal to discontinue services at the downtown Station A. Now 3 1/2 months later USPS has announced that Station A is on the review list for possible closure under the Non Retail Access Optimization Initiative.
A newly opened UPS Store in downtown Walnut Creek, California is taking advantage of the possible post office closure of USPS downtown station. UPS sent out a flyer to Walnut Creek residents in an effort to capture customers for Post Office Boxes, shipping and other services from the possible closing of USPS station. The UPS store also passed out donuts as part of its reaching out to downtown businesses.
CNBC Host: Let FedEx Absorb USPS – PMG: Let USPS Absorb Them
”PMG Pat Donahoe appeared recently on “The Kudlow Report,” to represent the Postal Service’s position on the need for congressional action to address the USPS requirement to pre-fund retiree health benefits, frequency of delivery and allow the Postal Service to access overpayments to the Civil Service Retirement System and Federal Employees Retirement System. Donahoe explains to CNBC host Larry Kudlow that legislative changes are “not a bailout.” Read more
New UPS Service Improves Process for Returning High-Value Products
Jun. 13, 2011 (Business Wire) UPS (NYSE: UPS) today unveiled UPS Returns® Exchange, a combined delivery and pick-up service that gives businesses more control over their reverse logistics for high priority products.
The new service, unveiled at the Interlog 2011 Summer conference here, is particularly suited to shippers in the high-tech, healthcare and retail industries. UPS Returns Exchange makes the replacement of high value products, such as electronics, more efficient while enhancing the post-sales experience for end customers. The new service will be offered in multiple countries around the world and will be an industry-first in North America. Read more
Rep. Dennis Ross Still Getting USPS Numbers Wrong
Recently, Congressman Dennis Ross wrote on his Facebook page that 80-82% of USPS operating costs is labor. Normally, estimating figures in a public forum is no problem. But when the Chairman of a House Subcommittee covering the U.S. Postal Service starts doling out numbers they should be accurate and not pulled out of thin air. Also, if I’m not mistaken the other operating costs figures cited by Ross for UPS and Fedex are at least 10 years old. Perhaps the “postal reporter tweeps” can weigh in on these figures. Read more
Is UPS Starting A Trend By Opening Stores in Areas Where Post Offices Were Closed?
The Postal Service is closing post offices across the nation in an effort to save money. But it seems a trend is starting by UPS Inc to open up stores in places where USPS is shutting down. If UPS opens stores in areas where the Postal Service has shut down–USPS could possibly lose many of the customers it once enjoyed at the closed Post Offices. A reader told PostalReporter.com that one of their stations will more than likely be closing soon. Recently UPS opened a store that will be closer than the Post Offices that USPS will recommend customers to take their business. UPS even provided donuts to the postal window clerks working at the station pending closure. UPS is so happy about USPS possibly closing this station they are celebrating in advance. On another note it would be interesting to see USPS revenue reports in cities where Post Offices closed with UPS OR Fedex nearby.
Take a look at a this story from the Oregon Daily Herald about UPS opening store in Oregon..
UPS Inc. fills role of outgoing Postal Service in EMU
The Postal Service officially made the decision to consolidate its Eugene offices on Jan. 14, after a closure announcement made last October followed by an unsuccessful appeals process. Students in the ASUO and International Student Association protested the decision to no avail, and the EMU post office shut down.The new business will take up the space formerly occupied by the Postal Service, but the senator said the UPS Store would refurbish the current office to fit its needs and use the existing mailboxes.
“Their main goal is to provide services as soon as possible so they’re going to try to move in ASAP and keep the move-in period short,” Lange said.
Postal Service media spokesperson Ronald Anderson said the public postal service had no comment on the new private courier.
Editorial: Not all post offices should pay their way
Filed under: APWU, fedex, post office closings, postal, postal news, ups, usps
In an editorial by the Concord (New Hampshire) Monitor they wrote:
The postal service has since the 1980s operated as an “independent establishment of the executive branch” and, as such, is expected to be self-supporting. For the most part, it is. But in exchange for its monopoly on first and third-class mail, it is charged with providing universal service, which means delivering mail at a loss in many parts of the nation.
Some 26,000 of the service’s post offices operate at a loss. The service has embarked on a long and cumbersome review of 2,000 of those offices to decide how many to close. By law, it is not allowed to close offices solely because they are losing money. Doing so in some cases makes sense. In other cases – for example, when the nearest alternative post office would be many miles away – a money-losing office shouldn’t be closed.
Some conservatives want to end the postal service’s monopoly and let private companies deliver rural mail. Rural residents, of course, would be charged rates commensurate with the cost of delivery. A move in that direction, however, would be a tragic break with history and a breach of the social contract, one that would be economically and sociologically devastating to much of rural America. Read full article
Not so fast! At a meeting last year the Postal Service briefed APWU National officers about plans to consolidate operations in large stations and branches. USPS conceded that:
…among the reasons for closing stations and branches is that there are fewer “procedural requirements” for closing stations and branches than for small post offices. They also said that 34 percent (now 35%) of current postal revenue comes through alternative access, and that they are striving to increase that percentage.
The reasons given by USPS on what Triggers a station/branch to close or consolidate:
Operational Efficiencies
Declining Office Workload
- Retail Transactions
- Mail Volume
Proximity of Other Facilities
Loss of Lease; No Suitable Alternate Quarters
Economic Savings Offered through Alternative Service
So is it closing money-losing stations/branches, a way to increase alternative access to postal services or both?
APWU expressed its concern that USPS may be attempting to circumvent the contract:
We also believe that if management backfills the stations and branches it closes with contract postal offices (CPUs), this would violate the procedural requirements on subcontracting in Article 32.1 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The other point to ponder: In many of the locations where stations/branches are closing or consolidating sits FedEx Kinkos and UPS stores. So USPS customers may choose to utilize alternative companies in lieu of traveling the extra distance for USPS alternative access to mail services. Only time will tell.
Below is a timeline USPS developed for closing Post Offices (9 months or longer) vs. “Classified” Station/Branches (4 months)
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Task Name [Post Offices]
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Duration1
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Authorization to Study
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10 days
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Review & Investigation Study (data gathering)
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25 days
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Community Input
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25 days
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Proposal* Posting & District Manager Review and Approval
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100 days
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Headquarters Review & Final Determination
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30 days
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Final Determination Posting and Customer Appeal Period*
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30 days
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If appealed, 120 days are added to timeline for PRC Review
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Office Closeout (60 days after posting of final determination)*60 days
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Classified Stations/Branches
Task Name
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Duration1
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Authorization to Study
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5 days
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Review & Investigation Study (data gathering)
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15 days
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Community Input
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20 days
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Proposal (No Posting)
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10 days
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Headquarters Review & Final Determination
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10 days
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Union Notification and Office Closeout (60 days after HQ Decision)
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60 days
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