Tag: North America

USPS racks up USD 5.4 B deficits in 2007

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The U.S. Postal Service anticipates a USD 600 million deficit in the next fiscal year, thanks to a new law that requires the agency to fully fund its retiree health benefits out of its operating budget.

The projected 2008 deficit will be a big improvement, however, from the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, in which the Postal Service racked up an estimated USD 5.4 billion deficit. The Postal Service was hit with a double whammy this year, having to pay out its 2006 obligations toward the retiree health program in 2007 along with the current year’s payment.

The fiscal 2008 budget, approved Wednesday by the Postal Service Board of Governors, includes a 4.3 percent increase in operating revenue, due largely to the 2-cent rate hike that took effect in May. No additional rate increase was included in the 2008 budget.
Expenses will increase 1.8 percent, below the projected 2 percent increase in the cost of goods and services. Overall, the operating budget totals USD 78.8 billion.

The 2008 budget predicts a record ninth consecutive year of productivity growth.

The board also approved a capital budget of USD 3.0 billion for 2008, up from USD 2.8 billion this year. The budget includes USD 107.2 million to design and build a new 479,000-square-foot mail processing facility in Miami. The new facility will house five large letter-sorting machines and allow the agency to handle significant growth in the region for the next 20 years.

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USPS delivers Northrop Grumman technical support services contract

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Postal Service to provide independent verification and validation (IV&V) services for Postal Service delivery and retail systems.

The five-year task order has a potential value of USD 21 million and was awarded under the U.S. Postal Service Information Business Systems Support contract.

Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman’s Information Technology (IT) sector will design software test plans and procedures, perform software certification and testing, and submit test results for delivery, retail and customer service systems developed by the Postal Service and its technology providers. In addition, Northrop Grumman will conduct analyses and assessments of technical specifications that will help determine a system’s ability to meet Postal Service needs and requirements.

“Northrop Grumman will draw on its years of experience as a technical provider and product supplier to the Postal Service, as well as its IV&V experience, to help its Retail and Delivery organization increase productivity and develop innovative ways to deliver the best service to its customers,” said Linda Mills, president of Northrop Grumman IT’s Civilian Agencies group.

The company expects to hire an additional 32 employees to support this task order. Work on the contract will be done in Merrifield, Va.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is a USD 30 billion global defense and technology company whose 120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions in information and services, electronics, aerospace and shipbuilding to government and commercial customers worldwide.

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USPS aggressive financial plan gets Board of Governors approval

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

The Postal Service Board of Governors today approved an aggressive 2008 financial plan for the U.S. Postal Service that includes USD 1 billion in cost savings and puts its expense growth lower than inflation.
The Postal Service’s operating, capital and financing plans for the new fiscal year, known as the Integrated Financial Plan (IFP), project expense growth below the assumed increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the most commonly used benchmark for inflation.
Those projections do not assume any price changes for postal products and services over the next fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The Board of Governors has not made a decision on future prices but applauded the Postal Regulatory Commission for being well ahead of schedule with its recommendations on the new rate regulations.
The IFP projects revenue of USD 78.2 billion and expenses of USD 78.8 billion in fiscal 2008, for a net loss of USD 600 million. The financial plan is significantly affected by the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (the Postal Act of 2006), as are finances in the current fiscal year.

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Epostmarks Introduces PostmarkedEmail to Global Postal Industry

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

Epostmarks announced today the executive team’s planned attendance at Post-Expo 2007 in Barcelona, Spain on October 2, 3, and 4 to introduce PostmarkedEmail, a new class of email that brings the trust of your mailbox to your inbox. PostmarkedEmail is an email authentication solution that combines technology with the brand power, legal significance, and enforcement capabilities of Posts throughout the world to help businesses recover the email channel.

Initially launched in the United States in partnership with the US Postal Service, PostmarkedEmail utilizes the Electronic Postmark® (EPM®) – known outside of the US as an Electronic Postal Certification Mark (EPCM) – to bring postal authority and trust to email. This unique offering provides guaranteed delivery of messages, proof of delivery, and a trusted icon in the inbox that signals to the user that the email is legitimate and safe to open. PostmarkedEmail provides proof of sender identity, message integrity, and sender reputation in one integrated solution.

At Post-Expo, Epostmarks is looking to expand internationally by partnering with posts, postal partners, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and email service providers (ESPs) worldwide. Posts in several countries already offer electronic registered mail or e-billing systems protected by the EPCM, and others have expressed serious interest in developing EPCM programs that will further expand our potential market. PostmarkedEmail enhances these systems by adding guaranteed delivery to the customer’s existing email inbox. Using PostmarkedEmail, posts are able to expand their service offerings to penetrate the lucrative transactional email and marketing email segments.

In addition to exhibiting PostmarkedEmail for the first time, the executive team is scheduled to participate in workgroups covering the modern postal brand, postal business strategies, and going digital.

“We have a strong partnership with the US Postal Service, and hope to lay the groundwork for partnerships with posts from around the world at this event,” says Jason Curtis.

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It's back in line for post office users in the USA

Posted by | Sep 26, 2007 | |

Accustomed to bypassing the main U.S. Post Office’s long waiting line, Suzi McKeen was dumbfounded to learn that her reliable Automated Postal Center had disappeared.

“I had to stand 20 minutes in line to conduct business that would have taken me five minutes at the kiosk,” the Salisbury resident said. “Now I have to stand on my feet or sit in my car pumping pollution into the air while I wait for service.”

The U.S. Postal Service joined the “self-service” bandwagon a few years ago by installing thousands of free-standing kiosks known as APCs. Similar to an ATM, many are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to enable customers to weigh and mail letters and purchase stamps quickly.

The U.S. Post Office on Route 50 decided to remove their ACP because customers weren’t using the machine enough to meet the standard USD 400 a day income, said Freda Sauter, U.S. Postal Service spokeswoman for the Baltimore district.

“Customers prefer to use cash at the vending machines to buy stamps,” Sauter said.

The APC accepts credit and debit cards, and does everything short of face-to-face transactions, including dispensing stamps, weighing packages and calculating postage for express, priority and first class mail and parcel post items, according to the U.S. Postal Service’s Web site. The APC also provides mailing information, ZIP code lookup and delivery confirmation services.

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