Tag: North America

USPS contract postal units now running Escher Group’s point-of-sale software

Posted by | Mar 18, 2008 | |

Escher Group, Ltd. today announced that 1,027 Contract Postal Units running RiposteEssential™ are now “live” in the United States.

The USPS Contract Postal Units (CPU) offer additional access to postal services in areas that may not have a physical post office branch. The CPUs currently offer mailing services and stamp sales at more than 900 sites throughout the United States.

Escher Group’s software and managed services were selected in January 2007 to automate the USPS CPUs as part of a consortium led by Innovations Group, Inc (IGI) of Fairfax, VA. Other partners in the consortium include Hewlett-Packard (hardware), Pitney-Bowes (postage meter and implementation services), and CODEplus (quality assurance).

The new system, known as CARS (Contract Access Retail System), went to pilot in October 2007 and national rollout began on January 8, 2008. More than 900 stores were converted within 15 days. Typically, a CPU was converted to the new system, employees were trained and the store was open for business and serving customers that same day – a testament to RiposteEssential’s ease of use and reliability.

In addition to the RiposteEssential retail application, and a full stock management suite, Escher Group is providing managed services – operating a data center and communications network for the complete CPU retail network.

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Outgoing UPS Chief got 7.8% raise in 2007 to USD 4.5 Million

Posted by | Mar 17, 2008 | |

The former Chairman and Chief Executive of UPS Inc., Mike Eskew, received total compensation valued at USD 4.5 million in 2007, a 7.8 percent increase from the year before, according to a regulatory filing Monday by the world’s largest shipping carrier.

According to an analysis of the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Eskew was granted a salary of USD 1,026,000, a bonus of USD 43,000 and a performance-based bonus of USD 197,800.

He received all other compensation of USD 43,019, including USD 2,000 for a charitable contribution match, USD 6,750 for 401(k) matching contributions, USD 5,036 for life insurance premiums, USD 17,583 for pension benefits restoration plan rollover and USD 11,650 for financial planning services.

Eskew also received stock and option awards the company valued at USD 3,142,645 on the days they were granted.

He did not receive above-market or preferential earnings on deferred compensation.

The total compensation of USD 4,452,464 compares with the USD 4,130,657 he was granted in 2006.

The Associated Press’s total pay calculations include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

The calculations don’t include changes in the present value of pension benefits, and they sometimes differ from the totals companies list in the summary compensation table of proxy statements filed with the SEC.

Atlanta-based UPS’s annual meeting will be held May 8 in Wilmington, Del. The company, also known as United Parcel Service, announced in October that Eskew would retire at the end of 2007 after six years as CEO and more than three decades with the company. He has been replaced by Scott Davis, who was the company’s chief financial officer before taking the top post.

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Newspaper sites attract more nonprint readers

Posted by | Mar 17, 2008 | |

Last week, a comScore study showed that younger people interested in news–a natural constituency in previous decades–are ditching print newspapers at an alarming rate. The good news: online newspaper sites are attracting many of these non-print readers.

Specifically, comScore found that 18- to-24-year-olds were 38% more likely than the general population not to read a newspaper in a typical week. The 35-44 cohort were 9% more likely not to read one. The flip comes with the 45-54 cohort, which were 24% more likely than the general population to read one.

Some would argue the data simply reflects the fact that young people are less interested in news in general. But the comScore study says it’s just the reverse. Non-newspaper readers consume more news in general than heavy newspaper readers from a variety of online sources, including newspaper Web sites.

That’s a plus for newspaper Web sites, with nonprint readers 4% more likely to visit The New York Times Web site, 6% more likely to visit The Wall Street Journal, 12% more likely to visit the Los Angeles Times, and 8% more likely to visit the Chicago Tribune.

But the news is tempered by the presence of myriad online competitors, as online news consumers also crave variety. They were 29% more likely to visit FoxNews online, 15% more likely to visit CBS News digital, 24% more likely to visit Topix, and 18% more likely to visit Google News.

The finding is further tempered by the relatively small size of online revenues compared to the rest of their operations. Online contributed about 10% of total revenues for The New York Times Company in 2007, 8% at McClatchy, and about 13% at The Washington Post and 5% at Gannett. However, in the latter two cases, the percentage growth is partly attributable to steep declines in overall revenues, meaning the basis of comparison is shrinking.

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Canada Post seeks new ways to protect carriers from dog, bear and human attack

Posted by | Mar 17, 2008 | |

Canada Post is looking for a new weapon to protect its carriers from dogs, bears and the occasional violent human.

The Crown corporation is asking manufacturers to come forward with alternatives to the small pepper-spray cans that posties now carry, which can be ineffective in a strong wind or when dogs move too quickly.

“We’re looking for the latest technology or products that are out there to protect our employees,” corporation spokesman John Caines said from Ottawa.

About 300 Canada Post workers are bitten on the job every year, Caines said. Most bites are minor. Some, however, are debilitating.

“I had a gash along my leg – about five inches long and an inch wide – and I had to get a skin graft,” said Gary Garbutt, a retired postal worker who still clearly remembers a 1986 pit bull attack in Winnipeg’s tony Charleswood neighbourhood that left him in hospital for 10 days.

“He got me on the inside of my wrist, too, and made a gash there of about two inches (before the owner called him off).”

Pepper spray might not have made much difference in Garbutt’s case, he said, because the dog was on him before he knew it.

“I turned around, he was eight feet away. He was on my leg before I had a chance to do anything,” Garbutt said.

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Free recycling through the mail. U.S. Postal Service starts service in 1,500 Post Offices

Posted by | Mar 17, 2008 | |

Free and green. Those are the goals of a pilot program launched today by the U.S. Postal Service that allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge.

The “Mail Back” program helps consumers make more environmentally friendly choices, making it easier for customers to discard used or obsolete small electronics in an environmentally responsible way. Customers use free envelopes found in 1,500 Post Offices to mail back inkjet cartridges, PDAs, Blackberries, digital cameras, iPods and MP3 players – without having to pay for postage.

Postage is paid for by Clover Technologies Group, a nationally recognized company that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets inkjet cartridges, laser cartridges and small electronics. If the electronic item or cartridges cannot be refurbished and resold, its component parts are reused to refurbish other items, or the parts are broken down further and the materials are recycled. Clover Technologies Group has a “zero waste to landfill” policy: it does everything it can to avoid contributing any materials to the nation’s landfills.

It was this philosophy that won Clover the contract with the Postal Service, besting 19 other companies, said Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president for the Postal Service.

The free, postage-paid Mail Back envelopes can be found on displays in Post Office lobbies. There is no limit to the number of envelopes customers may take.

The pilot is set for 10 areas across the country, including Washington, D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles and San Diego, but could become a national program this fall if the pilot program proves successful.

The Postal Service recycles 1 million tons of paper, plastic and other materials annually. Last year, USPS generated more than USD 7.5 million in savings through recycling and waste prevention programs. The nation’s environmental watchdog, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded the Postal Service eight WasteWise Partner of the Year awards, the agency’s top honor.

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