The United States Postal Service: A Case Study Of Large Scale Government Transformation
The United States Postal Service: A Case Study Of Large Scale Government Transformation
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Bound printed matter mailings to be paid by permit only (U.S)
The US Postal Service will require all bound printed matter (BPM) mailings be paid by permit only as of September 11.
Postage payment for all BPM mailings, which include “carrier route, presorted, and non-presorted (single-piece) flats and parcels, regardless of volume,” will be limited to permit imprint, the USPS said.
As a result of this classification change, mailers will no longer be able to pay for postage with adhesive stamps, a customer-generated postage meter or PC Postage, according to the USPS. And, moving forward, BPM mailings will not be accepted at retail counters, in collection boxes or by carriers. Instead, mailers must deposit BPM mailings at the Post Office facility that issued them the permit.
Those who hold merchandise return service permit will be able to continue to pay non-presorted BPM prices on eligible items that are returned with a merchandise return service label.
The USPS filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission in March requesting this classification change. In July, the commission accepted the change, allowing it to go into effect.
Read MoreUS Teamsters seek independent FedEx board chairman
The U.S. Teamsters union said that it sent a letter to shareholders of package delivery company FedEx Corp urging them to support a union proposal to elect an independent board chairman.
FedEx’s annual shareholder meeting will be held September 29 in Memphis, Tennessee.
The Teamsters have been fighting for years to unionize drivers at FedEx unit FedEx Ground, arguing that the independent contractors the company uses should be classified as employees and entitled to benefits.
FedEx says the drivers are entrepreneurs and should not be classified as employees.
The Teamsters union represents drivers at FedEx’s main rival United Parcel Service Inc.
The company said the Teamsters’ proposal would not be beneficial to shareholders.
Read MoreFedEx Express to deliver broadest next-business-day service from Europe to the Eastern United States
FedEx Express has upgraded its next-business-day delivery service FedEx International Priority from Europe to major U.S. East Coast cities. Customers who had two-business-day service can now reach more than 3,500 zip codes in key markets along the U.S. East Coast overnight. Customers already enjoying next-business-day delivery service to this region benefit from later pick-up times of up to six hours.
To support the service upgrade, FedEx will launch a new westbound trans-Atlantic flight and fly a wide-body MD-11 freighter daily, Tuesday through Friday, between Paris, Charles de Gaulle Airport and Newark, N.J. The Europe-to-U.S. flight segment comprises part of the FedEx westbound ‘around-the-world’ flight, which enables FedEx to provide customers with access to key markets around the world with highly competitive transit times. The company will also introduce two new Airbus A310 flights, including flights originating from Barcelona and Budapest-Vienna, to offer customers in these areas later pick-up times for enhanced next-business-day service to the U.S.
Read MoreUSPS extends early-out offers to letter carriers
The U.S. Postal Service has extended early retirement offers to letter carriers as part of an expanded early-out offer that now covers 156,000 employees.
Rural and city carriers are included in a new group of employees eligible for voluntary early retirements. Other employees in this group are postmasters, field-level supervisors, maintenance workers and motor vehicle mechanics.
In the past month, USPS announced early-out offers to two other groups of employees as part of a larger effort to reduce and restructure its work force. The first covers about 72,000 mail handlers, clerks, distribution operations supervisors and customer service supervisors. The second group includes 3,200 headquarters employees.
With this latest round, approved late last week by the Office of Personnel Management, the Postal Service has extended offers to virtually all occupations within the Postal Service, said Anthony Vegliante, the agency’s chief human resources officer.
Vegliante said it’s the first time since 1992 that the Postal Service has offered early retirements to letter carriers, who comprise the bulk of the agency’s 670,000 employees.
The offers apply to employees who are at least 50 years old with at least 20 years of service, or those with 25 years of service regardless of age. No financial incentives nor bonuses will be paid to employees who decide to retire.
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