Tag: USA

USPS repositionable notes extended for additional year

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

The US Postal Service Governors accepted the recommendation of the Postal Regulatory Commission to extend the test on repostionable notes, or “sticky notes,” for one year.

The USPS’s repositionable notes allow mailers of First-Class Mail, Periodicals and Standard Mail to affix a Post-It-type note to the outside of cards, large letters, catalogs, magazines and newspapers for a fee, in addition to postage for the host piece.
RPNs are removable, 3-inch by 3-inch paper advertising messages used by business owners, advertising agencies and marketing professionals. They have been described as “billboards for a business’ mail,” because of their unique look and the fact that they can be removed from the mail piece and placed on computers, refrigerators or checkbooks as reminders.

Fees, which are based on a “value pricing” concept, are one-half cent for First Class and 1.5 cents for Standard Mail and Periodicals, plus the cost of postage.

RPNs were introduced on a provisional basis for a one-year period on April 3, 2005, and renewed for an additional year.

On June 14, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved the USPS’s request for another one-year extension to test the market desirability of RPNs

The USPS filed for the one-year extension request on April 2, the day before the April 3 expiration date. The extension sought to further test market demand and interest at the current price for the service. The USPS Governors approval means, rates can remain at their current levels through April 3, 2008.

Since the service first was introduced in April 2005, more than 1,500 customers have used RPNs on almost 247 million pieces of mail.

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Union wary of Postal Service’s plans for KCK center

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

A union leader has criticized the U.S. Postal Service’s proposal to close a facility in Kansas City, Kan., that employs 300 people. John Savala, president of National Postal Mail Handlers Union Local 297, said a recent public hearing on the matter left him and his organization frustrated.

The postal facility in question is a processing and distribution center at 5215 Richland Ave. The Postal Service has proposed consolidating its operations into a bigger facility in Kansas City, Mo.

The Postal Service has indicated that no layoffs would occur as a result of any consolidation. About 240 employees would be transferred to the Missouri center, and the remaining workers would leave through attrition.

Richard Watkins, a Postal Service spokesman for the Mid-America District, said changing economic conditions were forcing the Postal Service to adapt and make its own changes. The proposal to close the Kansas City, Kan., center is part of a national study by the Postal Service evaluating its operations.

The volume of the Postal Service’s most profitable product, first-class mail, has dropped 22 percent since the late 1990s, Watkins said, while costs continue to rise. As first-class mail volume declines, it makes sense for the Postal Service to examine consolidating operations from a leased facility to one it owns that has nearly 500,000 square feet of available capacity, according to Watkins.

Watkins said a study had shown that nearly USD 5.7 million could be saved annually by combining the operations.

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FedEx could lure private equity interest

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

FedEx Corp. could become a target for private equity buyers because of its modest valuation and turnaround potential, Barron’s reported in its July 9 issue.

With an enterprise value of USD 35 billion, FedEx is valued at about six times expected fiscal 2008 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or Ebitda.

The attraction for buyout firms would be the potential to cut capital expenditures to help finance a deal as well as the opportunity to turn around ailing retail unit FedEx Kinko’s.

Even without a buyout, which Barron’s said may not be imminent or even likely, FedEx shares should perform fine on their own, the investor weekly said.

FedEx shares, which are essentially flat this year, closed on Friday at USD 110.84.

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Western Union Services Now Available at 263 Checksmart Financial Locations in 11 States Nationwide

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

The Western Union Company and Checksmart Financial announced today that Western Union services are now available at 263 Checksmart locations in 11 states nationwide.

Checksmart Financial, which formerly offered a competitor’s services, joins Western Union’s network of more than 305,000 Agent locations – including subsidiaries Orlandi Valuta and Vigo – in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

With the agreement, 227 Checksmart Financial locations will offer Western Union(R) Money Transfers, Western Union-branded money orders, and utility bill payments to select utilities. Seventeen Checksmart locations will offer Western Union Money Transfers and money orders, and 19 locations will offer money orders.

Checksmart Financial operates locations under the names Checksmart, Buckeye Checksmart, Express Payroll Advance, Southwest Check Cashing, Buckeye Title Loan and Cash 1 in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Utah and Virginia. The majority of locations are open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, with some locations open 24 hours a day.

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Groups seek end to USPS monopoly on mailboxes

Posted by | Jul 9, 2007 | |

A group of taxpayer and consumer advocates are calling for an end to the U.S. Postal Service’s monopoly on mailboxes.

In response to a Federal Trade Commission request for comment in the May 1 Federal Register, the group questions a rule that bars putting letters or packages in mailboxes without paying a fee to the Postal Service.

The rule “injects unnecessary nuisance, cost and inefficiency into simple acts of community communication,” the group writes in a June 29 letter to the FTC. The letter is signed by officials from the Consumer Postal Council, the National Taxpayers Union, Americans for Tax Reform and other groups.

Under the ban, private citizens cannot put neighborhood fliers or party invitations in boxes. And as online commerce grows, inability to receive private deliveries in mailboxes causes a mounting inconvenience, the letter says.

The FTC is expected to respond by August.

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