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 Postal Service

USPS reports losses of $3.3 billion

February 10, 2012

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) ended the first three months of its 2012 fiscal year with a net loss of $3.3 billion — and large losses are expected to continue until planned restructuring efforts have taken place, the agency said Feb. 9.
 

USPS to propose repeat mobile barcode promo

January 31, 2012

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is, for the second year, planning a summertime promotion for direct mailers that use two-dimensional barcodes, USPS VP of domestic products Gary Reblin told Direct Marketing News on Jan. 31.
 

USPS offers commercial mailers a free ounce for promo inserts

January 26, 2012

In response to feedback from the mailing industry, businesses mailing automated or presort letters first-class can now mail letters weighing up to two ounces at the one-ounce postage rate, said U.S. Postal Service (USPS) spokesperson Patricia Licata on Jan. 26. The "2nd Ounce Free" initiative became effective this week.
 

USPS solvency saga continues

January 20, 2012

The embattled U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is continuing its struggle to stay in the black, but the five-month moratorium on facilities closures may end more than a month before the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) releases an advisory opinion on its streamlining plans.
 

Direct mailers no longer need to prepay postage

January 06, 2012

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has been granted permission by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to allow direct mailers to pay postage via credit rather than requiring prepayment, said PRC chairman Ruth Goldway on Jan. 6. The new rules went into effect Jan. 5.
 

Marketers eye USPS' struggles with caution

Amanda Green January 01, 2012

The embattled U.S. Postal Service (USPS) faces a host of new challenges, several of which threaten to directly impact marketers. However, many who rely on direct mail say that in spite of the tumult, they'll wait and see how things pan out before altering marketing strategy.
 

USPS agrees to moratorium on post office closures

December 14, 2011

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS), in response to a request made by multiple U.S. senators, agreed to a five-month moratorium on closures of post offices and mail processing facilities on Dec. 13.
 

USPS to cut next-day delivery for first-class mail

, Melissa Hoffmann December 05, 2011

As part of a previously announced $3 billion cost-savings initiative, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is moving forward with plans to change delivery standards for first-class mail, the organization said on Dec. 5. The cuts would eliminate next-day delivery for first-class mail and periodicals.
 

USPS proposes rate increases for 2012

November 23, 2011

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) seeks to raise shipping service rates by 4.6%, the company said in a Nov. 22 statement. Priority Mail prices will increase on average 3.1%, Express Mail prices will increase 3.3% and First-Class Package Service prices will increase 3.7%
 

Postal reform bill introduced in U.S. Senate

September 23, 2011

A postal reform bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate on Sept. 23, seeking to help the ailing U.S. Postal Service (USPS) with the establishment of two new control boards. One would oversee a kind of receivership for the USPS if it defaults on any of its government payments and the other is intended to prevent politics from influencing plans to reduce the USPS processing infrastructure.
 

Postal Service net loss plummets to $3.1 billion

August 05, 2011

The US Postal Service continued its downward spiral on Aug. 5, with the agency reporting a net loss of $3.1 billion for the third quarter of its 2011 fiscal year. The number is a slight improvement compared with the same period in 2010, when the USPS posted a $3.5 billion net loss, but the agency said that "absent substantial legislative change" it will default on payments owed to the federal government.
 

Carper introduces postal reform bill

May 17, 2011

Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) introduced a bill May 17 that would allow the financially struggling US Postal Service to modernize its pension payments system, eliminate Saturday home delivery, and expand its services. The Postal Operations Sustainment and Transformation Act of 2011 would also give the USPS the ability to close post offices as it sees fit.
 

USPS trying to make believers out of marketers, says PMG

May 02, 2011

Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said Monday that he had to nudge his in-house and agency marketing team towards the ad campaign that the US Postal Service will use this fall to show off the effectiveness of mail as a marketing tool. "They said 'mail's not sexy,'" Donahoe told reporters at the National Postal Forum 2011 in San Diego on May 2.
 

Postal Regulatory Commission divided on five-day delivery

March 24, 2011

The Postal Regulatory Commission said March 24 that the US Postal Service overestimated its potential savings and underestimated potential lost revenues in its proposal to move to five-day-per-week home delivery. The commission's five members issued varying opinions on the plan to cut Saturday delivery, which Congress is expected to debate this session.
 

Netflix deal a small victory in competition against pay-cable networks

July 07, 2010

Netflix needed some good news. It got it.
 

USPS sees $642M May net loss

June 28, 2010

The US Postal Service saw a net loss of $642 million in May, bringing its fiscal-year-to-date total net loss to more than $2.9 billion, according to preliminary financial data filed with the Postal Regulatory Commission.
 

ACMA deputy director says industry faces stormy challenges

June 10, 2010

The US Postal Service's planned exigent price increase, recently proposed federal draft privacy legislation and a Colorado tax law are creating a "perfect storm" to hinder catalogers, said Paul Miller, VP and deputy director of the American Catalog Mailers Association, in his latest bulletin to members.
 

USPS rate hike expected in 2011

Kate Muth May 14, 2010

Catalog mailers and magazine publishers are bracing for sizable postage price increases in January 2011, when the US Postal Service expects to implement an "exigent" price increase on mailing services.
 

Postal Service's $1.6 billion Q2 net loss an improvement, but agency still in weeds

Kate Muth May 06, 2010

The US Postal Service's $1.6 billion net loss in the second quarter of its 2010 fiscal year was a year-over-year improvement of about $300 million. Despite beating agency forecasts for the quarter, the organization is on track to lose nearly $7 billion this fiscal year, which ends September 30.
 

DMA, American Catalog Mailers Association pledge team effort on postal issues

March 11, 2010

Trade groups the Direct Marketing Association and the American Catalog Mailers Association pledged to work together on postal issues on March 11.
 

Postal Service sees net loss of $297M for fiscal Q1 2010

February 09, 2010

The US Postal Service reported a net loss of $297 million for the fiscal first quarter of 2010. The agency also saw revenue decline 3.9% for Q1 2010, which ran from October 1 to December 31, 2009.
 

Obama takes on USPS privatization question in digital town hall

February 02, 2010

One of the questions that President Barack Obama tackled yesterday in a YouTube town hall regarded a theoretical privatization of the US Postal Service. His response: privatization of public services is "a bad idea most of the time."
 

PRC to hold public session on Postal Service's future next month

January 21, 2010

The Postal Regulatory Commission wants to hear from members of the public about the US Postal Service's financial future. The group will hold a public forum on February 10 in Washington, DC, on the organization's business plan for the future.
 

USPS Inspector General says agency was overcharged $75B for pension fund

January 20, 2010

The current system of funding the US Postal Service's Civil Service Retirement System pension responsibility has resulted in the agency overpaying $75 billion from 1972 to 2009 to its pension fund, according to the Postal Service's Office of Inspector General.
 

US Postal Service targets youth with iPhone app

January 05, 2010

The US Postal Service has launched an iPhone and iPod Touch application to make its services more conveniently through the mobile Web and to appeal to a younger, more mobile-savvy demographic. The application features a GPS-enabled post office locator, maps and directions, a ZIP Code locator and functionality for consumers to track and confirm packages.
 

2010 shipping rates take effect today

January 04, 2010

The US Postal Service's new rates for numerous shipping services, including Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Return Service and Express Mail International, went into effect today.
 

Make the most of stable postal rates

January 04, 2010

The US Postal Service has decided not to raise first-class rates for 2010. Four direct mail experts divulge their top recommendations for taking advantage of the break in rate increases.
 

Audit finds wasteful spending during USPS' 2009 fiscal year

December 22, 2009

Although the US Postal Service has promised to drive down its own spending, a report released this month by its own inspector general's office found that agency's employees spent $792,000 on meals and events without justification in late 2008 and the first half of 2009. The USPS disclosed a net loss of $3.8 billion for fiscal year 2009.
 

Mail and marketing groups launch online forum on Postal Service's future

December 01, 2009

A coalition of postal, mailing and marketing groups launched a Web forum on December 1 to bolster discussion about the state of the US Postal Service and how the federal agency can maintain its relevance. The goals of PostalJournal.com are to explore the evolution of the USPS as part of the nation's economic and communications infrastructure and to create an exchange of ideas about the industry.
 

US Postal Service could consider truck-side advertising

December 01, 2009

The US Postal Service floated a trial balloon this week about possibly selling advertising space on the sides of its trucks. Yet the USPS' Inspector General's Office acknowledged a number of potential roadblocks in a blog post on the issue.