PrintMEMO TO MAILERS - DECEMBER 2006 (text)
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
VOLUME 41 NUMBER 12
DECEMBER 2006
WHAT'S INSIDE
DIRECT MAIL
INTRODUCING SCAN
APPROVED SHIPPER PROGRAM
SHIPPING ASSISTANT
KEEPING POSTED
POSTAL NEWS BRIEFS
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DELIVERING 20 BILLION PIECES OF HOLIDAY "CHEER"
Santa isn’t the only one who will be working Christmas Eve.
The U.S. Postal Service will deliver Express Mail on Dec. 24 and 25, helping families and customers across the country keep “happy” in the holidays.
The Postal Service expects to deliver 20 billion letters, packages and cards between Thanksgiving and Christmas, with the busiest mailing day expected to be Monday, Dec. 18, when more than 280 million cards and letters will be processed — more than twice the average processed on any given day. Total mail volume on Dec. 18 is projected to rise to 900 million pieces of mail, increased from 670 million pieces on an average day.
About 100 million First-Class letters are processed daily. That number increases to about 150 million a day during the holidays. About 12 million packages will be delivered every day through Christmas Eve. The busiest delivery day will be Wednesday, Dec. 20.
“We work hard every day to make sure we meet the needs of our customers. But we take the extra step, meet the additional challenge, during the holidays,” said Deputy Postmaster General and Chief Operating Officer Pat Donahoe. “Our commitment to our customers remains strong. We have a goal ahead of us that we are going to meet.”
And meeting that challenge will take the coordinated efforts of 700,000 full-time and seasonal workers; a National Operations Center coordinating mail flow and delivery around the clock, seven days a week; expanding air cargo lifts by 60 percent; increasing the number of direct ground routes between major metro networks; and fueling, loading and driving more than 210,000 vehicles.
In addition to the national logistics of moving and delivering all this mail, the Postal Service will have extended hours at more than 7,400 Post Offices. Customers can purchase stamps online or at more than 75,000 alternate access points, including banks, grocery stores, drug stores and at Post Offices. National call center operators are ready to answer questions on hours and services. Customers can call 1-800-ASK-USPS for information.
And there are 2,500 Automated Postal Centers (APCs) in Post Office lobbies across the country. Just as an ATM is a virtual bank, the APC is a virtual, stand-alone Post Office. The APC does everything short of face-to-face transactions — dispensing stamps, weighing packages and calculating postage for Express Mail, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail and Parcel Post items.
“APCs make visiting a Post Office easier,” Donahoe said. “It’s one more way we’re trying to save customers time waiting in line and offering another alternative to meet their mailing needs.”
And, like Santa Claus, the Post Office is everywhere, with 37,000 locations across the country and on every computer and laptop in America at USPS.com. Almost anything that can be done at a Post Office can be done online at a time that is convenient for the customer.
Ship a package, purchase stamps, hold mail, request a Free Package Pickup, find a ZIP Code and design and print greeting cards. There are more than two dozen services available through the Postal Service’s website. This year, a special page was created as a single destination for all holiday needs: USPS.com/holiday.
More than 4 billion seasonal stamps were printed this year. The official holiday stamp is a series of four photographs of snowflakes.
“The ways Americans celebrate the holidays are as varied as snowflakes. No two are exactly alike. Bright reflections off snowflakes’ mirror-like surfaces give freshly fallen snow its sparkle,” Donahoe said. “That’s our goal for this holiday season as well. Making Your Holidays Sparkle.”
U.S. POSTAL SERVICE BY THE NUMBERS
231 Number of years the U.S. Postal Service has been delivering holiday cheer.
20 billion Number of cards, letters and packages to be delivered between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
100 million Average daily number of First-Class cards and letters.
150 million Average daily number of First-Class cards and letters processed during the holidays.
280 million Number of First-Class cards and letters to be mailed on Dec. 18, busiest mailing day of the year.
670 million Average number of all pieces of mail processed daily.
900 million Average number of mailpieces processed daily during the holidays.
10.5 million In pounds, the amount of mail delivered to overseas military installations, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
7,400 Number of Post Offices with expanded hours.
55,000 Number of places other than Post Offices where stamps can be purchased.
210,000 Number of vehicles used to transport holiday mail, including 176,405 halfton trucks.
4 billion Number of holiday stamps the Postal Service printed this year.
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MAKE A DATE WITH DIGITAL
If you’re using a postage meter that uses letterpress technology, time is running out. The Postal Service is moving to digital postage meter technology and there’s an end-of-year deadline that could affect you.
The Postal Service, in cooperation with all authorized postage meter manufacturers, began in 1995 a phased migration to digital information-based indicia technology. Why the change? Early meter technology was susceptible to tampering and misuse. Digital printing meters offer convenience, ease-of-use and enhanced security.
Phase 1 of the plan retired all mechanical postage meters and resulted in 776,000 mechanical meters being withdrawn from service. Phase II, the retirement of electronic meters that are manually set by Postal Service employees, was completed last year.
The deadline is approaching to retire Phase III and Phase IV meters that use letterpress print technology. Businesses must make the transition to a more secure Postal Service-approved postage meter by Dec. 31, 2006, for Phase III meters and Dec. 31, 2008, for Phase IV meters. If they don’t, they risk being unable to add postage value to outdated meters.
While both Phase III and IV meters use letterpress technology to print indicia, Phase IV meters include a timeout feature that disables a meter if it’s not reset within a specified period or if it fails to meet prescribed criteria.
A list of Phase III and Phase IV meter models and their retirement dates, as well as additional information on postage solutions, is available at www.usps.com/postagesolutions.
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FYI
Greeting cards, postcards, gift cards from more than 20 national retailers, even year-end letters to family and friends can be created, packaged and mailed through the NetPost suite of services. Hassle-free shopping at a time that’s convenient to you. Just go to usps.com/cardstore.
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MAILPRO
It's everything you need to know. Coming in 2007
We’re combining two Postal Service publications — Memo to Mailers and Mailers Companion — into a single bi-monthly publication called MailPro. The inaugural issue will be January/February 2007. How do you get it? If you currently receive one or both publications, your transition to MailPro will be seamless — you’ll be automatically subscribe.
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INFO@USPS
SMALL BUSINESS TOOLS
Get new customers.
Meet customer demands.
Around town or around the world.
www.usps.com
SIMPLE FORMULAS
Use the mail to grow your business.
Order a Simple Formulas kit.
800-THE-USPS, ext. AD4433
SEND MAIL FROM YOUR PC
Send postcards, letters,
flyers, booklets or greeting cards.
www.usps.com/netpost
THE POSTAL STORE ONLINE
Open 24/7. Stamps.
Subscription services.
Digital scales.
www.usps.com/shop
SHIPPING INFORMATION
Express Mail, Priority Mail
and package support line.
800-222-1811
PRINT POSTAGE ONLINE
Your shipping label is just
a Click-N-Ship away.
www.usps.com/clicknship
CARRIER PICKUP
From your home or office
at no extra charge.
www.usps.com/pickup
ONLINE SHORTCUT
One-click access.
www.usps.com/smartbusiness
QUESTIONS?
800-ASK-USPS
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FINANCIAL FIGURES FOR 2006
Record levels of revenue and volume helped the Postal Service conclude its 2006 fiscal year with net income of $900 million, but increases in fuel and labor costs limited the overall financial success.
The Postal Service’s 2006 fiscal year began Oct. 1, 2005, and ended Sept. 30, 2006.
Total revenue was $72.8 billion and total expenses were $71.9 billion. The net deficiency, after including a $3 billion escrow allocation, as required by law, was $2.1 billion.
Fuel and transportation costs totaled approximately $1.7 billion in FY 2006, or $260 million more than anticipated. As one of the nation’s largest transportation and delivery organizations, the Postal Service is extremely sensitive to changing energy costs.
Overall, total expenses increased by 4.9 percent over the previous year. Total mail volume increased in FY 2006 by 1.4 billion pieces, or 0.7 percent. While the mail volume decline trend continued for First-Class Mail (0.5 percent decrease from the previous fiscal year), growth in Standard and Priority Mail helped increase overall mail volume to 213 billion pieces.
The fiscal year ended with a record seventh consecutive year in positive total factor productivity (TFP). The Postal Service uses TFP to measure the change in the relationship between outputs, or workload, and all the resources used in producing these outputs. TFP increased by 0.4 percent in FY 2006.
HISTORIC RULE CHANGE FOR STAMP HONOREES
Postmaster General John E. Potter announced the Postal Service is reducing the time it takes a person to become eligible to appear on a stamp following death from 10 years to five.
“Stamps are the signature of the Postal Service,” Potter said. “For more than three decades we have had a rule requiring notable Americans be deceased 10 years before they could be recognized for commemoration on a postage stamp. We created this rule to make certain their legacy stood the test of time. The Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee has been discussing this issue for some time and now has recommended that we reduce that wait time to five years.”
Potter said the change is a “reasonable suggestion and it will allow us to honor a subject’s lifetime achievements while their memory is still relatively fresh in the public’s eye.”
The change is effective Jan. 1, 2007.
The committee will not accept or consider proposals for a subject until at least three years after his/her death. The change does not affect deceased U.S. presidents, who may be honored with a memorial stamp as soon as the first birth anniversary following their death.
The Postal Service receives 50,000 cards and letters with stamp ideas each year. The Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee, which includes designers, historians and educators, reviews suggestions and makes recommendations to the Postmaster General for final approval. The time between submitting a stamp idea and issuing the stamp can take several years.
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PREMIUM FORWARDING SERVICE IS A POPULAR OPTION
More than 105,000 customers have taken advantage of the Postal Service’s Premium Forwarding Service (PFS) in its first year. PFS allows mail to be forwarded from a permanent to a temporary address for up to one year.
PFS is a personalized service for sending all mail from a primary residential address to a temporary address using Priority Mail packages. Express Mail, First-Class Mail or Priority Mail packages too large to fit inside the Premium Forwarding Service package are rerouted separately at no additional charge. PFS is available for domestic mail.
The service is designed for residential customers who want to receive all of their mail at a temporary address, including a Post Office Box, regardless of the distance. The average duration of the service is about six weeks.
With PFS, the Postal Service boxes and reships mail to a temporary address for customers who are away from their primary address for at least two weeks but not longer than one year.
Interested customers simply complete an application at the Post Office serving their primary address. Necessary information, including name, address of primary residence, temporary address, contact numbers and start and end dates, is required. Premium Forwarding Service is temporary, but it does not replace the temporary or permanent Change-of-Address option or Hold Mail services. These services still are available at no charge.
There's a one-time fee of $10 to start the service. Customers are charged $10.40 weekly for the service.
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MEMO TO MAILERS
Volume 41 Number 12
Ilze Sella
Editor
David Ostroff
Designer
George Huelsman
Purchasing Specialist
John E. Potter
Postmaster General and CEO
Thomas G. Day
Senior Vice President, Government Relations
Jon Leonard
Acting Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications
MEMO TO MAILERS
is published by U.S. Postal Service
Public Affairs and Communications.
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registered marks of the
United States Postal Service.
© 2006 United States Postal Service. The following are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service: USPS®, U.S. Postal Service®, United States Postal Service®, Postal Service™, Post Office™, Priority Mail®, Express Mail®, Standard Mail™, First-Class Mail®, Registered Mail™, Certified Mail™, Delivery Confirmation™, Signature Confirmation™, ZIP Code™, Click-N-Ship®, NetPost® and The Postal Store®. This list is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service marks.
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