May 31, 2005 -- The Gravure Association of America announced today that Bill Martin has joined the Association as Executive Vice President. Martin will be responsible for all GAA operations.

May 31, 2005 -- The Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) has filed comments with  the U.S. Postal Service on the development of phase two of its Transformation Plan.

May 31, 2005 -- The BBC has reported that "At the world's biggest annual print media gathering, organised by the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), speakers were upbeat about the prospects for print. Newspaper circulation rose slightly in 2004, according to the newspaper body. But the industry still faces many challenges from new media, some 1,300 delegates were told. Despite the incredible competitive challenges in the advertising market, newspapers have more than held their own and their revenues are strongly on the increase again. Speakers cautioned against complacency, predicting that free papers, online news sites, and the spread of blogs and other non-mainstream news sources would put growing pressure on the readership of traditional newspapers."

May 31, 2005 -- The KosovoReport has noted that "Kosovo will adopt a set of new zip codes on Tuesday in a bid to speed up postal deliveries which have been slow and arduous in recent years due to a lack of clarity over the U.N.-run provinces status. Kosovos capital, Pristina, will now use 10000 as its new code instead of the old Yugoslav code of 38000. The new codes were approved by the U.N. legal office in Kosovo, said Seremb Gjergji, spokesman for Kosovos Post and Telecom." Kosovo is a U.N. protectorate.

May 31, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Firstlogic Inc., a leading global provider of enterprise information quality software, and Powerdata Iberica, supplier of information technology and services for data integration platforms, today announced a distribution agreement that brings Firstlogic data quality software to the Iberian Peninsula. Effective immediately, the strategic distribution alliance authorizes Powerdata Iberica to sell, install, and provide in-region support for Firstlogic technology in Spain and Portugal. With Firstlogic technology, organizations better manage the information assets already stored in their corporate computing environment, delivering benefits such as a single view of the customer, easy relationship building between customers and overall better service to customers."

May 31, 2005 -- The Albany Business Review has reported that the "Postal Service has warned it may drop the AuthentiDate postmark if revenue doesn't rise. The AuthentiDate management team, led by new CEO Suren Pai, has been working to recast the electronic postmark as a solutions-based system, to accelerate development of the market for the product. The company and the Postal Service have continued to develop the EPM business using this strategy, and in April launched a new service to authenticate and verify paper documents received via fax."

May 31, 2005 -- The Postal Rate Commission has published on its web site "Rules Applicable to Renew or Modify Previously Recommended Negotiated Service Agreements" (Docket No. RM2005-3).

May 31, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin has reported that:

• Postal regulator Postcomm has awarded Racer Consultancy Management Services a licence to operate bulk mail, consolidation and tracked business-to-business services.

• Royal Mail has condemned Postcomm calls for a domestic price freeze at Royal Mail from April 2006 to March 2010 as part of a raft of proposals on the future of the state-owned service. The postal regulator, which has opened a three-month consultation on the proposals, says the freeze will benefit customers and at the same time allow Royal Mail to make a regulatory profit of around £285m a year as well as continue to address its £4.5bn pension black hole. The plans, unveiled in the review 'Royal Mail's Price and Service Quality Regulation from 2006 - Initial Proposals', also call for a revised set of customer service targets.

May 31, 2005 -- If you do business from Canada or to Canada, you might want to check the latest from the National Association of Major Mail Users (NAMMU).

May 31, 2005 -- The Ottawa Citizen has reported that "It's only a 10-centimetre obstacle -- about four inches, for those who still think that way -- but as far as Canada Post is concerned, Christine Charbonneau's front porch step could be the Rocky Mountains. Ms. Charbonneau is being threatened with having mail delivery to her Orleans home cancelled because, according to Canada Post, her steps are too dangerous for a postal carrier to negotiate -- never mind that her elderly mother-in-law has no problems making the climb. Under the national building code, a step can rise a maximum of 20 centimetres. But when Ms. Charbonneau went to check her mailbox on Friday, she discovered a Canada Post employee measuring her front step. The man explained that at 30 centimetres, the single step at her St. Jerome Crescent home is too high for safety. He said the mail could be stopped because of it."

May 31, 2005 -- The World Today has reported that "A group of disgruntled musicians wants to force Australia Post to change the way that it charges for delivering compact discs. Australia Post admits the charges can vary, but critics say that in recent years, the authority's windfall could have run into the millions of dollars."

May 31, 2005 -- A UNI Postal European delegation met with Internal Market Commissioner, Charlie McCreevy in Brussels on 26 May 2005 to discuss the development of postal services in Europe. The discussions included the recent report from the Commission on "the Application of the Postal Directive" and current ongoing Commission studies on " Evolution of the Regulatory Model for European postal services" and "Development of Competition in the European Postal Sector". John Pedersen, Head of UNI Postal emphasised the importance of the universal postal service, the obligation to provide it, the proper financing of it and negative impacts of experiments trying to diminish the universal postal service definition particularly on citizens, regional development and the cohesion of society as well as the importance of securing uniform tariffs within the whole territory.

May 31, 2005 -- The Jamaica Observer has reported that "The Montego Bay police had to be called in to remove mail contractors, protesting the non-renewal of their contracts, from the premises of the Montego Bay Number One Post Office yesterday morning. OMEALLY-NELSON... 25 contracts not renewed islandwide The three workers, one of whom had 40 years of service, used motor vehicles to block the entrance to the post office. Supporters of the postal workers, some of whom had been employed by the men who lost their contracts, which had been tendered, came out in support of the protest."

May 30, 2005 -- The Anchorage Daily News has reported that "Standing inside a cavernous mail-sorting plant at the Anchorage airport over the weekend, Sen. Ted Stevens and a top official of the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new device designed to test letters in Alaska for anthrax. The Biohazard Detection System at the mail-processing plant on Postmark Drive is just one of many such systems being installed around the country in a billion-dollar effort to prevent anthrax attacks using the U.S. mail like the ones the nation saw in 2001."

May 30, 2005 -- Yonhap News has reported that "South Korea said Monday it has agreed with Cambodia to forge closer cooperation in the information and technology (IT) sector as well as postal service links. The agreement was reached between visiting Cambodian Minister of Posts and Telecommunications So Khun and South Korean Information and Communication Minister Chin Dae-je on the sidelines of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) conference in Seoul, the Korean ministry said in a statement. Among the areas of cooperation discussed was a South Korean proposal to narrow the gap between those with privileged access and knowledge of IT systems and those without, as well as developing infrastructure and human resources in Cambodia, according to the statement."

May 30, 2005 -- The Nikkei news service has reported that "Heizo Takenaka, minister in charge of privatization of the postal services, on Monday told a lower house ad-hoc committee that the postal savings bank will have a capital adequacy ratio of 13-18% after privatization. The ratio is well above the 8% required under Bank for International Settlements rules for banks operating overseas."

May 30, 2005 -- The Belfast Telegraph has reported that "Royal Mail is set to lose some of its biggest and most lucrative customers with a string of government departments, high street banks and insurers preparing to defect to rival postal operators. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Inland Revenue and several large banks are understood to be close to switching from Royal Mail to one of the new breed of competitors which have moved in after the liberalisation of the £5.8bn postal market."

May 30, 2005 -- The Hindu Business Line has reported that "THE Government has roped in global consultants KPMG to prepare a report on restructuring the postal network across the country. The mandate given to KPMG includes identifying new areas of business. The idea behind this corporate restructuring is to wipe out the Rs 1,400-crore deficit of the Department of Posts. KPMG will also review the pricing of postal products and services and sustainability of loss-making and unpopular products."

May 29, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "The express delivery industry directly contributed $64 billion to the global economy in 2003, double that of electrical appliance manufacturers, and half again as much as shipbuilders, according to the Global Express Association. The industry has grown twice as fast as the global economy since 1998. It provided 2.65 million jobs in 2003, and the total is likely to grow to 4.5 million by 2013, the report found. Brussels-based GEA, which represents global couriers FedEx Corp., UPS, DHL and TNT, commissioned the 44-page report by Oxford Economic Forecasting of Oxford, England."

May 29, 2005 -- The top 50 trucking companies increased their total revenue to $70.5 billion last year, up $7.4 billion and more than 11 percent from 2003, as measured by SJ Consulting Group for Traffic World.

May 29, 2005 -- La Cronica de Hoy has reported that "the Mexican Postal Service has warned deputies of all the political parties that are not in a position to guarantee the security nor secrecy of votes by mail that orginate outside of Mexico. Gonzalo Alarcón, director of the Mexican Postal Service, detailed before the deputies the series of limitations that would face the organization to make good on 4 million votes by mail during the presidential election of the next year." See also Diario de Mexico.

May 29, 2005 -- Making Money (U.K.) has reported that "Specialist business services franchise Mail Boxes Etc (UK) has joined forces with DX Services plc to provide a revolutionary new service for business post and the UK's first true alternative to the Royal Mail. MBE's 96 high street one-stop centres will also now be home to DX's mail services, where customers can post their sealed mail for delivery next day to business addresses across the UK. There is also an option for barcode tracking for high priority items that need a signature on receipt. The announcement of the launch with DX was first made at MBE's annual conference in Warwick in May and was well received by an enthusiastic audience of franchisees."

May 29, 2005 -- According to Morningstar, "Dutch postal and logistics giant TNT NV will exchange a total of EUR354 million of its 5.125% bond due December 2008 for EUR400 million of new bonds due 2015. TNT said that the purpose of the exchange offer was to refinance its existing bonds and reduce repayments in 2008, as well as to lengthen the company's debt maturity profile."

May 29, 2005 -- The Charlotte News-Observer has reported that "Direct mail -- the industry's preferred term for the promotional material that shows up in your mailbox, whether it be a personalized letter or a grocery store flier -- is becoming more popular with advertisers. Businesses have more options than ever for their marketing dollars, and many are rethinking their ad strategies to consider newer alternatives, such as the Internet. But direct mail is thriving in this hyper-competitive environment. The No. 1 reason for its growth is the federal Do Not Call law, said Robert J. Coen, senior vice president and ad industry forecasting guru at Universal McCann in New York. With consumers now able to block unwanted sales calls by registering their phone numbers, advertisers are turning to direct mail to reach customers where they live."

May 29, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that:

• State officials have joined colleagues from around the nation in persuading the major credit card companies to stop processing payments for online cigarette sales. Additionally, the state has enacted a law prohibiting the shipment of cigarettes to its residents and banned private carriers, like FedEx, from shipping cigarettes. But as state officials fight illegal online cigarette sales, one operation is not falling into line - the United States Postal Service, which officials say delivers the bulk of illegally purchased cigarettes to New Yorkers. The Postal Service, citing concerns about the privacy of the mail and wary of putting postal clerks in the position of deciding which packages to accept and which to reject, is resisting the growing calls that it stop shipping cigarettes.

• Anyone who wants to know which way the economy is going can read the unemployment figures, the Consumer Price Index or other tea leaves emanating from Washington. Or call FedEx. "We know a lot about how the economy really is doing, and Federal Reserve officials call us all the time," Frederick W. Smith, chief executive of FedEx, said during a recent visit to The New York Times.

May 29, 2005 -- The Sunday Business Post (Ireland) has reported that "Arcane trade union practices are threatening An Post's potentially profitable bulk mail business, according to company management. Direct marketing mail increased by 22 per cent last year, as traditional postal services declined. Last week, An Post began an investigation into the dumping of bulk mail in a ditch by postal staff in Co Meath."

May 29, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, has pledged to reject plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail. The claim is made by Billy Hayes, the general secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), who met Mr Johnson on Tuesday. The news comes after weeks of speculation that Mr Johnson was warming to Royal Mail proposals to turn the state-owned business into a John Lewis-style partnership. But Mr Hayes said: "Alan Johnson said that the Government would stick to the manifesto commitment and keep Royal Mail in the public sector. He said that he had no plans to renege on that."

May 29, 2005 -- The Observer (U.K.) has reported that "A row is set to break out this week as the postal services watchdog Postwatch accuses Royal Mail of misleading the industry's financial regulator. The charge comes days before the regulator Postcomm publishes its initial proposals on how much Royal Mail can charge for deliveries for the three years beginning next spring. Postwatch, whose relations with Royal Mail under chairman Allan Leighton have been strained since it advised customers not to use first- class post over the Christmas rush, claims Royal Mail exaggerated the threat it faced from competition in order to get a lenient regulatory settlement last time around, in 2003. The dispute focuses on forecasts made by Royal Mail for mail volumes, a key driver of its profits, which it said would suffer from the introduction of competition."

May 29, 2005 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "ROYAL Mail is lobbying politicians on its cost-cutting plans to head off the prospect of a mass closure of rural post offices. Chief executive Adam Crozier has begun negotiations with government on the future of the £150m-a-year subsidy which keeps the rural network afloat. He has warned that if the funding is stopped when the current package runs out in 2008 he will be forced to close 80% of the UK's 8,000 rural post offices. To slash the running costs, Crozier is proposing to replace some rural outlets with mobile post offices, while other small post offices will be merged."

May 29, 2005 -- According to the Los Angeles Daily News, "The Internet has a funny way of colonizing other forms of communication. Already, VoIP, or voice over Internet protocol, may be on its way to destroying the traditional long-distance phone business by routing calls from regular telephones over the Internet. Similarly, letters and faxes are being replaced by e-mail. Bills increasingly arrive electronically and are paid the same way. Net-friendly digital photographs are pushing aside film. Music downloading, legal and otherwise, is already big and will only spread. The big retailer's decision to abandon the field to Netflix says something about many other businesses that depend on the delivery of information in some physical format. Newspapers, books and magazines, for instance, are still delivered on paper, but eventually many publishers are likely to dispense entirely with paper and ink to deliver materials electronically, to readers who are freed from their desks by wireless networks and portable magazine-sized tablets with vivid screens. There have been several false starts, but the long-term trend is nonetheless clear. The day may come when not only DVDs by mail but traditional mail itself becomes obsolete."

May 29, 2005 -- The Korea Times has reported that "More than 200 postal experts from 25 countries of Asia and the Pacific will meet in Seoul this week to share information about increasing postal service efficiency in the region at the the 9th Congress of the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU). APPU is an organization established in 1962 to boost regional cooperation in postal services and postal service development. It is based in Bangkok, Thailand, and has 29 member countries in the region."

May 29, 2005 -- The San Francisco Chronicle has noted that "For millions of Americans, point-and-click banking has become as natural as stepping up to an ATM, talking to a human teller or writing a paper check. But for every Internet-banking disciple out there, at least one holdout vows never to bank online, recent industry research shows. Many nonusers say they're skittish about personal privacy and the security of their financial data, concerns that pose barriers to banks competing to lure business to the Internet. Online-banking customers are valuable catches. They rack up comparatively lower transaction costs for banks in part because they typically make fewer trips to branches and place fewer calls to call centers. They eliminate paper waste and postage costs by viewing account statements and canceled checks online, banks and researchers said. Perhaps more significantly, customers who bank online show more loyalty to banks than customers who don't. They tend to stay with an institution longer and buy more services such as business loans and home mortgages. Cross-selling a range of services to customers boosts profits."

May 29, 2005 -- CNET News has reported that "Radio frequency identification is becoming increasingly popular inside the U.S. government, but agencies have not seriously considered the privacy risks, federal auditors said. Few privacy concerns exist when RFID is used merely to track warehouse pallets. But when RFID chips are embedded in ID cards or otherwise linked to personal information, the GAO warned, the privacy risks increase dramatically. California's Senate this month approved a ban on the use of RFID tags in driver's licenses and other state-issued forms of identification. If you're caught in the web of identity theft and want to hand the whole problem over to someone else, some insurance companies offer what they call a restoration or resolution service. They provide either a specialist who guides you through the credit maze, or someone who actually does the work, such as filing police reports and contacting credit agencies."

May 29, 2005 -- The New York Times has noted that "IT'S hard not to be frightened by identity theft these days, no matter how diligent you are. It seems as if tales of woe are everywhere: the stolen credit card, the compromised Social Security number, the lost wages. It may not come as a surprise that the insurance industry has found an eager market for a timely product: identity theft insurance."

May 28, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: A study by the Envelope Manufacturers Association's Institute for Postal Studies examines the economics behind each of the government's postal reform proposals. Sam Ryan of the Lexington Institute says the Postal Service wouldn't need to saddle Americans with yet another rate increase if the U.S. government would privatize the USPS, and throw open the market to competition. USPS financial results ahead of plan. ETOES warned not to use USPS equipment, documentation. Federal Register: Address sequencing rule. PostCom bestows Woodruff Award on five deserving member companies. UPS, pilots keep talking. BMG Direct to acquire Columbia House. Database marketing webinar set for June 15. Labour will back Royal Mail sale to staff, Tories won't. Canada Post unit provides help to break down barriers to Canadian market. British Postcomm sets licensing rules for 2006. Japan's lower house sets special committee. French postal liberalization law reported. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.

 
Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

May 28, 2005 -- Be sure to check out what's new on the Pitney Bowes PostInsight web site. Among some items of interest: "An Post: A New Vision" and PostEurop presentations.

May 28, 2005 -- AMEInfo has reported that "Emirates Post, the official postal authority of the UAE, is set to sponsor Direct Marketing 2005, the region's first dedicated conference for the direct marketing industry that will be held from June 11-15, 2005 at the J.W. Marriott Hotel in Dubai."

May 28, 2005 -- Le Figaro (France) has reported that "As part of the Bordeaux public prosecutor's investigation into the 24-hour seizure of five managers of a mail sorting office in Begles in south-western France, the five French post office (La Poste) union representatives who carried out the alleged offence were taken into police custody yesterday. The head of the sorting office and four of its managerial staff were held prisoner by the unionists for almost 24hrs in protest against La Poste's plans to shed 48 jobs at the site." 

May 28, 2005 -- The Associated Press of Pakistan has reported that "Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz Friday said the government will provide all support and resources to Pakistan Postal Service to enable it provide better and more efficient service to the people."

May 27, 2005 -- According to DM News postal commentator Cary Baer, "the U.S. Postal Service spends more than $6 billion annually, more than GM, for healthcare. A simple calculation shows that 3 cents of the price of every First-Class stamp goes to pay healthcare costs. And, like most companies, postal healthcare costs are rising around 10 percent annually. But, unlike the automobile industry, legislation currently in place does not permit the USPS to negotiate any of the terms of the healthcare coverage it provides. Yet, despite its obvious importance, none of the reform bills in Congress give the postal service the ability to negotiate, with its unions, changes to healthcare coverage. Congress apparently believes the USPS has some magical means to address healthcare costs."

May 27, 2005 -- From the BusinessWire: "AuthentiDate Holding Corp. has announced that its ongoing discussions with the United States Postal Service regarding the status of its Strategic Alliance Agreement had reached a critical stage with the receipt of a second notice from the Postal Service stating that it had failed to attain the performance metrics required by the Strategic Alliance Agreement during the period February 2005 through April 2005. The Strategic Alliance Agreement designates AuthentiDate as the preferred provider of the USPS Electronic Postmark(R) (EPM) service. At the time the agreement was signed, the parties agreed on certain performance metrics which, as previously reported, had not been attained.  Authentidate's new management team formulated and implemented a new solutions-based approach to accelerate development of the market for the USPS EPM. On May 17, 2005, Authentidate announced that the United States Postal Service has approved an updated version of the USPS Electronic Postmark(R) (USPS EPM) Service. The new version offers enhancements including an optional return-receipt capability that allows users to track delivery and acceptance of electronic content. In addition, users can now sign-up for a USPS EPM Service account using a username and password, eliminating the need to use digital certificates. In spite of these recent successful joint efforts by Authentidate and the USPS, the parties have been unable so far to agree on new performance metrics."

May 27, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

May 27, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The U.S. Postal Service has been honored with four awards recognizing excellence in the postal sector at the sixth annual World Mail Awards event held recently in Brussels, Belgium. Acknowledged as leaders in customer service, innovation, e-Commerce and security, the Postal Service was cited as setting the highest standard for the mailing industry. Two of the four awards presented to the Postal Service went to the organization's Intelligent Mail and Address Quality team. In the e-Commerce category, the USPS marketing group's online service offering, Click-N-Ship, was recognized. The Postal Service's Inspection Service received the security award for its multi-media awareness campaign that educated customers about mail-related crimes."

May 27, 2005 -- Be sure to check out http://www.grcdi.nl/. This site, built and maintained by Graham Rhind, contains the most complete postal code and address resource list available on the Internet, provided free since 1995. You can also find out about unique books, software, data and other resources to provide you with everything you need to know to effectively manage your international data.

May 27, 2005 -- Well....Will there be a House vote on a postal reform bill in June or won't there? Usually informed sources have noted that there has been no floor time scheduled thus far to consider H.R. 22 in either June or July.

May 27, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• This year's first quarter was marked by a decline in turnover and returns for the core business areas of Norway's Posten. First and second class letters dropped by 11.8% compared to 2004. Unaddressed advertising mail on the other hand increased by 8.4% in volume. The most significant drop occurred in banking transactions, where the post noted a minus of almost 16%.

• An ever increasing number of consignments have gone missing since Deutsche Post began outsourcing transport services. The German news magazine "Der Spiegel" reports that the prosecution service is conducting inquiries involving suspected members of staff. The magazine quotes the case of the Munich-based company Dividi Entertainment, which operates an online film rental service where DVD's are delivered and returned by post.

• "We want to be a bank like any other". This statement from Patrick Werner, head of the French La Poste's financial services division, has fuelled the ongoing conflict between the post and the French banks further. The French parliament had previously passed legislation, which facilitates the foundation of the new post bank, which is expected to be set up on 1 January 2006 at the latest. Established French banks have announced legal action against La Poste's plans.

• The conflict between Switzerland's Schweizerische Post and the trade unions over the outsourcing of postal services to subsidiary companies, which erupted last autumn, has been resolved. This Tuesday, the post announced that a wage agreement had been reached with "Kommunikation" and "transfair" and that the three parties would sign a collective agreement for outsourced business divisions as well as a first follow-up agreement for SecurePost AG "in the next few days".

• Sweden's regulatory authority PTS (Post & Telestyrelsen) wants to put an end to postmen and women having to climb stairs. PTS proposes that all apartment blocks be equipped with letter boxes at entrance level by 1 January 2010.

• GO! Austria has reinforced its East European commitment. Since the beginning of May, the company has run an over-night service from Austria to destinations outside of major cities and urban areas in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. The maximum transmission time is said to be 24 hours. Destinations throughout Slovenia are served the following working day.

• Schweizerische Post is reorganising its goods transport services and wants to use a new market approach to focus more on customers. Last Friday the company confirmed that PaketPost, ExpressPost, SwissPost NET, ParcelLogistics, Setz Gutertransport and BTL Logistics services would be bundled in the logistics business division.

Don't be satisfied with a less than complete report on the courier, express, and postal market in Europe. Get your subscription to CEP News, today..

May 27, 2005 -- The Waterford News & Star (Ireland) has reported that "Postal code system should facilitate new entrants into the postal sector, leading to greater efficiencies, improved next day delivery and reduced costs. That’s according to ISME, the Independent Business Organisation, which has welcomed the decision by Minister for Communications, Noel Dempsey T.D. to introduce postal codes into the Irish postal services. ISME feels it should improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the service, which has been wholly inefficient over the last number of years."

May 27, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that "The Senate Intelligence Committee failed to reach final agreement on Thursday on a proposal that would expand the Federal Bureau of Investigation's powers to demand records and monitor mailings in terror investigations, but officials said they were confident that the committee would come to a consensus on the issue. In addition to making many of the act's powers permanent, the proposal would expand the F.B.I.'s ability to subpoena records in terror cases and would give it sole discretion, without the approval of the Postal Service, to copy the outside of letters and mailings involving people with suspected links to intelligence investigations."

May 27, 2005 -- The Financial Times has reported that "Brazil's Congress launched an inquiry yesterday into an alleged corruption scheme at the postal service involving party leaders in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's governing coalition. Video footage surfaced last week allegedly showing the head of purchasing at the state post office accepting money and bragging about kickbacks he said financed the Brazilian Workers party (PTB)."

May 27, 2005 -- The Japan Times has reported that "The House of Representatives began deliberations Thursday on the contentious postal privatization bills at a plenary session despite the major opposition parties' continued boycott of sessions in protest of the reform package. Prime Minister Koizumi told the Lower House that postal privatization would not lead to closing post offices or reducing the number of postal workers. He said it was aimed at directing 340 trillion yen from postal savings and life insurance plans to the private sector and putting postal services on an equal footing with private firms." See also the Nikkei news service.

May 27, 2005 -- Traffic World has noted that "Shippers struggling with ballooning expenses and tightening capacity are hunting for any way to cut costs."

May 27, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "UPS and its pilots union have agreed to another round of federally mediated contract talks the week of June 13 in Washington." See also the Atlanta Business Journal.

May 26, 2005 -- From PrimeZone Media Network: "CapSource Financial, Inc. has announced that it has appointed Wayne Hoovestol to its Board of Directors. Mr. Hoovestol, age 47, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoovestol, Inc., a long-haul trucking company headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota which specializes in providing trucking services to the U.S. Postal Department."

May 26, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Experian(R), a global information solutions company, today announced the integration of its Data Management solutions with the QAS QuickAddress suite of applications. The integration enables organizations to maintain accurate and up-to-date address information about their customers, first at the point of initial customer interaction as it is captured in the call center or via an Internet site, and secondly, on a continuous basis through the utilization of Experian's suite of Data Management solutions. Experian acquired QAS Ltd. in October 2004."

May 26, 2005 -- At this week's PostCom Board of Directors meeting and reception at the National Postal Museum, the following companies were honored as recipients of PostCom's "Stan Woodruff Award" for the extraordinary and meritorious services they've rendered to the Association for Postal Commerce: NetGram, R.R. Donnelley, D&B, Pitney Bowes, and Draft Worldwide. Congratulations!!

May 26, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "The U.S. economy grew faster in the first quarter than first believed, partly because Americans didn't increase their foreign purchases as much as previously thought. Corporate-profit growth slowed sharply in the first three months of 2005 and inflation was slightly weaker than originally thought. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.5% annual rate January through March, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its first revision of economic growth for the quarter. GDP is a measure of all goods and services produced in the economy. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and CNBC survey was for a 3.6% increase."

May 26, 2005 -- The Periodical Publishers Association (U.K.) has reported that "Postcomm has set out its detailed proposals for the licensing arrangements for postal operators once the market becomes fully liberalised in January 2006. According to the Regulator, the new licensing arrangements are designed to encourage new operators, while ensuring that customers can continue to have confidence in the market."

May 26, 2005 -- The Globe and Mail (Canada)  has noted that "Wall Street wasn't unduly surprised when United Parcel Service Inc. moved decisively into the less-than-truckload (LTL) business with the takeover of Overnite Corp. for $1.25-billion (U.S.) in cash. After all, UPS has been losing some market share to FedEx Corp. But will it be clear sailing from here for the company, especially in light of the lengthy and acrimonious history of Overnite and the Teamsters Union, the biggest and most storied union in the United States? And will the acquisition help reverse the decline in business for the boys in brown?"

May 26, 2005 -- The El Paso Times has reported that "Five hundred manufacturing jobs will be added to the El Paso economy with the Sahara Companies' expansion into the former Home Base building on the East Side. In addition to military chemical suits and Army combat uniforms, the company makes boxes for the U.S. Postal Service and private postal companies."

May 26, 2005 -- The Royal Gazette has laid out a number of steps associated with Bermuda's request for total independence from the U.K. Among the benefits: An independent Bermuda might give consideration to membership of the following UN Specialised Agencies such as the UPU (Universal Postal Union)."

May 26, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has announced the successful completion of its acquisition of Imagitas, Inc. consistent with previously announced terms. Imagitas is a marketing services company that specializes in using the mail to help companies connect with hard to reach consumers. As a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pitney Bowes, Imagitas will operate under essentially the same management as it does now within the company's Global Business Services segment."

May 26, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "Trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson MP has suggested he may back controversial plans to sell off part of Royal Mail to its employees."

May 26, 2005 -- Reseller News has reported that "NZ POST subsidiary Datamail is broadening its operations in Australia by partnering with Connxion, an Australian document producer. David Allen, general manager of Datamail’s document solutions group, says the partnership allows Australian companies to print and lodge business documents in the New Zealand postal system. He says the company has been working with Connxion for some time and is now ready to go live with DHL."

May 26, 2005 -- As one Royal Mail spokesman told The Scotsman, "Like any large business we have our detractors and everyone remembers the problems more than the success, but the facts speak for themselves. In Scotland we have some of the best quality of service in the country. In the last quarter of the year, five Scottish postcode areas met or bettered the regulator’s target of 92.5 per cent. And even our three island postcodes, which are exempt from the target because of their remoteness, still perform well. We know we’re not perfect. We make mistakes, and every mistake is regrettable, but standards are increasing all the time. A very small number of letters goes astray, but it is fewer than when we started our recovery plan three years ago - now 99.92 percent of all letters arrive safely."

May 26, 2005 -- The Universal Postal Union's Direct Mail Advisory Board has produced its latest DMAB Update - May 2005, in English and French. It is sent to DMAB members and other stakeholders interested in Direct Mail activities at the Universal Postal Union. Those interested in receiving future copies should contact DMAB executive Raquel Ferrari. Reported in this issue: 

• The Brazilian Direct Marketing Association announced the winners of its annual Award, with winners in different categories and special prizes. Brazil Post has been sponsoring this Award for a number of years already, and the criteria for the competition are not only creativity and strategy, but mainly the actual results achieved in each Direct Marketing campaign.

• Saudi Post is just starting home delivery in Riyadh, a service soon to be extended to other parts of the country, using digital maps and dividing the Kingdom in eight main postal regions, which are again divided into postal districts and sub-districts to quickly locate the areas with the help of postal codes.

• Finland Post launched a renewal of its domestic letter mail, direct mail and publications services last March. Operations became easier, requirements are lower, and discounts for pre-sorting were introduced for their contract customers.

• The United States Postal Service has a new alternative service: Customized MarketMail service is a Direct Mail option that gives advertisers total freedom for their creativity by allowing them to send a truly dimensional mail piece of any shape or design.

• The UPU’s postal statistics are freely available on its website, www.upu.int. The database provides a dynamic overview of postal development in each country. It contains data from over 200 countries or territories and includes approximately 100 indicators of postal development, grouped in 12 chapters.

• The UPU is now conducting a survey, intended for all postal sector stakeholders (government bodies, public postal operators, regulators, other private operators, private operator associations, consumer associations, suppliers, international organizations, academic research institutes, and the media).

• The UPU Direct Mail Advisory Board is open for new members. Any Post can become a member, as well as companies and associations from the industry who have an interest in the development of Direct Mail markets worldwide. Members of the DMAB can participate in a number of activities programmed for the next four years, such as our development workshops, conferences and seminars, access to important information and research, and methods and tools we are going to develop to help posts measure their DM volume growth and quality of service.

May 26, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "In the terrorism fight, the government finds a surprising ally: FedEx. FedEx has opened the international portion of its databases, including credit-card details, to government officials. It has created a police force recognized by the state of Tennessee that works alongside the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The company has rolled out radiation detectors at overseas facilities to detect dirty bombs and donated an airplane to federal researchers looking for a defense against shoulder-fired missiles. Moreover, the company is encouraging its 250,000 employees to be spotters of would-be terrorists. It is setting up a system designed to send reports of suspicious activities directly to the Department of Homeland Security via a special computer link. FedEx's newfound enthusiasm for a frontline role in the war on terror shows how the relationship between business and government has changed in the past few years. In some cases, these changes are blurring the division between private commerce and public law enforcement."

May 26, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "North Korea has prompted its latest flap with Japan by issuing new postage stamps of uninhabited islets claimed by both countries. Tokyo complained about the stamps in a fax to the North Koreans, who countered on Thursday that the complaint was ridiculous. Japan learned last week that the North had issued new stamps depicting the islands - called Tok-do in Korea and Takeshima in Japan - which are controlled by Japan but have been claimed for more than a half-century by North and South Korea. Both Koreas previously have issued such stamps. Tokyo immediately protested the most recent stamps in a fax to North Korea's Embassy in Beijing, after the North rejected Japan's request for a meeting on the matter, a Foreign Ministry official said."

May 26, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that:

• The Diet began deliberations Thursday on a set of bills to privatize Japan Post, with the opposition camp boycotting the parliamentary session. In a House of Representatives plenary session, postal privatization minister Heizo Takenaka proposed the privatization as a reform aimed at boosting the economy through such outcomes as "freer management" of the some 350 trillion yen in funds amassed at Japan Post.

• Japan Post said Wednesday its operating revenue shriveled to 20,633.3 billion yen in fiscal 2004, down 16.1% from the previous year, as its three business divisions in charge of mail delivery, postal savings and postal life insurance fared poorly. In the business year ended in March, Japan Post made a net profit of 1,234.7 billion yen, down 46.4%.

May 26, 2005 -- The Billings Gazette has reported that "Stillwater Mining Co. presented a dozen palladium medals to Gov. Brian Schweitzer that he will use to reward the state employee who each month comes up with the best idea to make government more efficient.Among the state employees' suggestions so far are: Sending using bulk mail instead of normal postage. Using e-mail more to send materials to caseworkers instead of through the U.S. Postal Service at higher costs. Not mailing out pay stubs to state employees." See also the Helena Independent Record.

May 26, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "PHILATELY is gaining in popularity in Qatar, General Postal Corporation chairman and chief executive Ali Mohamed al-Ali has said. The Q-Post chief was inaugurating the first ever auction of Qatari stamp albums, at the General Post Office on Tuesday."

May 26, 2005 -- The Evening Standard (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail could be part-privatised into a John Lewis-style partnership, Trade and Industry Secretary Alan Johnson suggested today. Mr Johnson said the Government would not allow any sale of the business to outside shareholders but made clear he was " interested" in giving employees more ownership."

May 26, 2005 -- DM News has reported that:

• The U.S. Postal Service assured commercial mailers yesterday that they were in for no surprises on June 1 with the implementation of a new process for determining Standard mail eligibility. The USPS has encouraged its national customers to submit mail samples to the New York service center for advance rulings, with a goal of responding within 72 hours, said Greg Hall, USPS manager of customer rulings. A hotline to the New York service center is available to USPS business mail entry unit managers for guidance in eligibility disputes with mailers. Customer support rulings and announcements are available online at pe.usps.gov/dmmAdvisory.asp. That page includes a link, dated May 17, to a flow chart showing how eligibility decisions are made.

• The Direct Marketing Association is hearing that postal rates will increase as soon as Jan. 19 if things go according to plan, Jerry Cerasale, senior vice president of government affairs at the DMA, said yesterday. However, several factors still could influence that date, Cerasale said during a session on how to mail smarter at the Annual Catalog Conference, including the fact that several groups have raised concerns over settling the current expedited rate case, which would increase rates 5.4 percent across the board. Those groups include the American Postal Workers Union, the American Bankers Association, the Consumer Advocate of the Postal Rate Commission and Valpak.

May 26, 2005 -- CNN has reported that "Despite stiff government opposition, Brazil's Congress on Wednesday opened a broad investigation of corruption in the country's postal service. Allies of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tried to block the probe, fearing it would stall Congressional votes on tax plans and other economic bills. The government has until midnight Wednesday to persuade lawmakers to withdraw their votes in favor of the probe. The investigation was sparked by revelations in the news weekly Veja that two businessmen, using a hidden camera, filmed themselves paying a 3,000 real ( U.S. $1,240) cash bribe to Mauricio Marinho, head of the postal service's department of contracts and administration."

May 26, 2005 -- Computing magazine has reported that "The Swedish postal service Posten is using embedded radio frequency identification (RFID) technology in parcels to cut down on internal theft. Posten, which has its headquarters in Stockholm, is testing the technology on high-value and confidential items such as mobile phones, computer equipment and government documents, as a way of detecting whether they have been tampered with. Specially-designed cardboard packaging from Swedish technology firm Cypak contains a microscopic chip and embedded RFID circuits that can store information about the package's origin, contents and journey. Posten uses RFID readers to enter data into the SecurePak parcel before dispatch, and then reads the data when the package has arrived at its destination to check for any suspicious activity."

May 26, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that "The Conservatives have signalled their opposition to the partial privatisation of the Royal Mail, increasing the political difficulty for the government of accepting the plan favoured by the group's management. Speaking to the Financial Times, David Willetts, the new shadow trade and industry secretary, said he was "sceptical" about the proposal to transfer a majority stake in the state-owned postal operator to its staff. He warned that the Royal Mail could end up being neither politically nor commercially accountable, in a "sort of limbo, where there's nobody putting them under pressure to perform".

May 26, 2005 -- The Irish Times has reported that "A new report, commissioned by four An Post unions, has rejected what it calls the "graveyard scenario" depicted by the company's management and questions the need for any further price rises. The report, written by economist Paddy Walley, accuses the company of seeking price increases "based on an obsolete view of mail". The unions claim that pricing should aim to grow mail volumes, rather than just trying to grow margins on static or declining volumes."

May 26, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Italy's Economy Ministry Wednesday named Vittorio Mincato, former chief executive of oil and gas giant Eni SpA (E), to head the state-owned postal company Poste Italiane SpA. "The nomination of Vittorio Mincato as chairman of the company was made also to ensure the privatization process is speedy and on track," the ministry said in a statement. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi this year said the government was working on selling shares in the postal company to the market in order to reduce Italy's huge debt." See also Il Sole 24 Ore.

May 26, 2005 -- The San Diego Union-Tribune has reported that "Brazil's Congress Wednesday gave initial approval to an investigation into allegations of corruption at the state postal service that could tarnish the government's image and stall its economic reforms."

May 26, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Brazil's Labor Party, the fourth biggest in President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's coalition, will stay in the government after a post office official denied Roberto Jefferson, the party leader, took part in any bribery scheme. Jefferson said last night that his party will withdraw its support for a congressional probe of an allegation the Labor Party's top-ranked members made suppliers pay bribes to do business with the government postal service."

May 26, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL has announced the appointment of Hans Hickler as executive vice president of strategy and business implementation in the United States. Hickler, who was chief executive officer of APL Logistics until he resigned in April, will be responsible for the development and implementation of DHL's U.S. business strategy, in addition to overseeing the company's real estate, procurement, and internal consulting functions. He reports to John Mullen, chief executive of DHL Express Americas, Asia Pacific, and Emerging Markets."

May 26, 2005 -- From the Federal Register: "This final rule amends section 507.7 of the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM[reg]) to streamline the seed address process. It adopts a proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register (69 FR 64877, November 9, 2004.)."

May 25, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Democratic senators expressed skepticism of new powers the Bush administration is seeking in federal terrorism investigations, including authority to read the outside of mailed envelopes and to subpoena records without judicial approval."

May 25, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• The Conservatives have signalled their opposition to the partial privatisation of the Royal Mail, increasing the political difficulty for the government of accepting the plan favoured by the group's management. Speaking to the Financial Times, David Willetts, the new shadow trade and industry secretary, said he was "sceptical" about the proposal to transfer a majority stake in the state-owned postal operator to its staff. He warned that the Royal Mail could end up being neither politically nor commercially accountable, in a "sort of limbo, where there's nobody putting them under pressure to perform".

• Governments need to consider mandatory investment accounts in reforming unsustainable pension systems that do not meet the needs of 21st century workforces, the World Bank said yesterday. "Many pension systems around the world will not be sustainable in the long run and will not provide the sustainability and security that will be required in the future."

May 25, 2005 -- The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) has reported that:

• Facing an opposition snub, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and coalition partner New Komeito decided Tuesday to postpone deliberations on postal reform in the Diet until Thursday. All the opposition parties had boycotted the Tuesday plenary session in which the government was to explain the controversial postal privatization bill. Even the Japanese Communist Party, the only opposition party that had previously agreed to discuss the bill in the Diet, dropped out of Tuesday's session at the last minute. Opposition Minshuto (Democratic Party of Japan) reconfirmed Tuesday its policy of staying away from postal-reform debate in the Diet.

• The Lower House is nearly set to start deliberations on a government-sponsored package of bills to privatize postal services. Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has hinted he is prepared to dissolve the Lower House for a snap election if the package is voted down. His political offensive is directed mainly at opponents of postal reform within his own Liberal Democratic Party. Postal privatization is Koizumi's signature policy initiative, commanding the highest priority among all the planks on his political agenda. Despite the enormous importance of this initiative for the government, it remains unclear whether LDP members have to toe the party line in voting for the bills.

May 25, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "The High Court has rejected an appeal by two mail order adult shops to end the prohibition of the sale of explicit videos except in stores. Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Mr Justice Newman said videos rated R18, the most explicit category covering hardcore porn, must continue to be sold face to face and not via catalogues, the web or over the phone."

May 25, 2005 -- According to The Star (Malaysia):

• The reclassification exercise of Pos Malaysia has varying degrees of impact on consumers. Categories like parcel, postcard and aerogramme and bulk letter (now called bulk mail) remain. The charges for the first two categories stay the same. Categories of letter, printed matter, and small packets are now repositioned as standard mail, non-standard mail and periodical. In effect, periodicals have taken over the categories of printed matter and small packets. Previously any size of letters was accepted as long as they were below and equal to 2kg. The new standard mail: 90mm by 140mm with a maximum of 165mm by 250mm (and thickness more than 0.25mm or below 6mm) in size, weighing less than and equal to 50g. Envelopes should also preferably be white or off-white, or non-glossy. The bottom 15mm zone must be left blank for printing bar codes. Non-standard: Any mail not under those parameters and weighing between 50g and 2kg.

• The Internet has not killed off snail mail: plenty of people still use the post office, as confirmed by two recent events. Case One is the postman who never rang once – let alone twice. He was found to have amassed thousands of letters not addressed to him, and convicted. Apart from wondering how many old-fashioned love letters and business contracts never got to waiting parties, one would also think it obvious that many people – despite the convenience of e-mail – still believe in licking envelopes and stamps. Case Two attests to the vital function of the Post Office: recently the public was shocked by the announcement on the reclassification of mail rates, followed by speedy implementation in a fortnight. The media has been bombarded with queries from worried users concerned about the damage to their pockets. The hike even left some Pos Malaysia staff in a state of mild confusion.

May 25, 2005 -- The Peninsula (Qatar) has reported that "The Qatar General Postal Corporation has come out with a novel way to congratulate Dar Al Sharq, publishers of Al Sharq and The Peninsula newspapers, for shifting to their new premises on the D Ring Road. The postal corporation has featured Al Sharq newspaper's front page and the new building on a personalised stamp. Al Sharq is the first Qatari newspaper to be on a postal stamp in the history of Posts and journalism in the country."

May 24, 2005 -- As the Irish Independent has noted, "plans to introduce a nationwide postal code system by 2008 have been welcomed by business lobbyists who say it will make the service more effective. However, Fine Gael communications spokesman Bernard Durkan said the system should only be brought in if there are benefits to consumers. Yesterday, Minister for Communications Noel Dempsey confirmed that the system would be introduced by the start of 2008."

May 24, 2005 -- From the Business Wire: "A comprehensive study of retail email practices conducted by Silverpop reveals that most marketers only need to make a few simple changes to leap ahead of competitors. Bill Nussey, CEO of Silverpop and author of the book "The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing," released key findings from Phase I of the company's "Retail Email Marketing Study" at the Annual Catalog Conference held this week in Orlando, FL. The study also found that retail email marketers can improve how they encourage Web site visitors to sign up for emails with both stronger calls to action and better placement of registration requests. Fully one-quarter of the companies studied failed to offer even a simple explanation of benefits to incent visitors to sign up for emails. When a call to action was offered, 45 percent offered notices of sales and promotions and 14 percent offered news. An offer for a catalog or other type of direct mail was the incentive used by 11 percent of retailers studied."

May 24, 2005 -- Die Welt (Germany) has reported that "General Logistics Systems (GLS), the German parcel forwarding subsidiary of UK postal group Royal Mail, is threatening legal action against German postal operator Deutsche Post. GLS, formerly named German Parcel, is demanding access to the delivery service of Deutsche Post as part of a plan to expand into letter deliveries. It argues that the discounts allowed by the postal service operator to rivals for the consignment of pre-sorted letters are insufficient at a maximum of 20 per cent. GLS is planning to collect letters from customers, carry out sorting and transfer the mail to the distribution network of Deutsche Post, but this plan has been rejected by Deutsche Post so far."

May 24, 2005 -- The BBC Monitoring Service (U.K.) has reported that "Before his trip to Japan and South Korea, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva asked Justice Minister Marcio Thomaz Bastos that the investigation into the post office corruption case be thorough, comprehensive and impersonal. The minister said he had told the president the federal police were dealing with the case. For background, see United Press International."

May 24, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: " More than twenty years ago, a group of employees at home delivered print advertising leader ADVO, Inc., all came to work with the same nagging thought. The previous evening, they had each been emotionally moved to tears by the landmark television movie "Adam," which told the tragic story of the abduction and murder of John Walsh's son, Adam. The movie shook the nation, bringing the issue of missing and abducted children to the forefront of America's conscience. Similarly, these ADVO employees could not get over the fact that -- had there been a way to distribute a picture of Adam -- he might have been recovered and his murder prevented. A year and a half later, the answer to that question took the form of the first-ever ADVO Have You Seen Me?(R) card, which now reach the mailboxes of more than 100 million American households each week. Considered the most recognized piece of mail in America, ADVO's Have You Seen Me?(R) cards are the centerpiece in a program -- conducted by ADVO in partnership with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the U.S. Postal Service -- that has been directly responsible for the return of 137 missing children, equal to one out of every six children featured on the card."

May 24, 2005 -- Look for the House postal reform bill (H.R. 22) to go to the House floor sometime mid-June.

May 24, 2005 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that "New legislation on the postal sector in France, which, by 1 January 2006, will authorise the state postal service operator La Poste to create an establishment and will also open the postal sector to competition, has been promulgated in a state legal publication."

May 24, 2005 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "the four major unions at An Post have challenged the "graveyard scenario" for An Post presented by the management. In a joint statement published as a preface to the report, the union leaders said they were "declaring war on the negative and damaging perceptions of An Post, and the dismal picture of its future, painted by the current management". The aims of the campaign also include the "development of a new vision, and signpost a roadmap, that will help our members in the struggle to realise a new future An Post, and to stimulate a broadly based public debate among all stakeholders of the national postal service." See also RTE News.

May 24, 2005 -- As Global Politician has noted, "The syntax is tortured, the grammar mutilated, but the message - sent by snail mail, telex, fax, or e-mail - is coherent: an African bigwig or his heirs wish to transfer funds amassed in years of graft and venality to a safe bank account in the West. They seek the recipient's permission to make use of his or her inconspicuous services for a percentage of the loot - usually many millions of dollars. A fee is required to expedite the proceedings, or to pay taxes, or to bribe officials - they plausibly explain. A recent (2005) variant involves payment with expertly forged postal money orders for goods exported to a transit address. Roughly 1 percent of the millions of people who receive 419 e-mails and faxes are successfully scammed. Annual losses to the scam in the United States total more than $100 million, and law enforcement officials believe global losses may total over $1.5 billion."

May 24, 2005 -- China Radio International has reported that "China is seeking to boost its air freight capability to meet increasing demand. The nation's rapid economic growth saw an easing of restrictions toward air cargo business access last year. Now the top civil aviation authority is formulating an aviation logistic development programme to open skyways further. "China's air logistics are expected to grow dramatically in the coming 20 years thanks to the increase of the domestic economy and foreign trade," said Li Jun, vice-director of the General Administration of Civil Aviation of China (CAAC).

May 24, 2005 -- Last Friday, the Postal Rate Commission recommended (MC2005-2) "that the United States Postal Service enter into a three-year Negotiated Service Agreement with HSBC North America Holdings Inc. (HSBC). The HSBC Negotiated Service Agreement is based on the recently recommended Capital One Services, Inc. (Capital One) Negotiated Service Agreement. The HSBC Negotiated Service Agreement includes an address correction element that provides HSBC, at certain levels of volume, electronic address corrections without fee for properly endorsed First-Class Mail solicitations. HSBC will receive the services associated with Change Service Requested, Option 2, which include forwarding. In return, HSBC agrees to forgo physical return of undeliverable mail, which otherwise is provided under the existing service features of First-Class Mail for mail that cannot be forwarded."

`May 24, 2005 -- National Nine News has reported that "Australia Post has rejected claims it persecuted a mentally ill postal worker who took legal action against the organisation after it sacked him." See also the Sydney Morning Herald.

May 24, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "General Logistics Systems B.V., Amsterdam (GLS), the parcels subsidiary of Royal Mail, aims to complete its European network, further standardise operating procedures within the GLS Group; and advance three strategic business fields: the establishment of an express network, the optimisation of deliveries to private households, and the handling of letters by feeding them into the letter networks operated by postal companies (downstream access)."

May 24, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that British postal regulator "Postcomm has set out proposals for the requirements postal operators will have to meet to get a licence to take part in the fully liberalised postal market from January next year."

May 24, 2005 -- As the New York Times has noted, "The world of advertising turns upside down when the advertisers - not the agencies - are the ones pushing the envelope. But that is what has been happening. The advertising business is undergoing an upheaval, forcing executives to radically change how they do business. Marketers are trying desperately to stay ahead of the technological innovations that are changing how consumers view their messages - and are putting pressure on their agencies to adapt. Ad spending in the United States, which once grew reliably year after year, declined in 2001 for the first time in four decades - and by the largest percentage since the Depression year of 1938. While ad spending has rebounded since then, the growth rate is slower than during its heyday of the 1990's."

May 24, 2005 -- Don't expect a Senate mark-up of S.662 until sometime in early June.

May 24, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "The House of Representatives steering committee decided Monday by a majority vote by the Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the New Komeito party, to convene a plenary session Tuesday on a set of postal privatization bills."

May 24, 2005 -- AdWeek has reported that "Following a four-month review, The Los Angeles Times has selected Interpublic Group's Draft to craft and execute the newspaper's direct-marketing efforts." As they say in the Sam Adams commercials: "Always a good decision."

May 23, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "Unexpected difficulty training employees is delaying the realization of $600 million in annual savings UPS expects to glean from its new package flow technology. The company said retraining dispatchers to use the system won't affect service or the rollout of new handheld computers, but the phase-in of PFT, which UPS expected to complete this year, may not be finished until late 2007."

May 23, 2005 -- UPS Trade Management Services, Inc., a unit of UPS Supply Chain Solutions, announced that it has simplified international trade management by unveiling a new software suite called UPS TradeSense™. The software helps U.S. exporters and importers manage customs clearance and security regulations associated with global trade."

May 23, 2005 -- Business World (Ireland) has reported that "the Government today announced that postcodes would be introduced in Ireland by 1st January 2008. The Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Noel Dempsey, said that Ireland was one of the few developed countries without post codes and that the decision came after a working group had been set up to examine the issue." See also FinFacts and Ireland Online.

May 23, 2005 -- AME Info has reported that "Emirates Post won recognition in two major categories at the 2nd annual International Business Awards, commonly known as Stevies, the world's only all-encompassing business awards program. Emirates Post's Training & Development Centre won the Stevie in the 'Best New Product or Service' category, while Mr. Abdullah Al Daboos, Director General of Emirates Post, was a finalist in the 'Best Turnaround Executive' category." See also Strategiy

May 23, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "The DMA (U.K.) is set to combat what it calls a widespread myth in the media that direct marketing is extremely unpopular with consumers, with a new survey indicating that direct marketing generates 9% of all consumer sales."

May 23, 2005 -- The BBC (U.K.) has reported that "Postal deliveries in Cardiff, Swansea and Newport missed targets set by the Royal Mail during 2005/5, the independent mail watchdog claims. However, the latest figures show that delivery times for first class mail are improving. Royal Mail says in the first quarter of 2005 only the Cardiff postcode missed the target of 92.5% of first class post arriving the next working day. But the company admitted it still had problems in south and west Wales."

May 23, 2005 -- As DMNews has noted, "The Postal Rate Commission provided a timetable last week for the rate case currently under way, setting an abbreviated schedule with the hope that a settlement of the case is likely. The U.S. Postal Service filed for a 5.4 percent across-the-board rate increase in April. Rate cases typically take 18 months from filing to implementation, but the PRC's schedule anticipates the completion of procedural matters for this case no later than early October.

May 23, 2005 -- The Boston Globe has reported that "The US Postal Service has removed 126 of its familiar blue, street corner mail collection boxes from nine communities north of Boston in the last several months as part of an ongoing national effort to save money."

May 23, 2005 -- And you think the Postal Service has pension-related woes?Business Week has reported that "according to new congressional estimates, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. (PBGC) could be facing a bill of more than $120 billion over the next decade to cover pension-fund losses."

May 23, 2005 -- Did you know...? In recent several years, the catalogue trade in Russia has developed fast and now covers the growing number of regions and consumer groups. In expert estimations, Russia has all favorable conditions for development of mail-order trade. Large distances, existence of postal communication practically everywhere, inadequate development of retail trade networks, large audience not covered by any advertising effect - all these factors promote development of trade "at a distance", but are still rather scarcely used in practice. The International Post Office of Russian Post has for more than 7 years been actively engaged in development of catalogue trade in the territory of Russia and invites Russian and foreign companies for cooperation on mutually beneficial terms.

May 23, 2005 -- Japan Times has reported that "a governing Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker suggested Sunday that the House of Representatives may be dissolved if postal privatization bills are scrapped."

May 23, 2005 -- Kyodo news service (Japan) has reported that "About 9,000 chiefs of such post offices were attending a general meeting of their association, a major support base of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Some lawmakers within Koizumi's LDP opposing his postal reform plan and members of the labor union at Japan Post also took part in the rally."

May 22, 2005 -- According to the National Union of Public and General Employees (Canada), "Canada Post has placed several classes of rural outlets under "review" with a view to phasing them out through "attrition." However, the corporation refuses (in its usual secretive way) to say exactly what it means and to be frank with rural Canadians about its plans for their communities."

May 22, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) notes "Why Labour dare not deliver Royal Mail to the posties."

May 22, 2005 -- The Guardian (U.K.) has reported that "Postal unions are vowing to block any moves to privatise or sell off part of the Royal Mail. The deputy general-secretary of the Communication Workers Union, Dave Ward, made clear the union would fight any plan to privatise or part-privatise the state-owned group."

May 22, 2005 -- ThisIsLondon (U.K.) has reported that "a controversial plan to privatise Royal Mail has won crucial backing from new Trade & Industry Secretary Alan Johnson. The former leader of the postmen's union is enthusiastic about the scheme to give the 200,000 workforce a stake in the business. The plan, which echoes the partners concept of the John Lewis stores group, was revealed by Financial Mail on Sunday last December. It will start early next year when Royal Mail will raise £2.5bn to give workers a 51% stake in the business and to invest." See also Forbes.

May 22, 2005 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail failed to meet its delivery targets for more than 75% of homes and businesses in Scotland last year, making the country's postal service the worst in the UK."

May 22, 2005 -- Arab News has reported that "Some five million post boxes will be distributed among households in Riyadh as part of the Saudi Postal Corp's efforts to distribute letters, parcels and money orders at the addressees' doorsteps. The corporation already has prepared a detailed directory of the capital city in association with the Zaki Mohamed Ali Farsi Consultancy in preparation for the new home delivery. The 324-page directory contains information about the home service, maps of Riyadh and other parts of the Kingdom, names of roads and streets in Riyadh, and postal codes of ministries and government departments."

May 21, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: Postal Service soliciting feedback on 2006-2010 strategic transformation plan. USPS officers support new MTAC organization. Association for Postal Commerce Vice President Kate Muth says it's imperative the next USPS Transformation Plan includes a new Postal Service business model. PMG refuses to spell out plans for mail plants. A first-class crisis in the making? Authors Fouad Nader and Luis Jimenez prepared this paper as part of the Pitney Bowes research for the manuscript, "Electronic Substitution for Mail: Models and Results; Myth and Reality." Congressional highway bill could contribute to higher postal rates. Hendel asks governors to postpone new USPS purchasing rules. Pearce to chair National Defense University Foundation board. Greene to lead Canada Post, Ouellet under fire for expenses. Deutsche Post promises higher dividends, international expansion. La Poste to launch La Banque by year's end. Hey! You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

May 21, 2005 -- The latest issue of PostCom's PostOps Update has been posted on this site. In this issue: USPS to issue final rule on bundle address visibility. Separate proposed rule to come On bundle integrity. Sack reduction initiatives. No data yet for co-mailing mixed classes. USPS exploring periodicals processing changes. Alternative packaging materials for parcels. Streamlining acceptance and verification. FAST pilot extended. Service measurement and improvement workgroup forming. PostalOne 9.0 released; 10.0 in the works. USPS moving toward customized web site. USPS to publish eVS rules soon. Colleges to test coa system. 4-CB likely to include POSTNET. USPS leaving the door open for RFID. USPS exploring bundle tracking alternatives. APPS deployment continues. USPS to hold "BMA Days." New CASS resources. National PCC Day Sept 14. Calendar for upcoming rules changes.

May 21, 2005 -- In a faxed letter sent to every member of the Texas State Senate, PostCom said: "We urge you to reconsider the wisdom of including recent language adopted as part of HB 607 which would NOT exempt the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) from those provisions that would apply to non-governmental, commercial companies that deliver blank, printed checks to the homes and businesses of those who use checks as financial instruments. W e believe that applying this provision to the Postal Service not only is not necessary, but may also be in fact illegal under the powers set forth in the U.S. Constitution which reserves for Congress alone the power over the establishment of post roads (the general authority granted to Congress over this nation's postal system)."

May 21, 2005 -- New York Times has reported that "The F.B.I. would gain broad authority to track the mail of people in terror investigations under a Bush administration proposal, officials said Friday, but the Postal Service is already raising privacy concerns about the plan. The proposal, to be considered next week in a closed-door meeting of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would allow the bureau to direct postal inspectors to turn over the names, addresses and all other material appearing on the outside of letters sent to or from people connected to foreign intelligence investigations. The plan would effectively eliminate the postal inspectors' discretion in deciding when so-called mail covers are needed and give sole authority to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, if it determines that the material is "relevant to an authorized investigation to obtain foreign intelligence," according to a draft of the bill."

May 21, 2005 -- The Star (Malaysia) has reported that "the distribution of Pos Malaysia & Services Holdings Bhd shares to shareholders of Avenue Capital Resources Bhd could see the free float of Pos Malaysia shares rise but could also lead to a massive share overhang should shareholders of Avenue Capital decide to cash in on their windfall."

May 21, 2005 -- The Edinburgh Evening News (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail's 175-year-old mail trains will continue to feature as part of Britain's postal network under a long-term deal with FirstGroup's logistics arm, GB Railfreight. Royal Mail has signed a contract for at least two nightly rail services between London and Scotland until March 2006, with an option for a further 12 months."

May 20, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that:

• In a rare exercise of prime ministerial influence in personnel affairs at the Diet, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi played a direct role in the nomination of the chairman and one of the chief directors of a House of Representatives special committee on postal privatization. Toshihiro Nikai, director general of the Liberal Democratic Party's Election Bureau, named chairman; and Taku Yamasaki, special adviser to the prime minister, named chief director; are staunch Koizumi supporters and are seen as having been named to push postal reform bills through the Diet.
• At a plenary session Friday, the House of Representatives decided to establish a special committee to discuss postal reform bills, largely through support from the Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner New Komeito. Lawmakers from the opposition Democratic Party of Japan and Social Democratic Party, who opposed the establishment of the ad hoc committee, boycotted the session. Lawmakers from the Japanese Communist Party attended the session, but voted against the creation of the committee.

May 20, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

May 20, 2005 -- DMNews has reported that "First-Class mail volumes have been slumping, but there are ways to revive them, members of the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors told a congressional committee yesterday. Declining volumes from First Class, the postal service's most profitable mail rate, are considered a threat to the long-term financial stability of the USPS. But the postal service has begun initiatives to reverse that trend, Carolyn Gallagher and Louis Giuliano, both members of the Board of Governors, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs. Both appeared before the committee for a hearing on their nominations for new terms as board members. the Senate is considering the reappointment of Tony Hammond to the Postal Rate Commission. Hammond, who has been on the PRC since 2002, said he supported measures in the postal reform bill before the Senate to increase transparency in the USPS and to peg rate increases to an index. "

May 20, 2005 -- Ha'aretz (Israel) has reported that "The management of the Postal Authority filed a request for a temporary injunction against the Histadrut Labor Federation and the postal workers union in the Tel Aviv Labor Court yesterday. The workers have been striking partially, and the authority claims the strike is "political."

May 20, 2005 -- The Japan Times has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will appoint Toshihiro Nikai, director general of the Liberal Democratic Party's Election Bureau, as chairman of a Lower House special committee on postal privatization that the LDP plans to launch Friday."

May 20, 2005 -- People's Daily (China) has reported that "In the first quarter this year, Nanjing Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine has hunted down and seized totally 181 contraband goods from international mails and express luggages, three times higher than that in the same period last year. All the facts show that international mail has become one of the major ways of introduced pests."

May 20, 2005 -- According to Bill McAllister's most recent piece in Linn's, "Since John E. "Jack" Potter became the 72 nd postmaster general of the United States on June 1, 2001, he has led a largely charmed life. The career postal worker has led the Postal Service through its response to anthrax bioterrorism, and he was given credit with helping stave off stamp price increases for at least three years. But now, as he faces the likelihood of a small rate increase next year and an even bigger increase in 2007, the silver-haired postal chief executive could start to take fire from the Postal Service's critics. On May 9, the U.S. Government Accountability Office weighed in with what is the sharpest attack on the PMG to date. What upset the GAO was Potter's unwillingness to spell out how he would deal with excess capacity among the Postal Service's more than 300 mail processing plants. Potter has said he wants to deal with the plants on a one-at-a-time basis, arguing that no one can predict what future mail volumes will be. The PMG (he said) has no intention of laying out a broad national plan for which mailing plants to keep and which he will seek to close."

May 19, 2005 -- In a letter to all Postal Service headquarters personnel, Postmaster General Jack Potter told his people to tighten their belts and to do their share to reduce postal costs and eliminate waste. Effective immediately: a headquarters hiring freeze.

May 19, 2005 -- Government Technology has reported that "The California State Senate on Monday approved a bill with broad bipartisan support (29-7) that would prohibit state and local governments from issuing identification documents, driver's licenses, and ID cards containing a Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag, a device that can broadcast an individual's most private information including their name, address, telephone number, and date of birth. The bill will be heard next in the State Assembly. It is the first bill of its kind in the country and has drawn national attention following the federal government's decision to embed RFID tags in new U.S. passports."

May 19, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll shows that disapproval of Congress's performance is higher than it has been since 1994, the year voters swept Democrats out of power on Capitol Hill. Americans have grown gloomier about the nation's direction, the economy and Iraq, and by 65%-17% they say Congress doesn't share their priorities. The survey shows a growing sense of disconnection between official Washington and ordinary Americans. There's a gap between perceptions of President Bush's and Congress's agendas and the public's agenda."

May 19, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal service operator, is planning to expand its activities with the delivery of letters in the UK in 2005. At present, the company operates only in a few conurbations in the UK. Deutsche Post is hoping to compensate for a decline in its share of the German market, which is anticipated when the company's current monopoly on the market for the delivery of letters in Germany ends in 2008. The company says that it also intends to expand in other countries, and has not ruled out the possibility of acquisitions."

May 19, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "General Logistics Services (GLS), Royal Mail's European parcels business made a £61 million profit on operations – up 144% on the last year. General Logistics Systems increased its turnover by 11.6% (£95m) from £818m to £913m due to volume growth, primarily in Germany, France and Italy, and some country specific price increases."

May 19, 2005 -- According to The Guardian (U.K.), "The Royal Mail's latest accounts appear to be a cause for celebration. What was painted as a failing institution three years ago has been turned around - to the extent that in the last financial year it made profits of pounds 537m on turnover of pounds 9bn. The improved profits were in part achieved by laying off 33,000 staff and closing 2,500 urban post offices. The Royal Mail still missed seven out of its 15 performance targets, some by substantial margins."

May 19, 2005 -- According to Les Echos (France), "Patrick Werner, head of the financial services division of the French post office, La Poste, said yesterday that the organisation's new banking services subsidiary is to be called Banque Postale. The name 'Credit Postal' had been rejected because it was too close to 'Credit Lyonnais', while 'La Poste Banque' was judged too similar phonetically to the names of the banking subsidiaries of the Dutch and German post offices."

May 19, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "DHL, the express delivery unit of Germany's Deutsche Post, does not want to chase U.S. market share from rival UPS and FedEx Corp. Signaling a reining-in of the company's ambitions in North America, John Mullen, joint chief executive of DHL Express, characterized the company's plans in the U.S. as "realistic and modest", insisting it is not "setting out to create another UPS or FedEx. Once service improves, DHL will seek to increase prices closer to those of UPS and FedEx rather than cut them, he said. "We're not driven by market share gains. We want to get more value out of the volume we have rather than chase more volume," he added." See also SmartMoney.com.

May 18, 2005 -- According to the National Association of Letter Carriers, "the Senate is expected to begin markup of Postal Reform on May 25."

May 18, 2005 -- The Postal Service's financial and operating statement for April 2005 is available on the USPS website.

May 18, 2005 -- The East Anglian Daily Times (U.K.) has reported that "small business leaders reacted with anger yesterday as it emerged that six Royal Mail bosses had each pocketed more than £1million in pay and bonuses following a year of record profits. The Forum of Private Business, which represents 25,000 small to medium-sized firms, said it was "staggered" at the payouts - including one of more than £2.5million to chief executive Adam Crozier - when the Royal Mail had still missed many of its performance targets."

May 18, 2005 -- Traffic World has reported that "DHL Express named Daniel McHugh, a veteran maritime industry executive, senior vice president-commercial for DHL Express Asia Pacific. He succeeds John Pearson, who moved into that role in the United States in a management shift in North America."

May 18, 2005 -- News from the May 18 meeting of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC):

• Honored at today's meeting of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC): John Wargo who is ending a 40-year career with the U.S. Postal Service and Alan Kline, who, for 20 years, has served as an MTAC representative from the nonprofit community.
• MTAC USPS vice-chair Marty Emery noted that MTAC was reorganizing to make its work more timely and relevant to rapidly changing postal times. MTAC will now have four major focus areas: (1) address accuracy, (2)optimization of preparation and entry, (3)seamless acceptance and induction, and (4) service measurement and improvement. Each focus group will be team-lead by an office from both the marketing and operations areas along with two mailer representatives.
• According to the USPS' new senior vice president for operations, the USPS will be "getting away from modeling networks" and "getting on with implementing incremental changes."
• According to USPS strategic planning vice president Linda Kingsley told MTAC members that the Postal Service has received over 1400 comments thus far on phase two of its transformation plan. Some of the issues raised; were:
  • Despite new methods of communicating, the Postal Service is still relevant;
  • The USPS needs to keep costs and rates low;
  • The USPS must fix the military/escrow issue; and
  • The USPS must continue to address labor costs
• USPS Government Relations senior vice president Ralph Moden said that H.R. 22 now has 148 sponsors, twice as many Democrats as Republicans. He said the earliest the bill would go to the floor for full House consideration will be June. Senate committee mark-up also may not be done during the week of June 6.
• According to Ken Ceglowski, the USPS manager of customer relationship management, the USPS is developing a new web experience for its customers through the development of a one-stop, single-point-of-access, postal business portal. It should be brought online by September.
• And...from the grapevine. Don't expect to hear anymore from the Postal Service on delivery point packaging (DPP). Supposedly it's official that DPP is dead.

May 18, 2005 -- The Federal Times has reported that "Procurement rules that take effect May 19 will help the U.S. Postal Service streamline its operations, reduce unnecessary costs and, in short, act more like a private-sector company than the government agency it is, Postal Service officials say. But opponents of the changes say the Postal Service is going too far in scrapping the procurement regulations that have been governing Postal Service operations and replacing them mostly with a set of guidelines and policies."

May 18, 2005 -- According to Dr. Charles Guy, of the Lexington Institute, "The U.S. Postal Service faces a troubling financial future. Both the GAO and a Presidential commission concluded that it must be substantially reformed to reduce the risk of taxpayer bailouts or dramatic price increases. For federal policymakers seeking to improve its financial outlook, one important step would be to lower labor costs by adopting a regional pay scale for all new employees. Such a change would need to be mandated by Congress – a steep hurdle politically given the pressure Members would likely face from postal unions in their home constituencies. However, given the clear consensus that the current system is unsustainable, there are no painless solutions."

May 18, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Canada Post Borderfree, established in 1999 and a part of the Canada Post Group of Companies since 2002, has moved beyond its focus as a technology provider and now presents US retailers with a powerful suite of direct marketing, transportation and e-commerce solutions. These solutions promise to provide a seamless market entry for US retailers and erase barriers to doing business in Canada. By forming a strategic partnership with Canada Post Borderfree, multi-channel retailers are able to expand into new markets and connect to new prospects by leveraging best-in- class marketing expertise, logistics, technology and analytics.
• The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) expressed concern today about postal privatization legislation currently before the Diet, while also stating its hope that the "unfinished business" of reform be addressed successfully. In his first comments on the new legislation, Frank Keating, President and CEO of the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), said, "Both the U.S. government and the ACLI have consistently said that Japan must take measures to ensure that the postal privatization process results in a level playing field for all life insurance competitors before newly-created postal entities underwrite and sell new or altered products."
• The National Defense University Foundation (NDUF) has announced that Harry J. Pearce, former chairman of Hughes Electronics Corporation, has been nominated to serve as Chairman of the Foundation Board of Directors. Pearce is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. During his service career, Pearce served as a Staff Judge Advocate in the Air Force and was certified as a military judge. He also served as co-chair of the Presidential Commission on the United States Postal Service.

May 18, 2005 -- From the Business Wire:

• AuthentiDate Holding Corp. has announced that the United States Postal Service has approved an updated version of the USPS Electronic Postmark(R) (USPS EPM) Service. The new version offers enhancements including an optional return-receipt capability that allows users to track delivery and acceptance of electronic content. In addition, users can now sign-up for a USPS EPM Service account using a username and password, eliminating the need to use digital certificates.
• Esker Software, the leading provider of intelligently automated document delivery solutions and services, today released results of a survey of over 500 North American billing and invoicing managers regarding their organizations' practices and preferences surrounding the creation and delivery of transactional business documents. In addition, despite the growing use of electronic billing and payment methods, the majority of billing managers (64%) still utilize postal mail as their primary means to deliver their invoices. 63% of organizations rank fax as their second most frequently used means for sending billings, and 56% said that they used email for delivery least often among the three transmission methods. As far as preferences for how they receive invoices, 74% of respondents said they prefer to receive billings via postal mail and only 20% of organizations favor online or emailed invoices. However, enterprises with 15,000 or more employees are significantly more likely to prefer online invoicing (39%) than those companies with fewer than 1,000 employees (16%).

May 18, 2005 -- According to the Wall Street Journal, "United Parcel Service Inc. plans to steer around a slump by thinking bigger."

May 18, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that:

• French postal service La Poste has said that its new banking business will be launched by January 1, 2006 at the latest.
• TNT Mail UK, part of mail, express and logistics company TNT NV, has said it has secured a contract with Lloyds TSB (LYG) to handle over 100 million items of its mail. The deal will be one of the largest contracts awarded by a national mailer to a new entrant in the newly deregulated postal market. Lloyds TSB joins other TNT Mail UK clients such as Sky, Caudwell Communications, Express Gifts, Booker and others operating under TNT Mail UK's access agreement with Royal Mail. This is a significant deal for TNT Mail UK and takes its expected volume for 2005 to over 500 million items with hopes to exceed this volume as new clients come on stream.

May 18, 2005 -- According to Macleans (Canada), " Former Canada Post chief Andre Ouellet, faced with accusations that he's a "common thief," is insisting he has the documents to back up most of an estimated $1.2 million in expense account spending. But Ouellet acknowledged, at a parliamentary committee Tuesday, that he can't find receipts for about 15 per cent of the total he ran up over eight years. That appears to leave questions hanging over some $180,000 in travel, hospitality and other expenses."

May 18, 2005 -- Khaleej Times has reported that "The Emirates Airlines Cargo division, Emirates SkyCargo, has this year collected $940 million in total revenue up from $282 million last year. Vice-President Cargo, Ram Menen, said close co-operation and enhanced customer service with worldwide postal authorities contributed 52 per cent to its post office mail revenue."

May 18, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• Royal Mail is to abandon all but its first and second class postal products and replace them with services it believes serve better the needs of its mostly commercial customer base. Royal Mail would not give details of the products but they are expected to focus on guaranteed delivery at specific times rather than speed. Post CEO Adam Crozier said Royal Mail would need to invest at least another £2bn in the next five years to further improve performance. Allan Leighton, chairman, wants ministers to support his plan for a partial privatisation in which staff would share a 51 per cent stake. The government made an election manifesto commitment that there were "no plans to privatise" Royal Mail. However, officials at Royal Mail believe there was enough "wiggle room" in this statement to allow partial privatisation to proceed."
• There was a David and Goliath feeling to yesterday's postal services results. Royal Mail reported operating profits increased to £537m on turnover approaching £9bn. At the same time UK Mail, a division of Business Post, sounded pleased with a profit of about £7,000 on turnover of just over £10m.
• Business Post is planning further growth in its letters division to handle unsorted mail after announcing a steady rise in turnover across its various delivery operations.

May 18, 2005 -- The Telegraph (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail, the state-owned mail delivery monopoly, is "technically insolvent" despite reporting record profits yesterday, finance director Marisa Cassoni said. The organisation has a large pension deficit of £2.5billion under old accounting standards but under new international financial reporting standards (IFRS) the shortfall soars to £4.6billion. "This produces a negative balance sheet," Ms Cassoni said. "Technically the business is insolvent, which means that we can't pay out dividends." The state, which is Royal Mail's only shareholder, used to receive dividends."

May 18, 2005 -- Federal News Radio has reported that "When most feds retire from their government jobs typically two things happen. First, their income is drastically reduced. Most people retiring today are under the old Civil Service Retirement System. After 30 years with Uncle Sam, they will get about 55 percent of their former salary in the form of an annuity. Feds who retire under the new Federal Employees Retirement System, which now covers most working civil servants, will get even smaller retirement checks. The second thing that happens, or will happen, when you retire is that you will lose an important tax break. It saves you $250 to $500 per year and many federal-postal workers don't even know they have it until they lose it."

May 18, 2005 -- From eMediaWire: "Companies looking to cut back on training and investment in Customer Service Call Centers will face serious financial consequences. A groundbreaking research study, recently undertaken by Ernan Roman Direct Marketing, has uncovered startling new insights into the world of customer service. The goal of the study is to understand how customers' attitudes toward a company are influenced by their experience calling Customer Care Centers. The results could have a profound effect on the way American companies conduct business. It is clear that there needs to be a serious change. When given the opportunity, people "opt-out" of the marketing process in droves. As the overwhelming popularity of the Do Not Call Registry illustrated, people are sick and tired of being marketing to. By ignoring the wants and needs of their customers, American companies risk losing customer loyalty and repeat business."

May 18, 2005 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "Allan Leighton, the chairman of the Royal Mail, is trying to persuade the Government to take on part of its pension bill so that he can proceed with a partial privatisation of the business. Royal Mail is trying to shift £1.5 billion of its £2.5 billion pension liabilities on to the Government's books as a crucial step towards the partial sale. The postal group, which declared annual operating profits of £537 million yesterday, wants the Government to take responsibility for 220,000 existing pensioners of the scheme, which started in 1969. That would strengthen Royal Mail's balance sheet and enable it to raise up to £5 billion from banks and the market. Royal Mail executives and the Department of Trade and Industry have already held talks and the issue will be a key part of a DTI review into the impact of competition on the state-owned group. See also The Independent (U.K.)

May 18, 2005 -- Forbes has reported that "Deutsche Post AG CEO Klaus Zumwinkel reaffirmed full year earnings forecasts, and said he expects the state to sell off all its remaining holdings in the company in the medium term. Zumwinkel told the AGM the company is sticking to its forecast of full year EBIT of at least 3.6 bln eur and a rise in net profit of 500 mln. As regard its US operations, first quarter results likewise confirm the company's expectations for a full year operating loss of up to 300 mln eur and a breakeven by the end of 2006. He said that We expect that the complete privatization of our company ... will be concluded in the mid-term. The German government directly owns 7.3 pct shares in the company while KfW has 48.8 pct."

May 18, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• Stagnant turnover and declining profits characterised the Danish post's development during the first quarter of 2005. CEO Helge Israelsen said the decline in result was due chiefly to higher operating costs. Standard letter volumes and parcels had suffered a slight decline, as expected. However, higher postage rates evened out the deficiency in terms of turnover. Profits were declining in the direct mail segment despite larger volumes, a situation which the post attributed to lower prices.
• The closure of post office branches in Austria remains a controversial issue. The Social Democratic Party SPO and the Green Party called the plans a "collapse of Austria's infrastructural policy". The post denied the reports and pointed out that no locations would be entirely deprived of postal services. So-called post shops and service outlets run by private operators in combination with rural delivery agents in 92 communities represent the post's attempt at cushioning the closure effects.
• UPS chairman Mike Eskew said that UPS had lost some market shares. However, in future more attention would be given to the middle market. UPS plans to integrate solutions developed especially for big customers into the middle market segment. UPS enjoyed considerable growth rates for cross-border parcels in Germany. In his account to the company's Atlanta headquarters, Wolfgang Flick, head of the UPS European division, reported "an increase of over 15%" during the first three months of 2005 for cross- border consignments from Germany. The growth figure for the whole of 2004 was almost identical, and Germany thus remains by far the most important market for UPS in Europe.
• TNT Express is embarking upon a close co-operation with the airfreight network operator AirNet Systems in the USA. TNT intends to promote its US presence by opening a new call centre in Ohio as part of its clinical express excellence network, which already has call centres in Europe, China, India, Russia and South Africa.
• DPD Denmark intends to invest 13m euros in technological development in 2005 and 2006. Definite projects involve the construction of two new parcel sorting centres near Kolding and Arhus.
• The world's biggest mail order company, Germany's Otto Group, has developed plans to enter the logistics market. A final decision in the matter is expected by mid-July. Market observers believe that the launch of an Otto logistics division would mean serious competition for Deutsche Post, as Otto also operates its own parcel service in the form of Hermes Versand. See also Die Welt (Germany).

If you need to know what's going on within the courier, express, and postal market in Europe, you have GOT to get a subscription to CEP News. Do it today.

May 18, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "According to new research published today by Transport Intelligence in its latest report, European Express Leaders 2005, the European express and parcels industry grew at 4.3% last year. This growth was largely driven by the international express segment which achieved market growth rates of 12.4% helped by the performance of developing markets, not least in Central & Eastern Europe. The report also identifies that following the transformation of the industry through sustained acquisition activity over the last few years, the frenetic pace has slowed to be replaced by integration and re-branding of acquired operations."

May 18, 2005 -- The U.S. International Trade Commission has released its report of an investigation on "Logistic Services: An Overview of the Global Market and Potential Effects of Removing Trade Impediments (Investigation No.332--463). The Commission noted:

Trade liberalization contributes to the growth of logistic services by reducing tariffs and eliminating nontariff barriers, thereby increasing merchandise trade flows. However, impediments remain, especially in customs clearance, where varying levels of inefficient procedures delay shipments and increase import costs. Other impediments include restrictions on investment, non-transparent or discriminatory licensing procedures, and labor restrictions. These impediments may be horizontal in nature, affecting all service suppliers equally, or they may be sector specific. Transportation services, a component of logistic services, may be further impeded by domestic regulations that prohibit competition or limit access to essential facilities, such as ports. Some of these impediments may be addressed unilaterally by, for example, transportation sector liberalization; or through multilateral, regional, or bilateral trade negotiations.

May 18, 2005 -- The DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that " Improved service from Royal Mail, which revealed a £537m profit on record turnover of £8.96bn yesterday, means that business users will this year qualify for much less compensation from the company for missed full-year performance targets."

May 18, 2005 -- Japan Today has reported that "Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday the government has replaced two communications ministry bureaucrats as top officials in charge of postal policy due to discord over his policy of privatizing Japan Post."

May 18, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "While UPS eyes a share of the lucrative less-than-truckload market dominated by FedEx Corp., the latter isn't making plans to go after its rival's contract logistic business. "We are the largest transporter of less-than-truckload freight in the U.S.," FedEx founder and chief executive Fred Smith said in an interview last week with Fortune magazine, prior to the bid for Overnite announced by UPS on Monday. As for the contract logistics business - a UPS specialty -- Smith said, "We have not found it attractive. That does not mean we won't get bigger in it, but so far, I like our strategy better than theirs."

May 18, 2005 -- Macleans (Canada) has reported that "Former Quebec premier Lucien Bouchard looked back at the life of judge Alan B. Gold on Tuesday and recalled a "wonderful human being" and a great mediator. Gold helped settle two national postal strikes - in 1981 and 1991."

May 18, 2005 -- Following are the May 2005 changes to the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 300). Pallets Mailers who prepare merged pallets of AFSM 100-compatible, flat-size Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Bound Printed Matter mailpieces must prepare 3-digit scheme bundles. Mailers who enter pallets at BMC/ASF, ADC, and SCF facilities now have the option to prepare specific pallets weighing a minimum of 100 pounds. Labeling Lists Effective May 15, 2005, mailers no longer may use labeling list L004 for Optional Endorsement Line (OEL) and sack labeling for mixed ADC bundles and sacks of nonautomation rate flats. Mailers must use L009 for OEL and sack labeling for mixed ADC bundles and sacks of nonautomation rate flats and for some irregular parcels. Determining Mail Processing Categories This revision explains how to determine the processing category of a mailpiece. Mailing Flies of the Family Drosophilidae Flies of the family Drosophilidae are now mailable

May 18, 2005 -- John McCallum, Minister Responsible for Canada Post, today announced the appointment of Moya Greene as President and Chief Executive Officer of Canada Post.

May 17, 2005 -- Database Marketing: Taking its place at the C-table Live Webinar: Wednesday, June 15, 2005. Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm Eastern. 11:00am - Noon Pacific. Sponsored by: Harte-Hanks. All attendees will receive a FREE copy of Forrester Research's new report, Database Marketing's Influence: Still Growing For more information and to register for this Webinar, go to: http://www.directmag.com/webinars/database-marketing

May 17, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: " The Connecticut Chapter of the National Society of Hispanic MBAs will honor Pitney Bowes Inc. Thursday night with its "2005 Corporate Partner of the Year Award" for promoting diversity in the workplace and for its support of the Chapter's goals and programs. The Society will also honor Luis A. Jimenez, Senior Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Pitney Bowes, with the "Destino Award for a Corporate Individual." Mr. Jimenez is a leading executive at Pitney Bowes. He reports directly to the company's Chairman and serves as a member of the corporation's Enterprise Leadership Committee." Luis also serves as one of PostCom's representatives to the Universal Postal Union Consultative Committee.

May 17, 2005 -- According to postal commentator Kate Muth, "Five straight years of productivity growth and a reduction in workforce levels seem to have diminished worries about a broken business model. But it's becoming quite evident that the Postal Service's old business model B one based on volume and revenue growth B is outdated. In the first part of the new century, the system looks different than it did 10 or 20 years ago. The next Transformation Plan needs to consider a new business model."

May 17, 2005 -- SocialistWorker Online (U.K.) has reported that "Postal workers have demanded tough action from their CWU union leaders in response to signs that the government and bosses at Royal Mail may be taking giant strides towards privatisation of the post. Members in the London region have proposed an emergency motion for the CWU's conference in June."

May 17, 2005 -- According to ByteStart (U.K.), "Small business bosses will react with disdain to reports that six Royal Mail directors have received ú1m pay and bonus packages says the FPB. The Forum of Private Business, which represents 25,000 small to medium sized firms and sits on Postwatch, said it is staggered by the huge pay outs - the highest being ú2.55m to Chief Executive Adam Crozier - given that the Royal Mail has missed many of its performancetargets."

May 17, 2005 -- The Traverse City Record-Eagle has reported that "The work of 10 local postal employees will be delivered to Traverse City. Within a month, second- and third-class mail will be sent from Grand Rapids to the U.S. Postal Service sorting plant on Garfield Road, rather than to a plant in Gaylord. That will mean about 10 part-time postal employees in Gaylord will lose their jobs, said Susan Pfeifer, spokeswoman for the Greater Michigan District of the Postal Service." To learn this, I suppose this "eagle" must have been flying "under the radar screen."

May 17, 2005 -- International Publishers Limited (U.K.) has reported that "UK postal firm Royal Mail has disclosed a pension funding deficit of ú2.5bn (Ç3.6bn) û hit by an increase in liabilities stemming from lower discount rates, weaker markets and demographic changes. "With a current funding deficit of ú2.5bn, Royal Mail has already contributed ú271m in two years over and above the regular contributions to ensure the fund can meet its obligations to our people," the group said in its new annual report. "Clearly, the best way to safeguard Royal Mail's continuing contributions is for the company to continue to make a profit."

May 17, 2005 -- The Kalamazoo Gazette has reported that "A smattering of new curbside mailboxes in Parchment that some people feel detract from the city's small-town atmosphere may lead to an ordinance to keep the change from spreading. The U.S. Postal Service recently contracted to have the mailboxes installed on certain streets at its cost and in cases in which residents agreed to have mail delivery moved from their doors to their curbs. But no one told city officials about the plan until several of the mailboxes were installed, leading to a letter from City Manager Ronald Fleckenstein to Kalamazoo Postmaster Wesley Williams insisting that the curbside boxes be removed."

May 17, 2005 -- Thanks to the generosity and graciousness of German sister organization, Bundesverband Deutscher Postdienstleister e.V. (BvDP), we have permission to post for you here some of the PowerPoint presentations that were a part of BvDP's April 14-15 Warsaw, Conference on "Going East ûComing West: Internal Postal markets in Europe."

Be sure to also check out the Bundesverband Deutscher Postdienstleister e.V. (BvDP) [a 2.5 MB .pdf] announcement on its 3rd International Petersberg Conference, "The future of postal outlets," June 22-23, 2005, Hotel Petersberg, K÷nigswinter near Bonn, Germany. It also will hold its conference on "European versus Asian Postal Strategies" September 29-30, 2005 at the Hilton Hotel, Bonn, Germany. For more information, contact BvDP's General Manager, Eugen Pink.

May 17, 2005 -- One of our correspondents has offered the following thoughts:

What does the recent Military Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommendations have to do with Postal Legislation - S.662? Nine Senators of the 16-member Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, where S.662 presently resides, hail from states negatively impacted by the announcement to close 33 major military bases and realign 22 more. Heading the list is Ranking Member Joe Lieberman[D-CT], 8,586 job losses; followed by Committee Chair Susan Collins[R-Me], 6,938. Both coincidentally represent "Blue" states; states that voted for Kerry over Bush in 2004. Other members whose states took significant hits are: Ted Stevens[R-AK], 4,619; Frank Launtenberg[D-NJ], 3,760; Pete Domenici[R-NM], 2,949; and John Warner[R-VA], 1,574. These states, with the exception of New Jersey, went for Bush, "Red" in 2004. Will BRAC and the respective Senators whose states they impact have an effect on the outcome of postal reform legislation? Will the White House use BRAC as a bargaining chip? Time will tell, but stay tuned.

May 17, 2005 -- Whaaaat??? You didn't make it to the National Postal Forum in Nashville? Well...you can still order recordings form the various sessions, and an order form has been posted for your convenience on this site.

May 17, 2005 -- You may already know that processing your address lists through CASS CertifiedTM software is required to obtain automation discounts. But, how well do you really understand what CASSTM (USPS Certification Process for ZIP + 4 Matching Software) is and what it's not? This is important, as all of the emerging technologies like DPVTM (Verifies Accuracy of Deliverable Addresses), NCOALinkTM, LACSLinkTM (911 Address Conversion Matching Tool), and other "link"-based solutions are directly dependent on having a solid CASS Certified foundation. On May 26, Chris Lien, Firstlogic's commercial mail market director, will present a special web seminar on CASS. He'll explain what it is and isn't, and how a solid address cleansing foundation can ensure that your carefully crafted, highly-targeted mail pieces get delivered accurately and on time. He will also discuss strategies for you to meet the recent challenge from Postmaster General Jack Potter to reduce undeliverable as addressed (UAA) mail by 50 percent."

May 17, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "Business Post, the UK's leading independent express delivery company, has announced its results for the year ended 31 March 2005. Turnover increased by 21% to ú233.3m, representing a like-for-like growth of 12% Operating profit increased by 9% to ú20.8m, and pre-tax profit by 7% to ú20.5m. Management commented that since 2001, turnover has increased by 89%, and adjusted pre-tax profit by 61%. Looking at the divisions in more detail, Express increased its turnover by 7%. All of the other existing businesses - International, HomeServe, Courier and UK Pallets - increased turnover by at least 15%."

May 17, 2005 -- Channel4.com (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail has made record profits of ú537 million, meaning 180,000 postal workers will receive a bonus of over ú1,000. The state owned operator also revealed that first class mail deliveries were the best in a decade while the number of letters being lost have been cut by half in the past year." See also Reuters

May 17, 2005 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "The Royal Mail has posted a 145 per cent increase in annual profits to ú537 million, triggering a ú2 million bonus to chief executive Adam Crozier. Mr Crozier's total pay since he joined the Royal Mail in February 2003 was ú3.3 million, believed to be a record for a state-owned company. The package included his annual salary of ú500,000 and a performance-related bonus of around ú2.2 million. The Royal Mail said two-thirds of his total remuneration was based on the performance of the company." And...by way of comparison...Jack Potter, CEO of the U.S. Postal Service will receive in the way of a bonus at his next Board of Governors meeting...nada, bupkus, not a thing. Now, there's an incentive for you. "Postal reform?" We make it a joke.

May 17, 2005 -- The Evening Standard (U.K.) has reported that:

• The Royal Mail is losing 250m letters a year to its new upstart competitor UK Mail. Business Post, the courier company that launched UK Mail 12 months ago to deliver post and packages for utilities and banks to their customers, said today that the fledgling business is ahead of targets and is already turning a small profit. Business Post founder and chairman Peter Kane said UK Mail had turned over ú10m in its first trading year to 31 March, and had grasped 1% of the corporate postal market.
• A "fat cat" row erupted at the Royal Mail today as it emerged that six directors have received ú1 million pay and bonus packages. The huge sums were revealed as the Government-owned body revealed a record profit of ú537 million for last year - almost ú1.5 million a day. The profits triggered huge " performance related " bonuses for the board, making them among the best-paid public servants on the Government payroll. Yes, that's right. DIRECTORS received a bonus. That IS, after all, how an incentive package is supposed to work.

May 17, 2005 -- Bloomberg has reported that "Royal Mail Group Plc, the U.K.'s state- owned postal service, said full-year profit more than doubled to a record after the company cut costs and as mail deliveries rose by an average of 1 million letters a day."

May 17, 2005 -- The Norfolk Eastern Daily Press (U.K.) has reported that "A secret army is working to keep rural services alive and prove efforts are being made to reverse the trend of dwindling community services. Who are they? The force of mobile sub-postmasters running satellite post offices from village halls, community centres, fire stations, pubs and even fish and chip shops and Chinese takeaways. Under a satellite post office set-up, a sub-postmaster usually goes to a venue such as a village hall or community centre and opens his 'mobile shop' offering post office counter services. A satellite operation needs a venue with electricity and an ISDNsupply.

May 17, 2005 -- Investors Business Daily has reported that "Swedish business learning and consulting group BTS Group AB said on Tuesday (17 May) that it had received an assignment to develop and carry out a training programme for Posten Produktion part of the Swedish postal services group Posten AB. The assignment covers a programme to support the implementation of BPR (Best Practice) at Posten Produktion."

May 17, 2005 -- Dow Jones Financial News has reported that "Dutch postal and logistics giant TNT NV has refined the spread on its new euro-denominated bond maturing 2015 one of dealer managers said Wednesday. The new 2015 bond will price to offer a spread of 51-55 basis points over the 10-year mid-swap rate."

May 17, 2005 -- The Jerusalem Post (Israel) has reported that "The public is more satisfied with the Postal Authority than other service providers, according to a new poll by the Shiluv Institute released by the authority on Sunday."

May 17, 2005 -- The Times of India has reported that "If you walk into the city's Navrangpura post office to buy stamps, you will run into the 40-something Nirmala Makwana who greets you with a "what do you want?" This window advertises herbal cosmetic products of a popular brand marketed and sold by Nirmala, who claims to be the first 'postwoman' of Gujarat with 26 years of experience behind her. Today her job has 'diversified'. She is now a part of a popular marketing chain that sells products like herbal gel and juice from the post office window itself. Mail overseer at the Navrangpura post office C P Nayi, says, "A company selling toothpaste had approached us recently to market its products, but we refused as it would make the post office appear like a retail store!" These are among the hundreds of postmen in Ahmedabad who also deliver letters...besides, surveying for pension schemes, electoral counting, selling health products and marketing mutual funds."

May 17, 2005 -- National Association of Major Mail Users (Canada) has reported that "Relizon Canada and Canada Post Corporation have renewed a five-year contract, worth an estimated $80 million, according to the Boucherville based document management firm. Relizon said it will continue to provide a range of services to Canada Post, including the design and personalization of paper and electronic documents, developing products such as electronic barcode return service labels and courier envelopes, as well as countrywide document warehousing and distribution."

May 17, 2005 -- Direct has announced: "Direct Mail: The Workhorse of Direct Marketing Enters the 21st Century" Live Webinar: Wednesday, May 18, 2005; Time: 2:00pm - 3:00pm Eastern. 11:00am - Noon PT Sponsored by: Quebecor World."

May 17, 2005 -- PostCom's sister organization in Canada, the National Association of Major Mail Users (Canada) has told its members that "The Ontario Waste Diversion Act passed June 17, 2002 obligates resident Ontario organizations whose printed material and packaging ends up in the residential waste stream, to pay for half the net cost of the Ontario Blue Box Recycling Program. Some mailers have just received letters of notification from Stewardship Ontario, or have learned of the Program from other sources, and are seeking education and clarification on a variety of issues, including multi- and co-branded materials.

May 17, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "The US embassy in Bangladesh wants to set up a diplomatic post office (DPO) in Dhaka as part of a US government initiative to restructure its diplomatic mailing system worldwide. The US postal service has already completed the groundwork. According to sources, the major difference between the current and the proposed system is the change of the mail carrier. "Under the new system, all diplomatic mail to and from the US embassy will be under the control of and carried by the US postal service, along with other US mail," a Foreign Ministry source said. He said the diplomatic mail would be carried in yellow bags bearing the logo of US postal service and with a tag identifying its diplomatic content."

May 17, 2005 -- KUAM.com (Guam) has reported that "The United States Postal Service is conducting an investigation into multiple incidents involving the attempted negotiation of counterfeit USPS money orders. Postal inspector Craig Hales says the counterfeit money orders have been detected recently in Guam and the CNMI. Hales believes the bogus money orders are being sent here by criminals based in the U.S. mainland or foreigncountries."

May 16, 2005 -- The Mailpiece Quality Control (MQC) Program is the Postal Service's certification program for mailpiece design. The program has been updated with new DMM 300 references. The course is designed for individuals responsible for creating mailpieces for entry into the U.S. Postal Service's mailstream. According to the USPS, after completing this course, you will better understand the acceptance requirements of the USPS as they relate to mailpiece design. The Postal Service is providing the following "decision tree" as an aid to evaluate whether a mailpiece is eligible as Standard Mail or is required to be sent as First-Class Mail.

May 16, 2005 -- DM Bulletin (U.K.) has reported that "Alex Batchelor, Orange's global brand chief, has quit the mobile phone giant to join the Royal Mail as its top marketer. In his new role as marketing director, Batchelor will replace Paul Rich, who was told in September last year that he was being removed from his position because the organisation wanted a more commerically orientated marketer. He will be charged with reversing the poor public image of the Royal Mail and for raising its profile ahead of deregulation of the postal market at the start of next year, which is expected to lead to a flood of new entrants."

May 16, 2005 -- As ITV.com (U.K.) has noted, "Royal Mail's traditional red pillar boxes are to be joined on the high street by a rival's blue ones. DX Services will roll out blue post boxes in the next couple of weeks for use by business customers - breaking Royal Mail's 150-year dominance. The move marks the latest development in the deregulation of the mail industry that has seen a number of new entrants to the sector. DX, formerly the mail arm of recruitment specialist Hays until it was demerged in November, is installing its boxes at outlets of business services group Mail Boxes Etc."

May 16, 2005 -- The International Mailers Advisory Group (IMAG) has distributed a notice from the Postal Service concerning: "the use of United States Postal Service (USPS) mail equipment by Extraterritorial Offices of Exchange (ETOEs). ETOEs are facilities operated by or in connection with foreign postal operators here in the United States (U.S.) and worldwide. According to information on the Universal Postal Union website, there are currently 22 ETOEs in the U.S. that are operated by eight postal operators, including Swiss Post USA, Deutsche Post, Sweden Post (Direct Link), La Poste of France, and others. It has come to our attention that U.S.-based ETOEs are utilizing USPS mail equipment and customs forms to send dispatches to other countries. This includes letter trays, flat tubs, mail bags, large containers, pallets, as well as other types of USPS equipment. The misuse of USPS equipment causes revenue losses for the USPS since no postage is collected and costs are incurred. In addition to the cost of the equipment itself, USPS incurs the costs of the return of empty equipment from foreign posts. We may even be charged terminal dues because ETOE traffic in USPS equipment may be mistaken for USPS traffic. Undeliverable items are also returned to USPS for delivery. These substantial costs could be reflected in postage rates."

May 16, 2005 -- From the newswires: "Harte-Hanks, Inc.has made two key promotions in relations to its growing digital printing operations located here: Susan Coyne is named vice president, client services, specializing in print-on-demand and fulfillment solutions for the financial industry; and Philip Delaney is named vice president, print-on-demand services."

May 16, 2005 -- UPS and Overnite Corporation have jointly announced a definitive agreement for UPS to acquire Overnite for US$43.25 per share, or approximately US$1.25 billion in cash. The transaction will allow UPS to expand its service portfolio by offering a variety of less-than-truckload (LTL) and truckload (TL) services to its North American customers. It also will immediately position UPS as a top U.S. LTL carrier and comes just five months after the company expanded its air freight services by acquiring Menlo Worldwide Forwarding."

May 16, 2005 -- As the PDFZone has noted, "There are eight things wrong with electronic publishing and two things right, and that ratio reflects the state of the e-book industry. The idea is simple enough: Publish a book that can be read on a computer screen. Add search and other capabilities not available in books printed on paper. Format the electronic book so it looks good if make that when the reader decides to print it. The next step is the most difficult: Get people to pay for your electronic book. There is an unwillingness of customers to pay for information presented online that they'd gladly pay for in print. While paper may not be a very good storage mechanism, it remains an excellent display medium." So what will the Postal Service do to enhance its positioning as a book delivery medium>

May 16, 2005 -- A sign of the changing times from Wall Street Journal: "Newspapers and magazines such as the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Philadelphia Daily News, Washington Post and Forbes have started podcasts in recent weeks. Their programming varies widely. Some simply summarize the day's news, while others aim for more of a radio-show feel with interviews of reporters and newsmakers. A few provide clips from professionally recorded radio programs, but most of the podcasts are low-budget, low-tech affairs hosted by print journalists who often have scant broadcast experience. Some publications want to be ahead of the curve on podcasts because they felt they were behind in embracing Web logs, or blogs -- Web sites in which writers discuss topics in a diary form. But, just as with blogs, it is unclear whether podcasts will become a commercial success or help newspapers gain readers. So far, audiences are small, with some news podcasters reporting only a few hundred listeners per show."

May 16, 2005 -- According to Irish Times, "An Post, if we are to believe what we are told, is on something of a knife-edge. The State postal monopoly cannot afford to pay its workers the increases due under the national wage agreement and just managed to avoid going into the red last year by flogging a couple of properties. The primary reason for this state of affairs, according to the management team that took the helm two years ago, is the reluctance of the workforce to agree to a number of necessary reforms, including redundancies. Such is the scale of its problems that in the next few weeks An Post will formally ask the Commission for Communications Regulation (ComReg) for an increase in the price of stamps in order to ensure its long-term viability."

May 16, 2005 -- MSNBC has reported that "For RPS Inc., a simple name change meant double-digit growth. Since the company changed its name in 2000 to FedEx Ground, two years after merging into package giant FedEx, annual revenue has doubled from $2 billion to $4 billion. Package volume has grown from 1.4 million to 2.8 million."

May 16, 2005 -- From the NAMC Newswire: " BCC Software, a leading developer of high-performance solutions for professional mailers, has formed a strategic alliance with Direct Logistics, Inc. (DLI), that will result in Destination Entry drop-ship logistics services being made available directly to BCC customers. The first result of this partnership is the introduction of Truck Direct Mail (TDM), a free quote-generator interface that will be available in BCC's user-exclusive online Customer Portal. TDM offers mailers a hassle-free way to evaluate the value of using a private carrier to transport mailings intended for Destination Entry drop-shipping. If the mailer accepts TDM's logistics quote, DLI arranges for the specific shipment to be transported per the mailer's instructions at a savings of as much as 20 percent compared to standard United States Postal Service (USPS) shipping costs."

May 16, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "The prospects for the global logistics industry have been called into question following publication of a range of weak economic indicators. The fortunes of the logistics industry are inextricably linked to the strength of the global economy, and in particular to consumer demand in the developed world. Amongst the weakest performing economies are those in the euro-zone' those countries in the European Union which have adopted the euro as their currency unit."

May 16, 2005 -- The Guardian (U.K.) has reported that "Allan Leighton, the chairman of Royal Mail, launched a stout defence of the bonuses being paid to top managers at the postal service yesterday as it emerged that Adam Crozier, the former Football Association head who took over as Royal Mail's chief executive, has been awarded a windfall of almost ·3m. The payment is believed to be the largest made to someone running a state-owned entity." See also The Scotsman (U.K.), The Telegraph (U.K.), and The Times (U.K.)

May 16, 2005 -- The Financial Times (U.K.) has reported that:

• Royal Mail's 150-year monopoly on pillar box deliveries is to be broken by a new rival in the partially deregulated postal market. DX Services, the only other UK postal business to run an end-to-end delivery network, has installed blue pillar boxes to take business-to-business letters and packages in 96 outlets of retailer Mail Boxes Etc. Items posted in the boxes will be delivered to company addresses overnight, with the option of bar-code tracking and a customer signature on delivery. However, customers will only be able to post items during office hours since the DX pillar boxes will remain inside the Mail Boxes Etc outlets.
• Allan Leighton, Royal Mail chairman, will push for a meeting with ministers this week to discuss a John Lewis-style partial privatisation of the state-owned postal operator in which staff would gain a stake.

May 16, 2005 -- According to Associated Press, "the number of stamps that are purchased but never used is in the millions every year. Sales last year of philatelic products, including framed stamps, an annual stamp yearbook and other items, came to nearly $50 million, compared with $40 million a year earlier. That total is in addition to the $150 million to $200 million the agency takes in from stamps that are purchased but not used."

May 16, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Postal employees, bus drivers, school teachers and a spectrum of other workers across France were preparing to stay off the job Monday to protest the government's decision to scrap an annual holiday."

May 16, 2005 -- ComputerWeekly (U.K.) has reported that "Logistics company TNT is to provide up to 700 staff worldwide with mobile e-mail, using the Nokia Communicator 9500 smartphone as an alternative to laptop PCs."

May 15, 2005 -- The Daily Yomiuri (Japan) has reported that the "government plans to remove Hiroshi Matsui, vice minister for policy coordination of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and Hideo Shimizu, chief of the Postal Services Policy Planning Bureau of the ministry from their positions, government sources said Friday. The decision follows Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's judgment that the two officials, originally from the former Posts and Telecommunications Ministry, are showing resistance to the government's postal privatization policy. It is uncommon for the Prime Minister's Office to intervene in bureau chief-level personnel management affairs. The planned dismissal of the two senior officials is apparently aimed at tightening government unity ahead of deliberations for a set of postal privatization bills."

May 15, 2005 -- The Sunday Mail (U.K.) has reported that "postmen are in line for a ·1000 thank-you from their bosses. Royal Mail bosses say the bonus is in recognition of the part played by the posties in turning around the fortunes of the organisation. It will be paid to 12,500 posties and 500 other workers who have at least one year's service in their next pay packet. Three years ago, Royal Mail was losing ·1million every day."

May 15, 2005 -- The (Lakeland, FL) Ledger has reported that "Calvin "Cal" Darden said there is common ground between Polk Community College and United Parcel Service, where he formerly served as senior vice president of U.S. operations. Both have adopted a "culture of service" that takes care of its most important resource first: Employees, or in PCC's case, students and staff. "Culture is an asset that helps unite our employees and distinguish us in the marketplace," said Darden, speaking at PCC's fourth President's Business Summit on Friday morning at the college's Winter Haven campus. "You have to continually renew yourself from within."

May 15, 2005 -- The Scotsman (U.K.) has reported that "Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier is believed to be in line for a pay package worth more than ·1m, despite his failure to deliver Britain's letters on time. Crozier will unveil a stunning turnaround in Royal Mail's financial performance this week, revealing profits of more than ·500m. A ·1m package would make Crozier, a Scot who formerly headed the English Football Association, one of the biggest earners in a public sector organisation. His pay would weigh in at roughly five times that of Sir Andrew Turnbull, the head of the civil service, and is more than double the pay awarded to Financial Services Authority chief executive John Tiner."

May 15, 2005 -- The Independent (U.K.) has reported that "Allan Leighton, the chairman of Royal Mail, has told senior ministers that he wants to purchase 51 per cent of the state-owned business on behalf of staff. Leighton is proposing to borrow more than ·2bn from the City to fund the partial -privatisation, which would see the shares held for the benefit of Royal Mail's 200,000 employees in an Employee Share Ownership Trust."

May 15, 2005 -- The Times (U.K.) has reported that "Adam Crozier, the 41-year-old chief executive of Royal Mail, is expected to embark on a collision course with union officials this week when it emerges that he was paid nearly ·3m last year. Royal Mail will also reveal that it paid more than ·1m to Elmar Toime, the former executive deputy chairman who was ousted last October. Crozier's board colleagues will also receive large bonuses. The payouts will infuriate many customers who still believe the company has failed to improve the quality of its service. Toime's severance pay-out includes a year's salary of about ·500,000 and expected bonus payments of ·275,000 and possible relocation compensation to return to New Zealand. In recent weeks Toime signed up as a consultant to Escher Group, a provider of counter automation and business applications to the postal industry."

May 14, 2005 -- On this day in 1918, the world's first airmail postal service begins between New York, Philadelphia and Washington.

May 14, 2005 -- The latest issue of the PostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: The Postal Service sees a jump in volume and revenue in latter part of second quarter, helping boost net income to nearly $2 billion for the year. A recent GAO report criticizes the Postal Service strategy to realign its infrastructure, saying there is a lack of transparency, accountability and criteria. PostCom addresses proposed new york do not mail' legislation, questions constitutionality. Postal commentator Gene Del Polito discusses the progress (or lack thereof) of postal reform legislation in the Congress, and the reasons it stays that way. Bob McLean, Executive Director of the Mailers Council, is urging his members to call, write and fax their representatives in Congress about postal reform. The Loveland, Colorado Reporter-Herald admonishes the U.S. Postal Service to revamp its relocation reimbursement program and "pay only for expenses." Postal Service Director of Product Management Richard H. Arvonio applauds PostCom for spreading the word about catalogs. Postal Service still strong in overnight delivery. Will UPS pilots strike? Maybe. FedEx still counting on growth. UPS looking good for 2005. Circulation falls as newspapers try to attract new readers. Japanese opposition parties maneuver against postal reform bills. La Poste must compensate saving customers. North Korea stamps out its island position. French insurer still waiting to sell through China post....What? You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

May 14, 2005 -- The Washington Post has reported that:

• From California to Connecticut, politicians scrambled to contain the fallout from the Pentagon's blueprint for the first round of base closings in a decade. Critics sought to hold lawmakers accountable for campaign promises they had made to constituents, while lawmakers boarded planes to visit bases and offer reassurances that they planned to keep up the fight. And to think some believe a post office closing commission would prove any better.
• Pascal Lamy, who until recently was the European Union's chief trade negotiator, was set to become director-general of the World Trade Organization. See also The Economist.

May 14, 2005 -- As the Wilmington Star-News has noted, "Postal officials don't like the "J-word," and they're not crazy about the term "snail mail," either. But junk mail they call it business advertising helps pay the postman at a time when e-mail is eating away at the growth of first-class letters. Michael Spates, the service's consumer advocate, was in town this week to talk with district consumer affairs managers, who deal with citizens and most businesses."

May 14, 2005 -- As the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. has put it: "A month ago, the House Government Reform Committee passed H.R. 22, the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act, by a unanimous 39-0 majority. Two weeks later, on April 28, the Committee filed its comprehensive legislative statement (House Report 109-66), which presents a detailed explanation of the bill and the history of why H.R. 22 is essential for the long-term viability of the USPS. You may ask Now what?"

May 13, 2005-- The agenda for the May 17-19 meeting of the Postmaster General's Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) has been posted on this site.

May 13, 2005-- Shippers Newswire has reported that "Railroad shippers, concerned that rail carriers may be over-recovering increased fuel costs through surcharges, want railroads to develop a more consistent way of calculating the fee rather than basing it on a percentage of the freight rate, said John Ficker, president of the National Industrial Transportation League."

May 13, 2005-- Forbes< /a> has reported that "Jean-Paul Bailly, chairman of France's state-owned postal operator La Poste, said he aims to have 9 pct of the country's home mortgage market within 10 years, following government deregulation of the sector."

May 13, 2005 -- PostCom has gone on record opposing two bills currently under consideration in the New York Assembly (A.B. 1862) and the New York State Senate (S.B. 1647) that would require the development of a "do not mail" registry and would prohibit the sending of "unsolicited" mail to persons on that registry.

May 13, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "Pitney Bowes, a mail, messaging and document management products and services company based in Stamford, agreed to buy 100 percent of the stock of Imagitas Inc. Among the customers of Imagitas, a privately held company, are state motor vehicle departments and the U.S. Postal Service, which use advertising and other information produced by Imagitas to accompany mail-in forms and other materials."

May 13, 2005 -- Helge Israelsen, Chief Executive Officer, Post Danmark was honored with the Industry Leadership Award at the 2005 World Mail Awards in Brussels on May 11th. The award, which is sponsored by Pitney Bowes, was presented to Mr. Israelsen by Luis A. Jimenez, senior vice president and chief strategy officer of Pitney Bowes.

May 13, 2005 -- PostCom's German sister organization,

May 13, 2005 -- A copy of the slides used during the USPS' most recent financial report to its Board of Governors has been posted on this site.

May 13, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "United Parcel Service yesterday vowed to defend its share of the US package delivery market against competition from FedEx and DHL, amid signs that its troubled domestic business is back on track. Mike Eskew, chairman and chief executive, said the domestic parcel business was "well ahead" of expectations in the second quarter of this year, following several months of sluggish performance. He set a long-term target for UPS to grow in the US at the same rate as the broader market, halting erosion of the company's dominant position in its home territory. The bullish comments set the stage for an intensification of the already bitter competition between UPS, FedEx and DHL in the world's biggest package delivery market."

May 13, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "Union pilots for United Parcel Service voted to authorize their union to call a strike, the Independent Pilots Association said on Thursday. The union said more than 99 percent of its members voted to authorize its five-pilot executive board to call a strike. The union said it is in its third year of talks for a new contract. In an e-mail, UPS spokesman Norman Black said "there is no threat of a strike," since the pilots' contract falls under the jurisdiction of the Railway Labor Act, which forbids unilateral strikes by industries, such as airlines, where disruptions would likely impact the U.S. economy." See also D ow Jones.

May 13, 2005 -- CNN has reported that "A coming round of military base closures will save the U.S. military nearly $50 billion over over two decades." Makes you wonder how much could be saved by closing redundant postal facilities.

May 13, 2005 -- Jap an Times has reported that "Diet deliberations on the postal privatization bills got off to a rocky start Thursday as the opposition camp refused to agree to a special committee to work on the bills."

May 13, 2005 -- Asia Pulse has reported that "South Korea will host a regional conference to debate cooperation and development of postal service in Asia-Pacific nations, organizers said Friday. Sponsored by the South Korean government, the Asian-Pacific Postal Union (APPU) conference will bring together around 400 postal service-related government officials and industry representatives from May 30 to June 4 in Seoul, the nation's state postal service agency Korea Post, which organizes the event, said."

May 13, 2005 -- Le Monde has reported that "The French post office, La Poste, has concluded an agreement on the assessment of compensation claims lodged by customers of Benefic, the La Poste savings product which had been advertised as impervious to fluctuations on the stock market." See also Les Echos and Forbes< /a>.

May 13, 2005 -- According to Interactive Investor, "FedEx Corp. on Thursday reaffirmed its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings outlook, saying it continues to see steady economic growth across the U.S. and abroad."

May 13, 2005 -- The word on the street is that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove got involved in the matter noted in the May 12 Roll Callstory noted below,  and placed a call to the USPS. Consultants on both side of the aisle are not only confident that the new rule will not take effect, but may also push to get to get lower postage pricing for political campaigns. In accordance with the pricing for T.V. ads, where political campaigns always get the lowest published rates, mail vendors may propose that the same be true for political mailings. If this is happens it would reduce the postage cost from 17-18 cents per piece to the non-profit rate of 12-13 cents. Here comes the first of many, many proposed amendments to be tacked onto postal reform bills. Once again, the USPS has succeeded in shooting itself in the foot. They're turning this into a fine art.

May 12, 2005 -- Roll Call has reported that "The American Association of Political Consultants is warning that a new United States Postal Service rule will cost campaigns dearly and is contemplating lobbying to rescind it. The rule, which takes effect June 1, would require campaigns to pay 37 cents per letter while nonprofits pay only 11 cents and business mail costs only about 17 cents a letter, according to an AAPC news release. "The First Amendment is at its zenith when protecting political speech but this ruling places constitutionally protected speech at an economic disadvantage to every other type of mail, both for-profit and non-profit," said AAPC President Wayne Johnson."

May 12, 2005 -- The Standard (China) has  reported that "Assurances, France's biggest life insurer, has not sold a single policy in China almost four years after it received a license because of disagreements with the State Post Bureau, its venture partner. The postal monopoly already sells the products of China Life Insurance, the nation's biggest, and refused to give the French company an exclusive contract."

May 12, 2005 -- If your small business earns money building bird houses from cereal boxes, refurbishing antique jack-in-the-boxes or customizing old hat boxes, then you're thinking out-of-the-box and UPS wants to hear from you. UPS, the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, is launching a national contest in search of the most innovative U.S. small businesses. Aptly named the Best "Out-of-the-Box" Small Business Contest, the program is designed for U.S. small businesses with annual revenues in 2004 of at least $500,000 but not exceeding $10 million. These businesses are encouraged to submit 500-word essays explaining how they are innovative and "out-of-the-box."

May 12, 2005 -- Here's an item from the Washington Post: "Iraq Cost to Pass $200 Billion; Army to Ask for More." Fine....Just don't ask for any from postal ratepayers....We already gave at the office.

May 12, 2005 -- Have you seen European Express Leaders 2005 Analysis of the European express and parcels market including ranking, market shares and profiles of the leading players? Check it out.

May 12, 2005 -- The Peoria Journal Star has reported that "Peoria's remote encoding center was consistently one of the most productive in the country, the head of its employees union said Tuesday. Bob Gunter, president of Local 854 of the American Postal Workers Union, said productivity was the chief criteria the U.S. Postal Service said it would use when deciding which remote encoding centers to keep open. Whether Peoria-area civic and political leaders were told that remains in question. That as well as the productivity factor are reasons why U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, and U.S. Sens. Barack Obama and Dick Durbin, both Illinois Democrats, are demanding answers from the Postal Service as to why the Peoria center is being closed." Under the radar screen...my foot! The Postal Service's ham-handed ways of handing facility consolidations and closures is THE reason why Congress may force another regulatory regime down its throat!

May 12, 2005 -- According to the Ludwig von Mises Institute, "The cost of communication has plummeted. Costly labor-intensive media such as smoke signals, Pyramid carvings and dense hieroglyphics on large stones have yielded to the trivial costs of email. Deflation rules. Consider long distance rates. Down! Deflated like zeppelins competing with Boeing 757s. Only old-fashioned correspondence, processed by the United States Post Office, has inflated in the last half century. If there's a cyclical event in economics as dependable as the rising sun in the natural world, it's the regularity of postal rate increases. Get ready. The USPS, a government monopoly that laughs at government regulations prohibiting monopolies, is gearing up for another price increase. The last increase 3 cents was in 2002. This one in 2006, say the experts, will be 2 cents."

May 12, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "It is crunch time for La Poste as the French parliament today prepares to give its final vote of approval to an ambitious modernisation of France's state-owned post office, designed to prepare it for liberalisation of Europe's postal markets. The law, which is already two years late by European Union standards, will open up the French postal market to competition over the next five years. It includes a variety of measures to protect the quality of service at the former monopoly and to help it survive in a more competitive market, such as setting up an independent postal regulator and, more controversially, allowing it to establish a postal bank." In the U.S...well...we're still whistlin' Dixie.

May 12, 2005 -- According to The Guardian (U.K.), "Guess why Robin Derbyshire of Billericay had to wait six weeks for Parcelforce to deliver a package? Because, according to all the customer service people he managed to speak to (after wading through its automated menus), of eBay. Apparently, so many of us are ordering stuff via the online auction house and expecting Royal Mail to ship it that the posties can't cope. Intriguing! Until now the story has been that profits were plummeting because not enough of us were using the postal system."

May 12, 2005 -- The Arizona Republic has reported that "Ahwatukee Foothills residents say the post office's extended hours are making it easier than ever to mail a birthday present or a package to the home office. The U.S. Postal Service has recently begun extending post office hours in cities throughout the Valley."

May 12, 2005 -- The Gulf Daily News has reported that "Students will soon be able to register at Bahrain University through post offices. The move is part of a comprehensive plan to further develop postal centres and enhance the quality of their services"

May 12, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire:

• Postmaster General John E. Potter told to Postal Service Board of Governors today that the agency continues to deliver record service and customer satisfaction across the nation. The board also heard from Chief Financial Officer Richard J. Strasser, Jr., that mail volume in the 2nd Quarter showed a gain of 600 million pieces, to 52.1 billion, and a $17 million increase in revenue. In other board activity, Vice President, Strategic Planning Linda A. Kingsley outlined the actions being taken by senior leadership to build additional strategies that will extend the benefits realized from the agency's original Transformation Plan, it's blueprint for the future, to guide the organization through 2010.
• Pitney Bowes Inc. has launched VeriMove Net, an integrated Move Update solution designed for SmartMailer(TM) 7 mail management software that has received an NCOALink(TM) Limited Service Provider License from the United States Postal Service. VeriMove Net allows organizations to access the latest Change-of-Address information by efficiently and effectively accessing the NCOALink(TM) database, the latest technology for updating addresses available from the USPS(R).
• A new premium mail forwarding service for people away from home for long periods will be launched in August, the Postal Service said Wednesday. The service is designed for people who will be away for more than two weeks and up to a year, officials said. They expect the service to be valuable to traveling business executives, military personnel, college students, summer renters and "snow birds" who spend their winters in warm locations. The new service doesn't replace traditional forwarding or change-of-address procedures, but provides a temporary way for people to get their mail quickly at a new location.

May 12, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that:

• North Korea has issued postage stamps featuring a disputed cluster of rocky, uninhabited islets also claimed by Japan - a tactic used before by the communist country to bolster Korean territorial claims.
• Austria's federal post office has abandoned a plan to produce a line of postage stamps honoring the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, a human rights activist who had campaigned for the stamps said Wednesday. Heinz Stoff, a Vienna activist, told the Salzburger Nachrichten newspaper he was approached by postal authorities who said they had scrapped the idea of producing the stamps. Stoff said the post office cited "substantial interventions by the Chinese embassy" as its reason for abandoning the idea of a stamp honoring the Dalai Lama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

May 12, 2005 -- According to Reuters:

• United Parcel Service Inc. has said U.S. volume growth was "well ahead" of expectations for the second quarter, as it moved more goods for mid-sized companies.
• Pilots for United Parcel Service Inc. said they plan to release the results of a vote on whether to strike today."

May 12, 2005 -- The Boston Globe has reported that "Four current and former Massachusetts FedEx drivers yesterday filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, claiming that they were unlawfully classified as independent contractors. The action is the first brought on behalf of all 17,000 of the package delivery company's independent drivers in the United States and Canada.

May 12, 2005 -- As The Economist has noted, "The advance of globalisation and booming world trade have provided bumper profits for the world's container-ship companies." That's the route by which a number of catalog goodies make their way into the American market.

May 12, 2005 -- Linn's Online has reported that "Collectors who like unusual mailpieces could soon have something new to add to their collections. ShipShape, a Chicago firm that helped the United States Postal Service introduce oddshaped direct-mail pieces, is introducing a see-through plastic mailpiece."

May 12, 2005 -- The Peninsula has reported that "Qatar Post (QPost) is to soon introduce prepayment system through the electronic government for post box subscribers. Subscription charges for the post boxes could be paid using the e-government service soon. Subscribers will be able to pre-pay the charges and retain the post boxes even when they are out of the country for a long while or based overseas for study. Subscription is presently payable for two years but the duration is likely to be extended to three to five years."

May 12, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "DHL has announced the introduction of two new direct overnight express services between Beijing and Hong Kong and between Shanghai and the United States. The daily Shanghai-US flight will be operated by Northwest Airlines with a Boeing 747-200 freighter aircraft, while the four times weekly Beijing service will utilise a Cathay Pacific A330-200 passenger aircraft from DHL's Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong. The Shanghai route directly connects Shanghai with Anchorage in the United States and onward to DHL's hubs in Cincinnati and Los Angeles, feeding into DHL's U.S. network."

May 11, 2005 -- According to PostCom President Gene Del Polito, "Shifting new non-postal retirement obligations to postage-paying citizens and businesses was a political money-grab of the worst kind. It adds to the USPS' burden. It endangers future postal fiscal viability, and promises to impede, not facilitate, economic vitality and growth. It's bad public policy. It's bad fiscal policy, and it should be reversed, not justified via some cockamamie post-hoc rationale."

May 11, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "France's thriving banking industry is pursuing its campaign against plans by the post office, La Poste, to set up its own bank next year. In so doing, it is trying to defend another of those dubious "French exceptions", arguing forcefully it is not in the country's best interests to follow the European mainstream and let post offices compete in the banking sector. French banks are so upset at the idea they considered challenging the government's scheme in Brussels on competition grounds." See also Le Monde.

May 11, 2005 -- Les Echos (France) has reported that:

• According to a leaked internal document, the 500 to 1,000 staff of the French post office, La Poste, who provide its banking services will be able to choose whether or not they become direct employees of the postal bank to be spun off from La Poste. Those La Poste employees who do decide to transfer to the new entity will see their net salary maintained at its current level at the very least.
• The French government's plan to create a separate banking subsidiary for the French post office, La Poste, has led to the publication of a white paper on the subject by the French banking federation, FBF. In its document, which is addressed to all French authorities which affect the workings of France's banking sector, the FBF draws attention to what it regards as the postal bank bill's lack of transparency and economic problems.

May 11, 2005 -- Transp ort Intelligence has reported that "According to new research published today by Transport Intelligence in its latest report, European Express Leaders 2005, the European express and parcels industry grew at 4.3% last year. This growth was largely driven by the international express segment which achieved market growth rates of 12.4% helped by the performance of developing markets, not least in Central & Eastern Europe."

May 10, 2005 -- University of Illinois at Chicago historian Richard R. John will be lecturing at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum the role of the postal system in American business, culture, and public life. Learn why historians of the Internet are looking to the postal system-and NOT the telegraph-as the most relevant precursor to the information networks of modernity. Dr. John's illustrated talk draws from his forthcoming book on the political origins of American telecommunications. "Agent of Change: The Postal System and the Making of Modern America" Thursday, May 12, 2005, Noon - 1:00 p.m.

May 10, 2005 -- According to The Motley Fool, "The financial media has written plenty about the online DVD-rental price war between Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendation Netflix and Blockbuster. Like all wars, the price war must ultimately end. The U.S. Postal Service is due for a rate hike; it hasn't done so since 2002. In 2006, both companies will probably have to contend with at least a 39-cent stamp for first-class mail. While this will likely amount to no more than a 6% increase in shipping costs, it still won't be smoothly hoisted onto consumers. To its merit, Netflix is pushing heavily to develop the option of downloading movies over the Internet, presumably a quicker and less costly alternative."

May 10, 2005 -- QUICK!! Give me the name of the legislator who will forever be known by mailers as being "on the ball" as far as postal reform is concerned.

May 10, 2005 -- According to the Orlando Sentinel, "Stamp prices are about to rise again. The U.S. Postal Service recently requested a 5.4 percent across-the-board jump in postage rates, so consumers can expect to be whacked with an increase in early 2006. It seems that even with its mailbox monopoly, the USPS can't make ends meet. If USPS were a competitive company -- as opposed to a bloated federal bureaucracy -- stamp prices would be falling, not rising."

May 10, 2005 -- BMG Direct, a division of DirectGroup Bertelsmann, announced has reached an agreement with The Blackstone Group to acquire The Columbia House Company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to certain government approvals and other customary conditions. Stuart Goldfarb, President and CEO of BMG Direct, will serve as President and CEO of the newly acquired company.

May 10, 2005 -- As part of its expansion in the air freight business, UPS< /a> has announced plans to construct five regional freight hubs at airports across the country. The new facilities will be constructed in Ontario, Calif.; Rockford, Ill.; Dallas; Philadelphia, and Columbia, S.C. "UPS is accelerating its push into the domestic air freight business and this network is going to help us bring unparalleled levels of service to the marketplace," said Mike Eskew, UPS chairman and CEO."

May 10, 2005 -- Dow Jones has reported that "Singapore Post Ltd. is looking to Harry Potter to work a little magic as the company continues its diversification efforts. SingPost said Tuesday it will sell the latest book on the adventures of the teenage magician and his friends via its post offices and Web site. Singapore Post is offering free delivery with a 10% saving on the hard-cover book when you order from any Post Office or www.vpost.com.sg."

May 10, 2005 -- PostInsight has noted that "The French Union of Direct Marketing recently released the 2005 edition of its annual study analyzing the trends in direct marketing. Conducted since 1990 the report reveals there was a 4.5% increase from the previous year in total direct marketing expenditure. In 2004 direct marketing expenditure was 11 billion Euros, representing 35% of the total advertising market. Addressed mail represented 35% of the direct market expenditure, unaddressed mail 25% and catalogues 3%."

May 10, 2005 -- INQ7.net has reported that "US package delivery giant United Parcel Service has donated $32,000 to the Sa Aklat Sisikat Foundation to help improve literacy among Filipino children."

May 10, 2005 -- People's Daily (China) has reported that "China Post will launch an EMS Promise Service on Tuesday, which will cover Hong Kong, Japan and S. Korea. This is another measure adopted by China Post to bring the honest and trustworthy business ideology into the cross-boundary express mail service following the Next Morning Arrival domestic service which promises full refund if the mail fails to arrive the next morning. The EMS Promise Service means that China Post will publicize enroute time limit for EMS mails destined for certain countries and regions and promise to deliver the mails to their destinations within the time limit. For mails failing to arrive on schedule due to reasons for which China Post is responsible it will refund the postal fees it has charged."

May 10, 2005 -- U.S. Congressmen Danny K. Davis (D-IL) and John M. McHugh (R-NY) have released a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report examining the U.S. Postal Service's (USPS) network realignment strategy. The lawmakers praised the study, entitled U.S. Postal Service: The Service's Strategy for Realigning its Mail Processing Infrastructure Lacks Clarity, Criteria, and Accountability, as a positive and constructive contribution to addressing very significant problems confronting the Postal Service. McHugh and Davis requested the GAO report in their capacities as Chairman and Ranking Member, respectively, of the Special Panel on Postal Reform & Oversight in the 108th Congress. See also the report by GovExec.com.

May 10, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "UPS said it will resume negotiations with the Independent Pilots Association union on May 16 in Baltimore. The talks, to be held under the guidance of the National Mediation Board, are scheduled to cover scope and scheduling."

May 10, 2005 -- The Persian Journal has reported that "Iran's Postal Services company will return back postal parcels which carry the misnomer of "Gulf", instead of the "Persian Gulf", the Iranian newspaper, Jam-e-Jam reported Monday. The company has also sent a letter to all members of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), stressing that all letters and postal parcels marked with the misnomer In place of the 'Persian Gulf' will be returned to the country of the origin."

May 10, 2005 -- From the BusinessWire: "Hasler, Inc., recognized for its innovative mailing equipment, folders/inserters and mailing system software, has introduced the HT12 Tabber that automatically applies adhesive tabs or wafer seals to a wide range of mail pieces. Tabbers offer an inexpensive alternative to envelopes and are great for mass mailings of brochures, newsletters, double postcards and more. The HT12 places an adhesive tab on folded documents for easy transportation and mailing, and is often used by businesses to send advertisements, promotional items and many other non-traditional pieces of mail."

May 10, 2005 -- The Business Standard (India) has reported that "the Gujarat circle of department of posts is conducting a survey to identify the accurate number of cable connections in Bodakdev, Ambawadi, Memnagar, Vastrapur and Judges Bungalow area. "The entertainment tax collector has came up with a proposal to survey cable television operators and identify the number of connections in and around the city," DKS Chauhan, director postal services, Gujarat Circle, said. On why the postal department is undertaking such a survey, Chauhan said, "It is being conducted to check whether cable operators are involved in any racket to evade entertainment tax by actual concealing the number of connections."

 May 9, 2005 -- According to the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, "Postal officials say that Congress wants the U.S. Postal Service to operate like a private business, in order to better compete with private business. Hint to the USPS: Don't operate like Enron."

May 9, 2005 -- UPS< /a> has announced the rollout of a new generation driver computer that can "talk" with four different wireless communication systems to speed tracking information to customers. It's also smaller and lighter than its predecessor, works in color, is easier to use and has an expanded memory that will support some new, more customized services in the near future. Moreover, it's a critical part of a broader technology shift that is allowing UPS to dramatically reduce its fuel consumption while improving route planning, vehicle loading and package delivery.

May 9, 2005 -- A GOOD FREEBIE!!The Cong ressional Research Service has prepared a side-by-side comparison of the House and Senate postal reform bills.

May 9, 2005 -- From the BusinessWire:

• Wincor Nixdorf, one of the global leaders in open ATM hardware and multi-vendor software solutions that improve branch efficiencies, today announced that the United States Postal Service won three first place awards for the Wincor Nixdorf Automated Postal Center at the KioskCom.com Interactive Kiosk Excellence Awards Dinner and Ceremony, April 19 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino.

• Universal Express Inc. has announced that its subsidiary UniversalPost has formed a partnership with MyMailEmail, a mail delivery notification service. MyMailEmail is an easy to use software mail box system that allows the postal store to quickly e-mail box holders when they have mail. These messages can also be customized to alert customers about special deliveries, to promote services, or to introduce new products.

May 9, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "Pitney Bowes Inc. has introduced its Pitney Bowes Small Office Series(TM) product line targeted to the small business office and home office. The core product in the new Pitney Bowes Small Office Series(TM) line is the mailstation(TM) digital postage meter, which offers the all-in-one simplicity and convenience of an integrated scale that automatically calculates the correct postage. As a result, customers never underpay or overpay for postage. This compact, technologically advanced meter also enables customers to utilize Pitney Bowes' patented Intellilink system for direct access to information and graphics, funds management, software changes and postal rate downloads, while taking up less space and reducing office clutter."

May 9, 2005 -- Bu siness Report International has reported that "Deutsche Post, the semi-privatised German postal service, said on Monday it was able to lift earnings in the first three months of the current year and was confident for the year as a whole."

May 9, 2005 -- Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda on Monday didn't rule out the possibility of the government accepting revisions for its proposed legislation to privatize Japan's postal services, Kyodo News reported.

May 9, 2005 -- According to China Daily, "China, no doubt, is the world's largest e-commerce opportunity, given the dazzling growth of both its Internet population and middle class. But fulfilling the potential and making a big profit from the country's cyber marketplace is not easy. Creaky banking and postal systems have been holding back online shoppers."

May 9, 2005 -- Unite d Press International has reported that "The chairman of Britain's Royal Mail was preparing a proposal Sunday that would give partial ownership of the government-owned company to its employees. Chairman Allan Leighton reportedly plans to approach ministers this week to ask for a loan of $3.8 billion for the postal service, London's Sunday Times reported. The final decision on the privatization scheme rests with Alan Johnson, the former head of the Communication Workers' Union, who was appointed productivity, energy and industry secretary in Tony Blair's cabinet reshuffle. Johnson's approval would enable Royal Mail to reinvest in the business to allow it to better compete with delivery companies challenging its domination of the market." See also The Independent, Fina ncial Times, The Scotsman, and The Times.

May 9, 2005 -- Revolution magazine (U.K.) has reported that "Delivery firm FedEx is marrying the web with a below-the-line campaign for the first time. In the pan-European push, by agency CWA, customers and prospects will be sent a DVD-style container that promotes FedEx's ability to deliver packages from Europe to the US. An online game (www.fedex.com/usachallenge) will ask players to pick up parcels, deliver them to the airport and fly a plane across the Atlantic, while dodging obstacles. Users can forward the game and challenge friends to beat their score."

May 9, 2005 -- The News-Herald wants to know: "What's going on in the United States Postal Service? Senate Finance Committee investigators learned this week the USPS routinely gives its executives moving expenses of $10,000 to $25,000. The USPS does not require receipts and it allows employees to pocket any leftover cash. Investigators were informed this is a way to attract executives, since Postal Service executives do not receive annual increases. Increases in salary are based on performance. This bureaucratic chicanery doesn't pass the smell test."

May 9, 2005 -- Transport Intelligence has reported that "m-dis Distribuzione Media, an Italian market leader in the sales and distribution of published products through news agencies, has renewed its outsourcing contract with TNT Logistics Italy for another three years. Under the terms of this agreement TNT Logistics Italy will arrange storage of "Periodicals", "Collectors' Items" and "Related Products", process unsold returned copies, prepare back issues, and issues to subscribers for shipping. In order to provide these services, 50,000 m of warehouse space, located in the Novara district in Italy has been designated for m-dis."

May 9, 2005 -- NewIndPress (India) has reported that "With a new Chief Post Master General (CPMG), the postal department here will have a new role to play. The introduction of the logistics department in the postal services is on the cards according to CPMG Meera Dutta. With the reduction in document mails in urban areas, parcel carriage is opening up new vistas. The logistics department will despatch parcels beyond the present weight limit of 35 kilograms. For a department, which has been collecting, sorting and delivering mail for over one-and-a-half century, transmitting parcels is not a difficult task. "We have all the required channels. We are only changing the product," she said."

May 9, 2005 -- Personnel Today (U.K.) has reported that "Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) in Royal Mail have overwhelmingly endorsed the 2005 pay agreement. The deal, which includes above inflation pay rises, was backed by a margin of 11 to one."

May 8, 2005 -- The New York Times has reported that "After spending more than $4.5 billion on screening devices to monitor the nation's ports, borders, airports, mail and air, the federal government is moving to replace or alter much of the antiterrorism equipment, concluding that it is ineffective, unreliable or too expensive to operate. Among the problems: Postal Service machines that test only a small percentage of mail and look for anthrax but no other biological agents. "Technology does not substitute for strategy," said James Jay Carafano, senior fellow for homeland security at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. "It's always easier for terrorists to change tactics than it is for us to throw up defenses to counter them. The best strategy to deal with terrorists is to find them and get them."

May 8, 2005 -- Hoovers has reported that "In late 2004, UPS announced two new Web-based trade management tools that help businesses manage their customs clearance process for package shipments. UPS TradeAbility helps international shippers identify specific country tariff codes for calculating duties necessary for customs clearance; generate cost estimates for duties, taxes and transportation; and locate compliance information for 34 countries (which UPS says account for 87 percent of world trade). The system also flags "denied parties" people, countries or organizations you're not supposed to do business with and regions with favorable trade agreements, such as countries belonging to NAFTA.' The UPS package visibility service, called Quantum View Manage, has been enhanced to help U.S. importers clear shipments into the country, audit cleared shipments for correct classification and electronically archive shipment data. These systems also allow customers to take direct corrective action if a problem is found. They are available on a per-transaction basis over the Internet or can be downloaded to a company's own IT system."

May 7, 2005 -- The latest issue of thePostCom Bulletin is available online. In this issue: USPS clarifies rules on nonprofit content eligibility. Mailing industry must educate lawmakers on postal reform legislation. American Postal Workers Union President William Burrus, an ardent opponent of worksharing discounts, says they are a risk to the financial health of the U.S. Postal Service. Grassley says usps overpaid moving expenses for executives. Potter names new USPS officers. PostCom says international mail carriage rates set too high. New UPS offerings provide customers with options for non-urgent mail delivery. UPS expands participation in SBA loan program. DHL signs deal with Atlanta Braves baseball team. FedEx Freight boosts rates. Deutsche Post grilled over early profit report. Tough times persist for Irish postal network. Sinotrans receipts, profits increase. TAT Express sale progressing. Finnish, Estonian postal systems in cooperation deal. Emirates to float 40 percent. Lawmaker calls for Philippine Postal privatization. Nigeria Post faces long wish list. Two more convenience chains will handle Japan Post parcels. Bahrain post office adds new utility payment services..What? You've not been getting the weekly PostCom Bulletin--the best postal newsletter anywhere...bar none?  Send us by email your name, company, company title, postal and email address. Get a chance to see what you've been missing.
 

Who handles the distribution of the PostCom Bulletin?
 Why, it's NETGRAM, of course. Read more about it.

May 7, 2005 -- The Journal of Commerce has reported that "UPS is consolidating and expanding its logistics and distribution capabilities in Canada with the construction of a new logistics campus in Burlington, Ontario. The campus will be home to the Canada headquarters of UPS Supply Chain Solutions and provide more than 800,000 square-feet of operations space."

May 7, 2005 -- The Kyodo News Service has reported that "A senior lawmaker of Japan's governing Liberal Democratic Party said Friday the government might have to revise its proposed legislation to privatize Japanese postal services in a bid to soothe the opposition and secure parliamentary approval."

May 6, 2005 -- According to Traffic World, "ABX Air scored solid revenue and profit increases in the first quarter as it upped its earnings from non-DHL business."

May 6, 2005 -- The latest copy of the National Association of Postmasters of the U.S. electronic governmental affairs newsletter is available on the NAPUS web site.

May 6, 2005 -- The USPS Board of Governors will be meeting May 10 & 11. Among the matters to be discussed: Tuesday (Closed) 1. Postal Rate Commission Opinion and Recommended Decision in Experimental Premium Forwarding Service, Docket No. MC2005-1. 2. Strategic Planning. 3. Financial Update. 4. Personnel Matters and Compensation Issues. Wednesday, May 11--8:30 a.m. (Open) 1. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, April 12, 2005. 2. Remarks of the Postmaster General/Chief Executive Officer. 3. Committee Reports and Audit and Finance Committee Charter. 4. Transformation. 5. Quarterly Report on Service Performance. 6. Quarterly Report on Financial Performance. 7. Atlanta District Report.

May 6, 2005 -- According to The Nonprofit Times, "Nonprofit mailers declared victory in efforts to get the United States Postal Service (USPS) to unmuddy the waters surrounding what constitutes Nonprofit Standard rate mail and what is First Class rate mail when it comes to personalized mail. A group of six umbrella organizations, the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation, the Direct Marketing Association of Washington, D.C., the Direct Marketing Fundraisers Association and the National Catholic Development Conference, lobbied the USPS for a clarification of the rule."

May 6, 2005 -- The Jerusalem Post has reported that "Biannually, Pessah and Rosh Hashana, letters and notes are delivered by the Israel Postal Authority to the Western Wall. Letters addressed directly to the Western Wall are not opened because of a Halachic ruling by the rabbis in charge of the site that reading someone else's mail is wrong (and presumably in this case the intended recipient of the letter would know who had been taking a peek). Mail addressed to God without any specific destination is handled by the Postal Authority in Jerusalem which does open the letters to determine where best to forward them. Letters by Jews go to the Wall, letters from Christians are handed over to Church authorities, etc."

May 6, 2005 -- Le Monde has reported that "The French National Assembly has passed, by 349 votes to 157, a bill for postal services regulation. The legislation will open the postal services market to competition by 2009. The bill is expected to be passed definitively in the French parliament on May 12, after a joint committee meeting between deputies and senators."

May 6, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "THE $250 billion allocated to Zimpost under the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's Parastatals and Local Authorities Reorientation Programme (PLARP) should go a long way in redeeming the ailing postal service provider, and effectively turn around its fortunes. Zimpost is the country's sole postal service provider is therefore of strategic importance to the country's economic well-being."

May 6, 2005 -- WEEK-TV has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service has announced it will close Peoria's Remote Encoding Center by February of next year. It says improved technology is the reason. They don't need as many centers. The Postal Service says it will offer 126 career employees other jobs within the organization. But that'll leave more than 240 transitional and temporary workers out of jobs." 

May 6, 2005 -- The Akron Beacon Journal has reported that "Workers at the U.S. Postal Service's remote encoding center on Exeter Road in Akron were told at noon today that their jobs would be gone by February 2006. There are approximately 420 employees at the center. The number is split roughly between temporary workers and career employees. The career employees were told they could be eligible for other jobs at USPS facilities within a 200-mile radius of Akron."

May 6, 2005 -- Peter Moore Software has announced the availability of version 5.0 of their popular Mail.dat Excel macro. The macro, which comes in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, allows the user to import the most commonly used Mail.dat files into an Excel spreadsheet, formats numeric fields, and provides column headings. The new release supports Mail.dat 98-1, 00-1, 02-1, 02-2, and the new version, 05-1.

May 5, 2005 -- Sun-Star (Philippines) has reported that "In support of the celebration of the National Eucharist Year with Mary, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Permanent Committee for International Eucharist Congresses and the Philippine Postal Corp. are launching the International Year of the Eucharist National Committee Stamps Design Contest. The competition aims to create awareness about the International Year of the Eucharist to strengthen the faith of the Filipinos in God, to bring more people, especially the youth, to celebrate the Philippine National Eucharist Year with Mary through the creative art of postage design and to make stamp collection a relevant venue for this celebration."

May 5, 2005 -- Direct has reported that "The current postal rate case calling for a 5.4% across the board rate increase will likely be settled as a higher increase -- as large as 10% -- is probably in the offing for 2006, predicted Gene Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal Commerce. Speaking at a Direct Magazine Webinar, Del Polito said that the USPS was holding back on proposing changes in mail classification and other matters in order to get back money it lost as a result of the expiration in January of Public Law 108-18. Can a postal reform pass this year? Del Polito gave odds of 30 to 70. Did you miss Direct magazine's rate case and postal reform webinar? You can still catch it by going to: http://dire ctmag.com/webinars/postal-rate-increase-webinar/

May 5, 2005 -- As the Associated Press has reported that:

• Bicycle messengers once crowded downtown traffic to deliver court papers, business documents and blueprints. Around the country, high-speed Internet, which allows larger documents to be e-mailed quickly, is beating cyclists in the race for fast and cheap delivery of urgently needed material. New York is the nation's bicycle messenger capital, with about 1,000. Fax machines and computers can't deliver fabric samples to the garment district, or hand-signed legal documents, or portfolios or blueprints. But even in New York, growth has stagnated. (Incidentally, the BBC has reported that "The humble bicycle has won a national survey of people's favourite inventions. People chose the bicycle for its simplicity of design, universal use, and because it is an ecologically sound means of transport.")

• Online ad spending reached a record high last year, driven largely by growth in keyword ads that appear in results from online searches.

May 5, 2005 -- CEP News (Courier-Express-Postal) has reported that:

• The Swiss Commission for Traffic and Telecommunications (KVF) has spoken out against a purely economical approach to the post. The parliamentary committee, which is in charge of traffic, post, telephone and the media, believes that Schweizerische Post should continue to be responsible for providing a universal postal service throughout the country, a mission which would require e.g. an evenly balanced infrastructure in the regions.
• This year's first quarter saw a declining result on a stagnant turnover for Finland's Suomen Posti Oy. The mail segment - which the Finnish post consolidates in its messaging division - seems to be responsible for the trend. While addressed mail showed roughly the same volumes as last year, first-class mail and newspapers declined. In contrast, unaddressed bulk mail went up considerably.
• "We only just made it - again" would sum up the 2004 annual report from An Post. In view of the debacle involving An Post's express subsidiary SDS, it is hardly surprising that the management showed a very cautious optimism in its comment on the result.
• Suomen Posti Oy intends to work more closely with the Estonian post in future. Last Wednesday the two companies announced the conclusion of an agreement concerning transport services. The aim of the agreement is to offer Finnish business customers in particular easier access to the Estonian market. AS Eesti Post will be the first Baltic post company to introduce electronic tracking and tracing, a system used by the Finnish post since 2000.
• Only weeks after the significant ruling by the Dusseldorf Higher Regional Court concerning partial access in Germany (CEP News 16/05), a new competitive operator has appeared on the market. Brief-Union eG was founded by Arvato Direct Services, in its turn a subsidiary of the Bertelsmann publishing group.
• Magyar Posta is still struggling with considerable service and quality problems.
• India's CEP operator Blue Dart Express Ltd, of which DHL now holds a majority, achieved very good results during the 2004/2005 financial year ended in March.
• The French La Poste confirmed that negotiations over the partial sale of its express subsidiary TAT Express were well advanced.

Don't be satisfied with a less than complete report on the courier, express, and postal market in Europe. Get your subscription to CEP News, today. CEP News is a product of Manner-Romberg Unternehmensberatung, one of Europe's foremost consultancies dealing with courier-, express-, logistics- and post-related issues.

May 5, 2005 -- German News has reported that "The private postal service company DirektExpress hopes to create five hundred new jobs in Ulm. Across the country, the company is talking about a total of five thousand jobs, as, for example, it seeks couriers and transport companies willing to work partly on a commission basis. The Ulm-based company is the first postal service in Germany to work with the German post office ("Deutsche Post AG") in regular letter-mail delivery. DirektExpress will, in future, collect regular mail from businesses and government offices across Germany for free, pre-sort it, and then deliver it in bundles to the post office. The company will enjoy a volume discount, which it will in turn pass on, in part, to its customers, in the form of cheaper postage."

May 5, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "TNT, the Dutch postal and logistics group, is readying plans to reverse widening losses at its French logistics unit, although it ruled out an exit. The company, formerly known as TPG, will announce a plan to restore profitability at the French logistics business by 2006 - and its financial impact - at the end of July."

May 5, 2005 -- The Atlanta Journal Constitution has reported that "DHL, a rival to Sandy Springs-based package delivery giant UPS, is riding into its competitor's back yard with a deal to become the Official Express Delivery and Logistics Provider for the Atlanta Braves. The company will have signs inside Turner Field, including advertising on the main scoreboard and in the bullpen areas. DHL said it also will provide the team with shipping and logistics services. UPS buys advertising on radio and TV broadcasts of Braves games, but it shrugged off news of DHL's deal."

May 5, 2005 -- Transp ort Intelligence has reported that "TNT Group saw revenue up 9.9% compared with the first quarter of last year at 3,276m. Earnings increased 5.5% to 327m . The Mail business grew slightly with revenue up 0.5% at 981m. TNT Mail s main market, the Netherlands, saw a 1.4% fall in volume but this was offset by growth in the UK and Germany through the European Mail Network which grew at 22.9%. The real performer in the Group is the Express business. Logistics is still a difficult area for TNT and although the action taken by the group over the past two years has taken the business out of loss, the logistics business is still weakening the group s profitability."

May 5, 2005 -- According to Fleet Owner, "A survey conducted among European and U.S. corporate executives by United Parcel Service (UPS) found that most believe business success is increasingly related to effective management of their supply chains yet many feel their in-house supply chain organizations are ill-prepared to handle supply disruptions."

May 5, 2005 -- From the PR Newswire: "The United States Postal Service wants to help you show your appreciation for your mother, or father, sister, brother, friend or professional colleague, with cards and notes specially created and automatically mailed throughout the year. Thirty-six different images for Mother's Day cards can be found at the NetPost(TM) CardStore on usps.com, ranging from traditional to comic sentiments. Customers also may create a more personalized card by uploading a photo and selecting either a folded card with an envelope or a postcard."

May 5, 2005 -- American Printer has reported that "Direct mail services supplier IWCO Direct (Chanhassen, MN) recently hosted a meeting to discuss issues impacting the direct marketing industry. In attendance were Minnesota senator Norm Coleman, Direct Marketing Association (DMA) president and CEO John A. Greco Jr., and senior executives from Deluxe Corp., Taylor Corp. and U.S. Bank. Speaking to approximately 100 IWCO Direct employees, Coleman covered a number of topics, including his support of postal reform and the impact rising energy costs are having on the nation s economy."

May 5, 2005 -- TheBostonChann el asks: "Will e-mail do to the sidewalk mailbox what cell phones did to the phone booth?"

May 5, 2005 -- The Herald Sun (Australia) has reported that "A NEW Zealand postal plane that exploded in flight, killing two pilots, was not scheduled to carry hazardous materials, air crash investigators say."

May 5, 2005 -- Quad/Graphics has announced the appointment of two long-term vice presidents to expanded roles within the company. David A. Blais has been named Senior Vice President of Sales & Administration and John C. Fowler has strengthened his role as Chief Financial Officer, becoming Senior Vice President of Finance & CFO.

May 4, 2005 -- As the Nashua Telegraph has noted, "People in the United States feel compelled on May 5 to celebrate el cinco de mayo. First, let it be known that el cinco de mayo is not Mexico s day of independence [the Postal Service's stamp notwithstanding] as everyone has been led to believe, but rather a small battle won against the invading French army in the year 1862. Short-lived as it may have been, el cinco de mayo is a regional holiday honoring the bravery and victory of General Zaragoza s small army and is highly celebrated in the state of Puebla. Mexico s real day of independence is celebrated on Sept. 16 because this was the day in 1810 that the Mexicans decided to fight for their independence from Spain, forever known as El grito de Dolores because the cries for a call to fight for independence were first heard in the small village of Dolores, Mexico."  Hey, what do you expect from Gringos?

May 4, 2005 -- The Fina ncial Times has reported that "Deutsche Post, Europe s largest postal service, has come under fire from lawyers and investors after the group prematurely issued analysts with operating figures ahead of its quarterly report next Monday. A spokesperson for the German financial supervisory authority said that it would wait until the official figures are published on Monday, after reports in FT Deutschland, before they decided whether to take action against the company."

May 4, 2005 -- According to German News, "The German Postal Service concluded first agreements with small companies regarding mail deliveries. This will help realizing the decree of the Federal Cartel Office to open up the market, the company said in Bonn. The Cartel Office has ordered the Postal Service to allow competitors regarding tasks like pick-up, pre-sorting and delivery of letters under 100 grams."

May 4, 2005 -- Direct has reported that "Mailer groups -- especially nonprofits -- are pleased with just-released clarifications of the U.S Postal Service's Standard Mail eligibility rules, which came about after negotiations between the USPS and nonprofit mailers."

May 4, 2005 -- ChannelNewsAsia has reported that "Singapore Post has booked a 6% increase in annual earnings. Net income for the year to March came in at $110.5m, beating market forecasts. Its bottom-line was boosted by higher earnings at its mail and logistics businesses."

May 4, 2005 -- DM News has reported that "United Parcel Service business mail services unit Mail Innovations unveiled an integrated suite of mailing services yesterday that includes a new option to send non-urgent mail at a lower rate in exchange for less speedy delivery. Called UPS Mail Logic, the service includes mail pickup, transport and processing to the U.S. Postal Service or overseas. For mail in the United States, UPS Mail Logic delivers at First-Class mail speeds plus one day. Customers also can choose UPS Mail Logic Saver, which delivers mail in an average of six days. Mail sent with UPS Mail Logic Saver qualifies for a lower per-piece rate. Domestically, UPS Mail Innovations typically handles mail pieces weighing less than 1 pound, including flats, bound printed matter -- including catalogs -- and lightweight products such as CDs or books. Internationally, UPS Mail Innovations handles mail of all weights." Kudos UPS!

May 4, 2005 -- The Associated Press has reported that "The Postal Service gives its executives moving expenses of $10,000 or $25,000 without requiring receipts, allowing employees to pocket any leftover money. The mail service says it uses the payments as a way of easing transitions to new, sometimes more expensive cities and ensuring that executives won't be lured away by competitors. The Postal Service defends the practice, saying Congress wanted it to operate like private business where salaries may be higher. Committee Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, isn't buying the argument."

May 3, 2005 -- Postmaster General Jack Potter has named five individuals to key officer positions in Human Resources and Operations. The PMG named Tony Vegliante, as Chief Human Resources Officer and Executive Vice President; Doug Tulino, as acting vice president, Labor Relations; Susan LaChance as HR vice president for Employee Development and Diversity; DeWitt Harris as vice president of Employee Resource Management; William Galligan as senior vice president of Operations; and Megan Brennan as Northeast Area Vice President.

May 3, 2005 -- From the BusinessWire: "As National Small Business Day, May 10, approaches, the vast majority of American consumers say they still value courteous service and believe small businesses generally are doing a good job of providing it, a new survey shows. The survey, commissioned by The UPS Store(R) and Mail Boxes Etc.(R), found that 77 percent of respondents rated small businesses as "excellent" or "good" at providing courteous service and 74 percent rated them "excellent" or "good" for being knowledgeable and professional. The survey also found that being small and local can work to the favor of many business owners. Results showed that 93 percent of Americans say supporting local ownership of small businesses continues to factor into their buying decisions."

May 3, 2005 -- The Association for Postal Commerce ("PostCom") has submitted comments in response to the Department of Transportation's ("Department") request for comments on initiating a base rate investigation into the methodology used to set rates for the international transportation of mail by air. PostCom agreed with the United States Postal Service, FedEx, and Continental Airlines that maintaining rates at the current level is unacceptable. The rates have become misaligned with both market rates and underlying costs. The result is that the Postal Service is paying far more than it should for the carriage of international mail. In turn, PostCom members are paying more than they should for postal services. PostCom supported the Postal Service position that the Department should forebear from regulating and allow international carriage rates to be determined by market forces. Negotiation between air carriers and the Postal Service would establish rates that better track the underlying costs of service, remedying the current injustice facing the Postal Service and its customers."

May 3, 2005 -- From the U.S. Postal Service press room:

• The U.S. Postal Service is seeking input from customers as it moves into the second phase of its Strategi c Transformation Plan 2006-2010, the organization's blueprint that will outline its goals, targets and strategies through 2010.

• The Postal Service today released a new Customer Support Ruling designed to provide qualified nonprofit mailers with examples of how the clarification to Standard Mail Eligibility that takes effect June 1, 2005, will apply to the types of mail they typically deposit. "Nonprofit mailers have become very creative in their solicitation mailings, and we want them to be as confident as possible in their understanding of our mailing standards," said Anita Bizzotto, USPS Chief Marketing Officer. Mail is one of the most effective and efficient ways to reach and engage members, donors and customers, and we have been working hard to make it as easy to use as possible. This clarification of specialized non-profit solicitation issues and examples will go a long way to further that goal," said Bizzotto.

May 3, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that "Advertisers continue to aggressively increase spending on Internet ads, with close to half of them cutting spending on traditional channels to do so, according to a new survey from Forrester Research Inc. Nearly 85% of advertisers plan to increase their online ad budgets this year, with the increases averaging 25%, according to a report the Cambridge, Mass., research company plans to release today. More than 40% of these advertisers are cutting spending on traditional ad vehicles such as magazines, newspapers, and direct mail to help fund the online increase, Forrester says."

May 3, 2005 -- As the Washington Post has noted, "Circulation at 814 of the nation's largest daily newspapers declined 1.9 percent over the six months ended March 31 compared with the same period last year, an industry trade group reported yesterday. The decline continued a 20-year trend in the newspaper industry as people increasingly turn to other media such as the Internet and 24-hour cable news networks for information. Newspaper industry officials also blamed the National Do Not Call Registry, which has forced newspapers to rely less on telemarketing to secure subscribers, and a shift in strategy among major newspapers away from using short-term promotions to acquire new readers. Newspapers relied on telemarketing to acquire an average of 60 to 65 percent of their home delivery subscribers."

May 3, 2005 -- The Jerusalem Post has reported that "The [Israeli] Postal Authority has beaten five other companies to win the public tender for a NIS 5.5 million annual contract to deliver rabbinical court documents personally to those involved in cases. Postal Authority director-general Yossi Shelley said that until now, the mail services delivered verdicts, summonses and other such documents by registered mail; now it will use messengers to deliver them by hand."

May 3, 2005 -- Financial Times Deutschland has reported that "Deutsche Post, the German postal services provider, has revealed to analysts that profit for the last quarter is set to fall, causing the price of the Deutsche Post share to drop last week. According to analysts, operating profit in the group's letter division, its most important area, fell by around 100m euros in comparison with the same quarter last year, when the figure was 749m euros. The postal group has put this down to the extra holidays caused by this year's early Easter. On top of this, integration at DHL, Deutsche Post's express division, is not on plan and the division is suffering from currency effects."

May 3, 2005 -- According to the Irish Times, "The annual conference of the Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) over the weekend heard some gloomy forecasts for the future of the post office network. The IPU were told that the network's very existence is under threat especially if an increasing number of social welfare payments are lost to the banks. The Government, delegates said, is not committed to safeguarding the network."

May 3, 2005 -- GovExec.com has reported that "Now that postal overhaul legislation has passed the House Government Reform Committee, interest groups supporting the bill are broadening their lobbying efforts to the White House, congressional leaders and House conservatives."

May 3, 2005 -- The latest NAPS (National Association of Postal Supervisors) legislative update has been posted on this site.

May 3, 2005 -- Gulf Times has reported that "THE GENERAL Postal Corporation (Q-Post) and Mannai Corporation have signed an agreement which will cover the implementation of finance, human resources, payroll and purchasing modules from Oracle eBusiness Suite."

May 3, 2005 -- MENA-FN has reported that "Around 300,000 consumers can pay their electricity bills from today at post-offices without waiting in long queues for payment of their bills at Ministry of Electricity customer service centres. Initially, the service is available in Budaiya, Sitra and Riffa post offices. The same service will be provided at all the 13 post offices within 60 days. Under an agreement, the Ministry of Electricity and Water would pay BD50,000 a year for utilising the post-offices across the Kingdom but the service would be free of cost for consumers."

May 3, 2005 -- MalaysiaKini wants to know: "Much had been said and written on the recent drastic increase in postal rates by Pos Malaysia. But does the government care about this feedback from the public? Or do they care more about their pockets?"

May 3, 2005 -- WPXI Pittsburgh told its audience: "If you've ever gotten a parking ticket, you'll want to pay close attention to this story. Video Can Postal Workers Park For Free? A Target 11 investigation discovered that some federal employees devised a way to beat the parking meter system. That was until Target 11 investigator Rick Earle got involved. We discovered that some U.S. postal workers were placing make-shift signs with the U.S. postal service in their personal cars and parking at expired meters. But they weren't delivering mail -- they were going to work."

May 3, 2005 -- The Kyodo news service has reported that "Japan Post's Yu-Pack parcel delivery service will be available at 1,910 Daily Yamazaki outlets and 1,350 am/pm Japan outlets as part of Japan Post's plan to enhance its delivery operations ahead of its privatization. Under a set of bills aimed at privatizing Japan Post, the entity's 10-year privatization process is to begin in April 2007. The two convenience store chains' move will boost the number of total convenience store outlets handling Japan Post's parcels to about 13,000, including all outlets of Ministop Co. and Lawson Inc., which had earlier joined hands with the entity."

May 3, 2005 -- The Grand Forks Herald has reported that "A powder found in a mail bag shut down the post office processing center here for about six hours, until tests showed it was not harmful, postal officials said."

May 3, 2005 -- AllAfrica.com has reported that "THE Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) recently unveiled a new logo and postmen's uniform in Abuja. It also announced its objective of a 48-hour delivery time. The Minister of Communication Chief Cornelius Adebayo on the occasion stressed the determination of the federal government to ensure a speedy and safe postal system. The Postmaster General of the Federation reiterated the vision of NIPOST to be the best customer-responsive organisation in Nigeria and the best postal service in Africa and one of the best in the world, there was the need to change the old logo because of the wide criticism that it was outdated and expensive to produce due to its many colours."

May 2, 2005 -- The Postal Service has issued a new Customer Support Ruling (CSR), PS 323, which is intended to provide guidance for Nonprofit mailers as to what may be mailed as Standard Mail and what must be mailed as First-Class Mail. The attached CSR is written on the basis of the revised DMM language that takes effect June 1, 2005. After June 1, the CSRs will link to what will then be current postal standards. The Postal Service is again providing the decision tree based on the revised DMM language as an aid in the evaluation of whether matter containing personal information may be eligible as Standard Mail or is required to be sent as First-Class Mail. It has been annotated with references to CSRs that may be referred to for guidance when making decisions as to whether a mailpiece meets the test. The Postal Service encourages mailers to apply the new CSR and the decision-tree flowchart on Standard Mail eligibility to make classification determinations and to contact their local Business Mail Entry Units for additional support.

May 2, 2005 -- The fina ncial services subsidiary of UPS has significantly expanded its geographic participation in the U.S. Small Business Administration's Preferred Lender Program, slashing the amount of time and effort it takes for business customers to secure SBA loans.

May 2, 2005 -- As Federal Computer Week has noted, "Office of Personnel Management officials are trying to modernize the federal retirement system for more than 2 million workers. But it s a major challenge that involves billions of dollars in retiree assets. Plagued by problems ranging from inaccurate account totals to faulty monthly checks, OPM officials face growing pressure from lawmakers to complete the Retirement Systems Modernization program. They have also been criticized for lacking sound management procedures for handling the program s $50 billion in benefits."

May 2, 2005 -- According to The Economist, "Online advertising is becoming a serious rival to the traditional sort. Google s new advertising service could make the internet an even more valuable marketing medium."

May 2, 2005 -- The Wall Street Journal has reported that:

• The newspaper industry, already suffering from circulation problems, could be looking at its worst numbers in more than a decade. Circulation numbers to be released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations probably will show industrywide declines of 1% to 3%, according to people familiar with the situation -- possibly the highest for daily newspapers since the industry shed 2.6% of subscribers in 1990-91.

• As of January, 81% of U.S. consumers had access to the Internet from some location, a rise from 50% as of January 1999, according to a study by Arbitron and Edison Media Research. The number of people with home Internet access that use a broadband connection in January was equal to the number of Americans with a dial-up Internet connection at home -- 48%, according to the research.

May 2, 2005 -- The King County Journal has noted: "Thumbs up for Seattle-area postal employees, who took part in a campaign to add their names to the National Marrow Donor Program's registry of unrelated marrow and blood cell donors. The employees participated in a blood drive April 26 to increase the number of ethnically diverse donors to the registry's database. Eighty thousand Americans are waiting for organ transplants." Kudos!

May 2, 2005 -- The Irish Times has reported that "The convenience of electronic funds transfer (EFT) means consumers are increasingly choosing alternatives to the post office, Minister for the Marine and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey warned at the weekend. He told the annual conference of the Irish Postmasters' Union (IPU) in Castlebar, Co Mayo, that over 65 per cent of new social welfare recipients were opting for EFT payments mostly as a result of customer choice."

May 2, 2005 -- As the Stamford Advocate has noted, "The U.S. Postal Service began providing eBay courses in New England two months ago, an attempt to stay competitive as the Internet changes the shipping needs of Americans. Since eBay leaves shipping to the seller, Postal Service managers realized they could get more customers if they helped eBay users understand the subtler points of the Web site."

May 2, 2005 -- DM News has reported that:

• Nonprofit mailers are celebrating an agreement with the U.S. Postal Service regarding the interpretation of an impending rule that seeks to clarify the application of Standard mail rates in mail that includes personalization.
• Jeffrey L. Kaiser provided plenty of optimism about the status and future of direct mail last week at the spring dinner of the Women in Direct Marketing International Inc. New York chapter. "We're a $36 billion industry," said Kaiser. Direct mail represents 10 percent of all advertising spend. It represents 27 percent of print advertising. The figure jumps to 42 percent if you exclude newspapers. The industry has the highest projected growth rate of all printed advertising through 2010.

May 2, 2005 -- The Philad elphia Inquirer has reported: "You've got mail. Now watch your step. A Montgomery County woman's claim that she was injured tripping over mail left on her doorstep is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court, one of the tiny minority of cases chosen each year. The high court will not decide how much Barbara Dolan of Glenside can collect for her injuries, but whether she can sue the Postal Service in the first place. Though the case lacks the drama of Bush v. Gore or the Terri Schiavo case, it will be watched not only by mail carriers but also by private services such as FedEx and UPS. It also highlights the hidden perils of home mail delivery."

May 2, 2005 -- Balita (Philippines) has reported that "A congressman has called for the creation of a postal system that will provide "world-class postal services for Filipinos worldwide" and generate additional revenues for the cash-strapped government. Liberal Party Rep. Hermilando I. Mandanas of Batangas broached the idea of putting up a new Philippine Postal Corp. by privatizing the state-run Philippine Postal Agency."

May 1, 2005 -- As one Congressional Quarterly columnist has noted, "Can universal mail service really be worth the trouble? With e-mail and electronic bill-paying taking the place of pen and paper and check-writing, you have to wonder if it s really necessary to retain the inefficient, outmoded and increasingly expensive U.S. Postal Service as an agency of the government. The political answer, and possibly the economic answer as well, is yes for now and for some time to come. E-mail is prevalent for those of us who thrive in office environments, but it s hardly ubiquitous or as reliable as the post. And bankers will tell you that check-writing is not yet a lost art. But declining mail volume, plus health care and pension liabilities, threaten the Postal Service s survival. If the agency is to serve its national purpose, then Congress needs to overhaul it and soon."

May 1, 2005 -- The Irish Independent has reported that "MOVES to settle An Post's pay freeze stalled yesterday when management declined to meet Labour Relations Commission financial assessors while postal workers in Drogheda and Tuam continue with unofficial industrial action."

May 1, 2005 -- Khaleej Times has reported that "Emirates Post will float at least 40 per cent of its shares in the local market by the end of this year. Emirates Post expects to boost its annual turnover by 10 per cent this year by continuing to diversify its range of services and believes postal services across the Gulf region can follow its example. Emirates Post is planning to have its own fleet of aircraft for cargo services the issue that will be discussed with the government in the near future and is also looking at acquiring another company to provide shipping and logistics services."

May 1, 2005 -- According to the Daily Yomiuri (Japan), "Weasel words undermine postal privatization deal."