Association for Postal Commerce 1901 N. Fort Myer Dr., Ste 401 * Arlington, VA 22209-1609 * USA * Ph.: +1 703 524 0096 * Fax: +1 703 524 1871 Postal News from October 2011: October 31, 2011 At the Postal Regulatory Commission: Docket No. R2010-4: On October 4, 2011, the Postal Service moved to stay this proceeding until December 15, 2011 pending the outcome of several postal legislative initiatives. The Motion to Stay is denied, and the Commission establishes further procedures consistent with Order No. 864. American Postal Workers Union: The Postal Service and the APWU have finalized the position description and qualification standards [PDF] for a new Level 6 Clerk Craft position: the Delivery/Sales Services and Distribution Associate. The new position will be filled by the senior-qualified bidder in the Clerk Craft, and will include the existing duties and responsibilities of Sales Service and Distribution Associates and Clerk/Special Delivery Messengers. The purpose of the new position is to perform distribution and a variety of sales and customer support services. In addition to sales and distribution duties, employees who are awarded these positions may deliver and collect mail on foot or by vehicle under varying conditions in any area. Applicants must have a valid state driver's license and must demonstrate and maintain a safe driving record. Fleetworld: Renault has today announced that a total 15,637 Kangoo Z.E. models have been ordered by the 19 companies taking part in the call for bids, of which 10,000 for La Poste, 1,500 for ERDF, 1,200 for UGAP, 510 for Veolia Environnement, 450 for GDF-Suez and 330 for Spie. Cedar Valley Times: Rep. Bruce Braley recently launched an online petition urging US Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to stop the Postal Service's proposed closures of 178 small town post offices across Iowa. The petition, which Braley will send – via postal mail – to the postmaster general, can be viewed and signed at the following link: http://www.brucebraley.com/post-office. The U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General invites you to comment on this week's "Pushing the Envelope" blog topic: How Far Does Your 44 Cents Go? The U.S. Postal Service has one of the lowest First Class postage rates in the world. Some people believe the Postal Service should increase the rate, while others believe it should remain affordable. Do you think 44 cents is reasonable? If 44 cents is too low, how much do you think the Postal Service should charge? Share your thoughts on our blog. New Audit Projects: This week we opened the following new projects: (Please share any information you may have that would help with these audits currently in progress by clicking on the links below): • FY 2012 USPS Pay for Performance Program – 12BG004FF000. The Postal Service's Pay-for- Performance (PFP) program continues to drive organizational achievement. Unlike most government agencies that provide regular, across-the-board pay increases, PFP is the sole source of annual pay adjustments for non-bargaining unit employees. The foundation of the system is a balanced scorecard of objective, independently-verifiable measures of service, employee engagement, and financial performance. National Performance Assessment (NPA) indicators are measured at national, area, district, business unit, and individual levels so that meaningful performance distinctions are made within the line-of-sight of all managers. The Performance Evaluation System (PES) was developed as a national system used to record individual core requirements and progress toward achieving these goals. PES is also used by evaluators to record comments on employee progress and core requirement ratings for employees. PES has been successfully meeting the Pay for Performance goal of delivering performance management for all non- bargaining employees, assessing and evaluating performance improvement for more than 60,000 employees during one complete fiscal year, for the past several years. Our audit will evaluate PFP policies and procedures and to determine if PFP results are calculated according to those policies and procedures. • Security Awareness Program – 12RG010IT000. The Postal Service strives to incorporate information security into training courses, training videos, service talks, internal newsletters, posters, case studies, and other tools and visual aids to increase information security awareness among all personnel. With hundreds of thousands of information resource users across the enterprise, an effective information security and awareness training program would help the Postal Service protect their computing environment by reducing the risks from internal and external threats. This project will evaluate the Postal Service's information security awareness and training program. • Delivery Fleet Strategy – 12YG004CI000. For this project, we will initiate a review of U.S. Postal Service's Delivery Fleet Strategies practices/processes. This self initiated review addresses strategic risk. Our review will be conducted at Postal Service Headquarters. See also the following report that has been posted on the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General website (http://www.uspsoig.gov). If you have additional questions concerning a report, please contact Wally Olihovik at (703) 248-2201 or Agapi Doulaveris at (703) 248-2286. Los Angeles International Service Center – International Air Mail Records Unit (Report Number FT-AR-12- 001). Our report determined the Los Angeles records unit generally processed international mail transactions timely to ensure the St. Louis International Accounting Branch (accounting branch) timely billed foreign postal administrations. However, the records unit did not maintain supporting documentation to help ensure the accounting branch accurately billed foreign postal administrations or perform complete weekly audits of verification notes. USPS Financial Stability - The USPS is NOT Going Out of Business Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/440969080 The Postal Service has been in the news a lot lately; but, despite what you might have heard, it is not going out of business. Yes, it is facing financial challenges, but the USPS is absolutely not going out of business. It is in a period of transition. It has both short-term and long-term plans that will transform the organization into a leaner, faster, smarter and more efficient operation. The U.S. Postal Service is committed to remaining your trusted business partner as well as a vital part of American commerce now and in the future. Join us on Thursday, November 10th at 10:00 a.m. as Patrick Donahoe, the Postmaster General discusses further his plan for financial stability. ♪♫"Oh I heard it -- heard it -- Yes, I heard it through the grapevine. ." ♫♪ Word has it that Sens. Lieberman, Carper, Collins, and Brown will be proposing a bipartisan postal reform bill some time this week. Join the Association for Postal Commerce on Tuesday, December 13 at 2:30 Eastern for a free webinar: “Is the Sky Falling? – What is the REAL Value of Mail?” Register Now!! https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/696235673 How is mail stacking up to the newest communications mediums what does the future really hold for the USPS - in spite of the rumors of the demise of mail; find out the facts about the USPS and the value of mail from: Angelo Anagnostopoulos, GrayHair Software; Kathleen Baker, Sprint; David Robinson, Pitney Bowes; and Michael Tate, Bank of America. Title: Is the Sky Falling? - What is the REAL Value of Mail? Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2011 Time: 2:30 PM - 3:30 PM EST Directions: If your geocode is wrong, your analytics are wrong, your insights are wrong—and your decisions are wrong—so it pays to be accurate. Accuracy has two elements, positional and match. Positional accuracy measures how close the geocode is to the reference point – such as a country, state, city, street or even parcel center. An address geocoded to a city centroid, for example, will be less positionally accurate than one centered on a parcel. MSNBC: TNT Express NV, the express package delivery company, has posted falling profits in the third quarter that reflect weak margins in its European business and losses at its operations in high-growth emerging markets. Azerbaijan Business Center: National postal operator Azerpoct has exceeded tariff revenue forecast by 3%. The Company informs that for the first 9 months tariff revenue forecast was exceeded by 103% and amounted to 17.419 million manat. This figure, compared to the 2010 same term, grew by 10%. Earnings from postal services rendered to the population by Azerpoct, compared to the 2010 same period, increased by 1.3 million manat and exceeded the Jan-Sept 2011 forecast by almost 670,000 manat. New York Times: The Deutsche Post office across from the train station here offers DVDs, umbrellas, phone cards and toys — with the processing of mail appearing nearly an afterthought. And the facility housing it is not a post office at all. Deutsche Post occupies a corner space in a bank. With mail volumes decreasing 1 to 2 percent annually in many countries, European postal services from Germany to Sweden to Switzerland have reinvented themselves over the past decade as multifaceted delivery and information companies tailored to the virtual age. Though Deutsche Post by law still delivers to every address six days a week, it has jettisoned tens of thousands of buildings, 100,000 positions and its traditional focus on paper mail. October 30, 2011 The Guardian: Royal Mail insists it is continuing to give first class mail priority over second class at all times after it was reported that it had stopped doing so on Saturdays. See also the BBC. Daily Mail: The Royal Mail has made millions of pounds by charging for a firstclass delivery service that it has effectively scrapped – without telling customers. Confidential documents leaked to The Mail on Sunday reveal that the postal service has stopped giving priority to first-class letters and packages posted on Saturdays.