Association for Postal Commerce
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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 December 2011: December 31, 2011 Express and Star: A pay row between Royal Mail and temporary workers has intensified after staff waiting for Christmas wages had just 1p put into their bank accounts. Hundreds of workers employed to tackle the Christmas rush have suffered after payroll problems delayed their wages. The firm insists it has managed to pay most of its seasonal workers but staff, some of whom say they are owed hundreds of pounds, say they were stunned to find their accounts credited with just a penny. The mix-up has affected staff at sorting offices in Wolverhampton, Birmingham and Stafford. Royal Mail has apologised but said the "vast majority" of those issued 1p had been overpaid previously and it was a nominal fee to complete a transaction. At the Postal Regulatory Commission: Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES New Postal Products , 143–144 [2011–33671] [TEXT] [PDF] Moconews.net: According to figures from ZenithOptimedia, global advertising revenues will reach $486 billion in 2012, a rise of 4.7 percent compared to 2011. With wider economic pressures bearing down on the overall ad market, digital ad spend is still seeing healthy growth: it will account for slightly more than one-fifth of all ad spend, but more than half of all growth, as advertisers become more confident in digital media metrics, and the ad industry gets more sophisticated in what it offers to brands and publishers in the name of digital advertising—which will remain a key way of funding digital content, as media companies continue to tinker with other charging models. Courier, Express, and Postal Observer: The New York Times today has a wonderful story about the role that mail played in driving the decline of Newt Gingrich's poll numbers in Iowa. While the article quotes a Republican activist that is not persuaded, it is hard to image how the average voter is not affected by wave after wave of print ads painting a negative picture of Newt Gingrich sent by Mitt Romney and super PAC's that support him. The decision makers in these campaigns know that the "mail moment" that a postcard advertisement creates grabs a voter's attention more fully than any web, television or radio advertisement could possibly do. The Delphos Herald: In a flashback to January 2010, United States Post Office workers and residents vigorously opposed the proposed closure of the mail processing center here during a meeting Thursday night at the Stranahan Theater with several hundred in attendance. A similar meeting was held nearly two years ago at Lima Senior High School when Chu Falling Star of the USPS district office in Cincinnati announced the closure of the Lima Processing and Distribution Center. Toledo employees questioned the dollar figures the postal service claims it will save, much like Lima employees had. The USPS claims it will save more than $19 million by processing Northwest and West Central Ohio mail in Columbus and Detroit. Delphos residents may be thinking something like "here we go again" after bad experiences with lost mail and late mail after the Lima facility closed in October 2010. That action on the part of the postal service is something it now admits did not go well. "Admittedly, Lima didn't go well at all," said Representative David Van Allen. "We learned from it, though, and those mistakes won't be repeated. Lima is a bad mark on our process but this has been done around the country and the rest have gone quite smoothly." New York Times: In a remarkably swift reversal, Verizon Wireless has canceled plans to impose a $2 "convenience fee" on some bill payments, just a day after announcing the new policy. The company said in a statement that it was dropping the plan in light of customer feedback. A new report 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. • Expedited Packaging Supplies Program (Report Number FI-AR-12-001). Our report found the Postal Service did not have an efficient and effective process to identify and reduce waste associated with its expedited packaging supply program or a clear process for informing customers of procedures for returning unused supplies. In addition, it did not update guidance to reflect changes to return policies, have standard operating procedures for major programs and processes, or fully implement audit recommendations from a 2005 audit in this area. December 30, 2011 Memphis Business Journal: The federal government is suing FedEx Corp. for alleged violations of Federal Aviation Administration regulations in 2008 and is seeking $1.55 million in civil penalties. Courier, Express, and Postal Observer: The Postal Service has put up a placeholder for the GoPost log-in page. This is what the body of the page now looks like. It looks like their marketing campaign promoting GoPost will follow what DHL did in Germany and focus on getting missed packages. PostCom Members!! The USPS has published is FY11 Annual Compliance Report with the Commission. Quick Summary: • FCM has an overall cost coverage of 199.4%; only subproduct underwater is Inbound SP FCM International • Std Mail's overall cost coverage is 147.6%; Flats are down at 79.4% cost coverage and Parcel/NFMs are at 84.8%. • Periodicals'' overall coverage is 74.9%; within county is 77.5% and outside county is 74.5% • Package Services' overall coverage is 94%, with SP Parcel Post at 89.2%, BPM parcels at 98.4%, and Media/Library at 77% • Special Services' cost coverage is 132.6% Also contained in this report is the workshare discounts spreadsheets that show cost coverage. http://www.prc.gov/Docs/79/79166/FY.2011.ACR.pdf PR-USA.Net: Text messaging marketing is something that is actually very popular these days. There are so many different websites that you can actually use to get this type of information. There are so many different sources that you can use to get this information off of. Text messaging marketing has really evolved. Many businesses are even beginning to take advantage of this because there is so much that they can do with it. It is definitely amazing. All of the postal mails, newsletters, and even ads are all being replaced by emails. There is so much that mass text can offer that these other methods cannot. This is why many people use mass text over anything else. ThomasNet News: As component of Statement and Transactional Billing+ products and services suite, BLINK provides enrollees and users with secure, authorized access to billing statements and notices via existing online framework. Customers can, in addition to paperless presentment, make payments online and are directed through links on company's website to branded payment page that accepts ACH and card payments (one-time or recurring). Also, mobile application is customizable to user's device. BBC: A Royal Mail website that allows people to calculate their postal costs has now been down for more than a month. The Price Finder page - which calculates postal costs of packages based on size and weight - has been closed since 21 November. A spokesman said that work was ongoing to try to solve the problem, after the page affected the functionality of other related services. Other Royal Mail website services that were affected should now be working. Scottish National Party: SNP Postal Affairs spokesperson, Mike Weir MP, has called on Ofcom to clarify proposals which could result in the price charged for sending parcels to remote areas soar. As part of a consultation on the future of the universal service obligation – which closes on 5 January - Ofcom are proposing to give Royal Mail full commercial freedom to determine contracts with large companies and other postal providers as to what they will charge for the final delivery of items. Mr Weir has expressed concern that this could lead to higher prices in rural and remote areas and has raised the matter at a meeting with Ofcom. From the Federal Register: Postal Regulatory Commission NOTICES Meetings; Sunshine Act , 82323–82324 [2011–33665] [TEXT] [PDF] People's Daily: The official website of the United States Postal Service (usps.com) recently launched a simplified Chinese language version, in a bid to meet the growing needs of Chinese Americans. E-Invoicing Platform: Despite a new US Postal campaign to promote paper invoices, the United States Postal Service announced early December that it plans to close roughly 50% of mail distribution centres. The reason: to accommodate expected declines in revenue from first class mail. As a result of these closures, first class mail will no longer be delivered in a single day, adding to the time it takes for checks to reach US businesses. And this could slow Accounts Receivable for US businesses. AdAge: "In the Rush to Digital, Leave Room for the Millions Who Still Like TV and Print It's Trendy to Go All- New Media, but We Need a Mix of Strategies to Assure Growing Brand Awareness." At the Postal Regulatory Commission: Special Study of Off-Shore Delivery Service Performance. The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) included requirements for a special study in Order 292 and Order 465 as part of Rule 3055.7. The special study is required to evaluate final delivery service performance to the remote locations of Alaska, Honolulu and Caribbean Districts as compared to the service performance to the Gateway cities of Anchorage, Honolulu and San Juan.