PMG Demands Urgent Legislative Action

The postmaster general told a Senate subcommittee that despite significant cost cutting and revenue generation, the Postal Service finds itself in dire financial straits. Statutorily mandated payments due to the government at the end of September will not be paid, he said, unless Congress acts to refund overpayments of pension funding or ease the mandate to prefund retiree health benefits. Testifying before the Federal Financial Management Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Postmaster General Patrick R. Donahoe said that the financial condition of the Postal Service is such that in the absence of comprehensive legislation, there are required federal payments that are now in jeopardy. “As things stand, we do not have the cash to make a $5.5 billion prepayment for future retiree health benefits due Sept. 30,” he said. He also alerted subcommittee members that the cash shortfall could extend to operational expenses. “Despite our significant role in the American economy and our aggressive cost cutting and revenue generating efforts, I regret to say we are in a serious financial predicament today,” he said.

Source: USPS

Mobile Barcode Update

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news on the proposed Mobile Barcode by visiting the USPS webpage [Link]. Did you know that card shaped mailpieces are eligible for the 3% mobile barcode discount promotion subject to the other promotion requirements. This critical fact was omitted in the original Postal Service press release announcement and was clarified in an information request by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).

Source: PRC

USPS Fleet Needs Replacing

The U.S. Postal Service needs new trucks to deliver the mail, but replacing its entire fleet would cost almost $6 billion, a price too high for an agency losing billions annually. Postal Service delivery vehicles are driven an average of about 17 miles per day and cost about $1 billion in maintenance and fuel annually, according to a new GAO report. It owns more than 161,000 right-hand drive trucks that are nearing the end of a 24-year life cycle. About 21,000 of the trucks are capable of running on either gasoline or ethanol, as are another 22,000 left-hand-drive minivans and 3,490 delivery vehicles. But the cost and lack of availability of alternative fuels in some parts of the country means USPS is still running most of its alternative fuel vehicles on regular gasoline, even though it spent more money to buy the trucks, the report said. Worse, as the truck fleet ages, there are few, if any options available to buy new trucks. A major replacement or refurbishment of the vehicles would cost about $5.8 billion.

Source: Washington Post Federal Eye (Editor’s Note: Maybe the USPS should talk to UPS who is developing a new vehicle that boosts gas mileage by 40%. Click here to read that story).

Simplified Addressing / An Easy Way to Mail

Effective January 2, 2011, the U.S. Postal Service loosened its restrictions by allowing a “simplified address” for all saturation mailings consisting of “flat-size” mail (i.e., mail that exceeds certain size dimensions). In 1934 and again in the mid-1950s, the Post Office Department briefly allowed simplified addressing for saturation mail, but on both occasions it was discontinued due to concerns raised by parties such as address list providers and non-mail advertising media. The Every Door Direct Mail (EDDM) program is introducing new customers to the power of mail. Within the first month after its introduction, EDDM generated more than $14 million in new revenue. Read the full Office Inspector General report here.