The May 2009 Direct Mail Advisory Board Update from the Universal Postal Union has been posted on this site.

The Nation has reported that "The Government on Monday sent home Postmaster General Fred Odhiambo. Senior officials at the Ministry of Information and Communications confirmed the decision to send home the postmaster, but there was no word yet on who is to replace him at the head of the Postal Corporation."

May 24, 2009

"A decline in the air cargo freight market following the international financial crisis seems to have hit bottom, the head of the International Air Transport Association said on Sunday. Air cargo, a key barometer of world trade, has slumped amid the global economic downturn and shortage of financing. Global air freight volumes in January saw a record 23 percent year-on-year dive. "I would say, looking at the numbers, that it has hit bottom," the global association's Director-General Giovanni Bisignani told Reuters."

Scotland On Sunday has reported that "the Communication Workers Union has accused the government of playing "political football" with the Postal Services Bill, which sets out plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail. The union is concerned that Business Secretary Lord Mandelson will try to rush a vote on the bill in the House of Commons before the European elections in an effort to tame a rebellion from Labour backbenchers. Unions were surprised to learn that the bill received its first reading in the House of Commons on Thursday, sparking fears that the second reading will be held before 4 June. They say this will not only limit the time for debate but could force many Labour backbenchers who are staunchly opposed to privatisation to side with the government out of fear of making the party appear fractured before voters go to the ballot box."

May 23, 2009

Barron's has noted that "FedEx is considered an airline, for the purposes of regulatory oversight, even though most travelers probably wouldn’t want to book a flight to Memphis on one of its jets. At least, no passengers who saw ”Cast Away” are going to be less than anxious to. For one thing, there’s no meal service. But FedEx’s days of being viewed as an airline by government regulators might be running short. A legislative proposal has suggested transferring FedEx’s regulatory status to the National Labor Relations Board from the National Railway Labor Act. The implication for FedEx: the move could make it easier for labor unions to organize its pick-up and delivery personnel."

According to Associated Content, "The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has come one step further in its quest to deliver mail just five days a week instead of six."

Bloomberg has reported that "United Parcel Service Inc., whose political action committee has given more money to federal lawmakers than any other company over two decades, is a major beneficiary of legislation approved by the U.S. today House that would reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration. The measure includes a provision making it easier for rival FedEx Corp. workers to unionize. Under the measure, drivers for Memphis, Tennessee-based FedEx could form unions locally rather than hold a national election. UPS’s truck drivers are members of the Teamsters Union. UPS says the legislation would level the playing field, as unionizing would likely bring changes in pay and work rules that would raise FedEx’s costs."

MyFoxMemphis has reported that "Some people are finding warnings from the post office in their mailbox, instead of their mail. Jocelyn Agnellini only gets her mail a couple times a week. The post office says when a car is parked in the proximity of her mailbox; they will not deliver her mail. On those days she finds a note in her mailbox explaining why she has no mail. "So they're taking the time to put the note in the mailbox but they won't put the mail in the mailbox," says Agnellini. But when she has complained to the post office, all she received was an email of their policy. It reads: "Dismounting from the vehicle to make mail delivery to a box would put our carrier's safety in jeopardy."

The Mount Airy News wants to know: "The post office has always been known for getting the mail to its destination through rain, snow, sleet and hail. So why can’t it have a stamp machine that works?"

According to The Gleaner, "We cannot replace institutions like the post office and the bonding it created as a by-product, but we can learn from and apply their wonderful side effects of building and sustaining relationships."

From PR Web: "The idea behind Creative Mailers.com is less = more. To send out fewer mailers to get more response."

According to The Mirror, "Opponents of plans to sell off Royal Mail are infuriated that a controversial Bill, paving the way for its partial sale, was sneaked into the Commons for its first reading. The Postal Services Bill, championed by Peter Mandelson, had a final reading in the Lords on Wednesday. MPs expected to debate it in the Commons next month."

Belorusskie Novosti has reported that "Zhanna Litvina was reelected chair of the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) at the organization’s 7th convention held in Minsk on Friday. Access to information is one of the main problems that journalists in Belarus face, Ms. Litvina said, pointing to the accreditation requirement as a method of restricting access to information. She also noted that the government holds a monopoly on the distribution of newspapers. According to her, as many as 13 non-state publications are denied distribution contracts with Belposhta, Belarus' state postal services monopolist, and Belsayuzdruk, a state monopolist that runs a network of newsstands and stores across Belarus. “Unfortunately, there are no hopes for reform in the media sector,” she concluded."

Some notes on other advertising-based media:

• As Contentinople has noted, "It's no secret that conventional radio has been in a world of hurt lately, due to challenges from the Internet, the iPod, and, to a lesser extent, satellite radio. Remedies remain elusive, but consolidation and downsizing are a start toward stabilizing the industry. Radio is a dynamic living laboratory of what works and what doesn't. Focus on the listeners through research and innovation, and you see ratings increase. When you give listeners what they want, they'll support your radio station and its sponsors."
• The Washington Post has noted how change is coming to newsweekly magazines. "Newsweek will concentrate on two things -- reporting and argument -- while kissing off any recap of the week's developments. Time will continue to recount some of the week's news but is concentrating on long-form journalism about people, about ideas. Will a smaller magazine have less cultural clout? Such recent cover stories sparked a flurry of op-eds, suggesting that the power of ideas still trumps circulation." [EdNote: Give people what they want, and they'll pay for it. Give them something they don't, and they'll walk away. The same also is true of postal services.]
• The New York Times has asked: "Will May 2009 mark the beginning of the end for the free, unfettered Internet?...I wouldn’t put my money on it....Few newspapers generate even 10 percent of their revenue on the Internet, even after years of double-digit growth in advertising. Now online advertising has gone into reverse. But “pay walls” alone are not going to save the industry. Few people will individually subscribe to dozens of different newspapers online."

The State Journal-Register has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service is looking at relocating some mail-processing operations from a Quincy distribution center to Springfield as the agency tries to cut costs in the face of declining demand and rising financial losses."

CNN has reported that "The U.S. Postal Service will reduce the amount it pays for homes of employees who are relocating in the wake of a CNN investigation that found it was buying large homes for more than $1 million. The Postal Service bought this 8,400-square-foot South Carolina home so an employee could relocate. The new policy, which is expected to take effect June 14, will set a limit of $800,000 for a home. The limit is now $1 million, but before February there was no maximum."

"The Postal Service’s decision to suspend a convention leave benefit for the remainder of the current Postmaster pay agreement is tantamount to a breach of faith, if not contract, with the nation’s approximately 27,000 Postmasters," O. Dale Goff Jr., national president of the National Association of Postmasters, charged. Goff was reacting to the agency’s abrupt and ill-conceived decision to suspend, effective May 31, Postmasters’ convention leave for the remainder of FY-09 and all of FY-10. Prior to May 31, the Postal Service said it will not attempt to convert to annual leave the approved convention leave some Postmasters already have used this fiscal year.

May 22, 2009

The Nashua Telegraph has reported that "New Hampshire Congressman Paul Hodes on Thursday called upon the U.S. Postal Services Inspector General to investigate claims that supervisors shortchanged carriers by tampering with electronic time-keeping systems in Milford and Manchester. The New Hampshire branch of letter carrier’s union, the National Association of Letter Carriers, has filed grievances charging that postal service managers in Milford and two Manchester Post Offices have altered the hours worked by letter carriers roughly 800 times in the past six years, shorting the carriers a collective total of about $12,000. Hodes’ Washington, D.C. office released a letter that he wrote to the Inspector General’s office on Thursday, urging that the office investigate the grievances and report back to Hodes by June 5."  U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General’s Internet site “Pushing the Envelope.” The public, mailers, postal employees, and other stakeholders are invited to weigh in on the online discussions taking place.  To view the site, visit http://blog.uspsoig.gov/.  Use of Industry Best Practices in Processing Parcels.