WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senator Jay Rockefeller today issued the following statement on the U.S. Postal Service’s decision to reduce hours at 13,000 post offices nationwide, and almost 500 in West Virginia.

“On its face, this move looks like an improvement over the previous proposal to flat out close 150 post offices in West Virginia,” said Rockefeller.  “But I continue to be very concerned about the Postal Service’s constantly shifting plans and lack of information about how its proposals will impact jobs and services in our state.  This new plan will potentially impact far more West Virginians and it fails to take into account the many other options for reducing costs besides cutting postal jobs and services in rural areas like West Virginia. Read the rest of this entry »

Here is the list of post offices where the USPS is proposing to reduce hours under the plans announced earlier today. Click the download or fullscreen buttons to make the text more readable, or click here for a plain web text version of the list, or here for a spreadsheet.

Postplan Affected Post Offices 120509

League of Postmasters President Mark Strong has explained the new plans for drastically changing the way small post offices are classified and staffed in a video presentation for members. In the video, Strong defends the actions the postmaster organizations took in response to those plans, but says there was little they could do:

“… we had done a wonderful job with talking to the senate, congress, and even our customers about the need for rural post offices. What we hadn’t done is we hadn’t saved postmasters. We had saved post offices. We had saved universal service, but we had not saved the postmaster.”

Read the rest of this entry »

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Susan Collins, one of the lead sponsors of bipartisan, comprehensive postal reform legislation, issued the following statement regarding the Postmaster General’s comments today about rural post offices.

Postmaster General Pat Donahoe announced that none of the 3,200 post offices slated for closure last year will be forcibly shuttered. However, about 13,000 post offices will either have work hours reduced, be co-located a nearby business such as the local pharmacy, merged with another location, or service will be provided to residents and businesses in the affected community by either rural carrier or highway contract route.

“I am cautiously optimistic that the Postmaster General has now devised a plan that will help preserve some essential postal services for rural America, while allowing the Postal Service to reduce its costs as it must do. Reduced hours at certain post offices or their co-location with another facility or a retail store, if properly designed, could well accomplish both goals. To be effective, such a plan must, however, take into account people’s schedules and post offices should be open at times convenient to their customers. The fact is, there are many options to cut costs and expand revenue while preserving service, such as: reducing the size of processing plants without closing them, shifting hours of some post offices, permitting other state or local services to be administered at post offices, or moving tiny post offices into grocery or other stores within the same community.

“It’s good news if, indeed, most of the 3,200 smaller post offices currently targeted by the Postal Service will not close, but rather that creative ways to reduce their costs will be explored. Involving communities and providing different options for mail service will both save the Postal Service money and also continue to ensure timely and effective access to postal services for customers. There should be clear minimum standards for service — which we establish in the bill just passed through the Senate — and communities should have a real voice in the decision.

“It is good news as well that the Postmaster General apparently has decided to implement some of the common-sense suggestions many of us have been urging for more than a year. I remain troubled that processing facilities could still be closed beginning just next week, which makes no sense at all given the progress on postal reform legislation. I expect to discuss this issue with the Postmaster General later today.”

More details on the Postmaster VER offer announced today from USPS News Link:

Voluntary retirement incentive

USPS also has announced a Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) and Special Incentive Offer for the nation’s 21,000 Postmasters. The offer consists of a one-time, $20,000 cash incentive, payable in two installments. Postmasters who want to leave under the VER — as well as Postmasters who have reached their minimum retirement age and service requirements, and those who wish to voluntarily resign — are eligible for this special cash incentive.

PCES Postmasters are not included in this offer.

Postmasters will have until June 22, 2012 to accept the offer and must agree to leave the Postal Service effective July 31, 2012. Postmasters accepting the offer will receive two payments — $10,000 on Dec. 21, 2012, and $10,000 on Dec. 20, 2013, less withholdings and taxes. Part-time Postmasters will receive pro-rated payments on the same dates.

All eligible Postmasters will receive a retirement kit and a retirement annuity payment estimate from the Postal Service next week.

Details of this Special Incentive Offer and general VER guidelines will be posted as Frequently Asked Questions on Workforce Connection, available on LiteBlue.

Source: USPS News Link

Modifying Retail Window Hours Could Keep Offices Open

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The U.S. Postal Service announced a new strategy today that could keep the nation’s smallest Post Offices open for business, while providing a framework to achieve significant cost savings as part of the plan to return the organization to financial stability.

The plan would keep the existing Post Office in place, but with modified retail window hours to match customer use. Access to the retail lobby and to PO Boxes would remain unchanged, and the town’s ZIP Code and community identity would be retained.

“Meeting the needs of postal customers is, and will always be, a top priority. We continue to balance that by better aligning service options with customer demand and reducing the cost to serve,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe. “With that said, we’ve listened to our customers in rural America and we’ve heard them loud and clear – they want to keep their Post Office open. We believe today’s announcement will serve our customers’ needs and allow us to achieve real savings to help the Postal Service return to long-term financial stability.”

The new strategy would be implemented over a two-year, multi-phased approach and would not be completed until September 2014. Once implementation is completed, the Postal Service estimates savings of a half billion dollars annually.

“The Postal Service is committed to serving America’s communities and providing a responsible and fair approach for our employees and customers,” said Megan Brennan, Postal Service Chief Operating Officer. “The Post Offices in rural America will remain open unless a community has a strong preference for one of the other options. We will not close any of these rural Post Offices without having provided a viable solution.”

The Postal Service will provide an opportunity for the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) to review this plan prior to making any changes. The Postal Service intends to file a request for an advisory opinion on the plan with the PRC later this month. Community meetings would then be conducted to review options in greater detail. Communities will be notified by mail of the date, time and location of these meetings.

This new option complements existing alternatives, which include:

1. Providing mail delivery service to residents and businesses in the affected community by either rural carrier or highway contract route;
2. Contracting with a local business to create a Village Post Office; and
3. Offering service from a nearby Post Office.

A voluntary early retirement incentive for the nation’s more than 21,000 non-executive postmasters was also announced.

Survey research conducted by the respected Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) in February, showed 54 percent of rural customers would prefer the new solution to maintain a local Post Office. Forty-six percent prefer one of the previously announced solutions (20% prefer Village Post Office, 15% prefer providing services at a nearby Post Office, 11% prefer expanded rural delivery). This strategy would enable a town to possibly have a Post Office with modified hours, as well as a Village Post Office.

The Postal Service has implemented a voluntary moratorium on all postal facility closings through May 15, 2012. No closings or changes to Post Office operations will occur until after that time.

In addition to maintaining a retail network of more than 31,000 Post Offices, the Postal Service also provides online access to postal products and services through usps.com and more than 70,000 alternate access locations. Nearly 40-percent of postal retail revenue comes from purchases on usps.com and through approved postal providers such as Wal-Mart, Staples, Office Depot, Walgreens, Sam’s Club, Costco, and many others.

A list of Post Offices affected by today’s announcement and additional details will be available after 4 p.m. ET today at http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/welcome.htm

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 151 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $65 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 35th in the 2011 Fortune 500. In 2011, the U.S. Postal Service was ranked number one in overall service performance, out of the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world, Oxford Strategic Consulting. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency for six years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.

Follow the Postal Service on Twitter @USPS_PR and at facebook.com/usps

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service

Scott MacFarlane of Cox Media Group tweets from today’s USPS press conference:

US Postal Service announces it’s offering new “voluntary early retirement incentive” for 21,000 managers nationwide

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

Hours to be significantly reduced at 100s of US post offices. USPS announces which post offices affected at 4p. No Congress approval needed

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

US Postal Service reveals some smaller post offices across the country will be reduced to “two hours of service” a day

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

13,000 US Post offices will see major reduction in service hours.Changes happen between Sept. 2012 and Sept. 2014

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

Appears US postal service preparingHUGE shift from full time employees to part time employees. To staff 1000s of “part-time” offices

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

US Postal Service offering $20,000 buyouts (“voluntary retirement incentives”)to 13,000 postmasters nationwide.

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

US Postal Service says it will work on “incentives” for rural gas stations, shops to sell stamps.Would eliminate need for postal worker

— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) May 9, 2012

The postal service has scheduled a news conference for 10 AM EDT to announce new plans for maintaining rural services. Rumors have been circulating on the Internet about the possible elimination of many postmaster positions in small offices, and the postmasters’ organization NAPUS told its members last night to expect “an important nationwide announcement”. Save the Post Office has more details on what the Postmasters were told yesterday.

From the Washington Post:

The U.S. Postal Service intends to announce Wednesday that it has found a way to save hundreds of rural post offices it had planned to close, in part by cutting hours of the postmasters and other workers that staff them, postal and congressional officials said.

Postal officials have scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Wednesday to announced details of a new strategy to maintain rural service and possibly keep additional post offices open, by reduced hours and other strategies.

via Postal Service to announce plans to keep rural post offices afloat – The Federal Eye – The Washington Post.

From today’s Federal Register:

SUMMARY: The Postal Service will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM(R)) 707.6 to permit limited reporting of electronic copies of Periodicals publications to satisfy the circulation standards for Periodicals qualification. Standards require that at least 50% of the circulated copies be distributed to those who subscribe to a general publication or request a Requester publication. Read the rest of this entry »

Fundamental changes required in postal business operating to adapt to changed business and consumer expectations and win in emerging service markets

Brussels & Amsterdam, 03 May 2012 – With consumer and business habits irrevocably changed, the postal industry requires fundamental transformation to take fullest advantage of the great opportunities these new realities offer the postal industry. While many operators have already taken significant steps in this direction, many more still need to, and the time to act is now, as the window of opportunity to thrive in the future is ever narrowing.

This is the major finding of a new seminal annual report on the postal industry: Focus on the Future. Developed in collaboration by International Post Corporation (IPC) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), this forward-looking report uses analyses of the current market situation and coming trends to look at future prospects of the sector and make recommendations as to how postal operators can succeed in a digital world. A new departure in annual assessments of the postal sector, throughout its six chapters Focus on the Future makes recommendations on the best business case posts can make out of the changing market environment to take full advantage of the era of consumer control.

E-commerce is just one of the key areas addressed by the report. E-commerce is a critical growth area being targeted by the postal industry, as the parcel market will soon be bigger than the mail market, and in some markets already is so. It is thriving, demonstrating seemingly crisis-proof exponential growth. In order to claim critical positions in the e-commerce value chain to maintain their positions and grow into the future, the report urges operators to act quickly to retain their market relevance. The report recommends that postal operators go beyond adapting their cost structure and portfolio, to build new business models that put the consumer in control. It advocates rigorous, proactive restructuring in the letter segment, so that it remains profitable to finance quality improvement and build business capabilities. Posts, the report states, are uniquely positioned with the capabilities to establish a strong position in this area of spectacular growth, but they need to transform from a domestic mail operator into a regional, consumer-centric, marketing and e-retailer service provider.

Similar analysis and recommendations are to be found throughout the report, addressing all areas of the postal business, from how posts need to find a new core and embed that core in the digital economy, to thriving in the marcoms market. Some of the other key recommendations:

• Operators need to be prepared for a double-dip recession and accelerated substitution; most operators have up to three years to change their delivery models to avoid going into the red due to the decline.
• Posts need to work on transforming the regulatory context to be allowed to deliver what the market wants.
• Marketing effectiveness needs to be put forward for marketing mail as digital channels set this as the standard.
• Direct mail needs to be adapted to market needs and consumer expectations: a targeted day-certain delivery of an interactive multi-channel campaign appears to be much more effective than single channel broadcasts.
• As partnerships are key in setting up digital platforms, posts need to decide on building their own platform or building connectivity to others. The best option varies widely by operator and platform.
• Postal operators need to focus on business imperatives to build their business; synergy with mail is a secondary consideration. They need to take ownership of control points for selected segments such as SMEs or international to avoid commoditisation of the B2C parcel position.
• Posts need to shift their ambition from growing with the e-commerce/parcels market to actively driving transformation of the retail market.
• Posts need to identify and resolve barriers to growth for online shopping, based on barriers by customer or product segment, not by general prioritisation of barriers. Consumer research conducted by BCG indicates that 60-80% of purchases would be made online if barriers across the search, purchase and delivery process were removed.
• Posts need to develop multi channel (B2B/B2C) supply chain capabilities. Multi-channel retailing is the winning channel for most categories: multi-channel retailers have grown 50% more quickly than pure e-tailers in 2010 .
• Posts need to decide which trade routes are key for the online shopping supply chain and build international standards and connectivity, sales forces and partnerships to collectively become the global market leader in parcels. Already around 30% of online shoppers indicate they buy goods from foreign websites.
• Postal operators need to integrate the post office retail network into other retailers’ networks and focus their retail network on B2C parcel business. Mail-related services should be brought online or migrated to self-service.

The report is relentlessly upbeat about opportunities available to the postal industry and its positive future. However it also emphasises the need for posts to move quickly, what the report terms the acceleration ‘from evolutionary to revolutionary’ transformation. There is, the report claims, little time left to accommodate revenue decline from increased substitution and seize the window of opportunity in e-commerce. All functional strategies and capabilities need to be adapted in line with business transformation requirements going from stakeholder management to sales and marketing, HR, IT and finance. Posts need to show leadership and use quick wins to gain credibility and cash, make some radical changes early on and build a new structure, team and culture to drive accelerated change.

Focus on the Future combines the deep industry knowledge, breadth of experience and richness of data of two principal thought leaders in the postal sector, IPC and BCG, to provide insights and recommendations for the industry’s leadership. Focus on the Future is an industry report that considers the postal sector as a whole, rather than individual postal operators, and recommendations are made to the global industry as a whole. Due to market and portfolio differentiation, some recommendations may not be applicable to individual postal operators, many of whom have already done much to drive the transformation of their own organisations. The full report is available for download here.

IPC-BCG_Focus on the Future