Mailing/Fulfillment - Postal Trends

Currently, 37 million American homes and businesses get mail delivered at the doors. Now, about 15 million of them are at risk of losing home delivery, if House Republicans have their way. It will only affect homes that get deliveries at mailboxes or mail slots at the door, not those that have a mailbox at the end of their driveways.

Delivering mail is the agency's largest fixed cost—$30 billion. Ending all door deliveries would save $4.5 billion a year. That's more than the agency would save from ending Saturday mail service, according to government reports.

This week, Structural Graphics presents seven tips for getting the most out of sound when speaking to an audience, and highlights a campaign that it created for client American Express that incorporated sound. 

The Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) issued amended rules (May 20) governing the advisory opinions it is required to issue on service changes proposed by the U.S. Postal Service. The new rules establish an expedited pre-filing discovery period to give mail stakeholders distinct opportunities to weigh in on the effects of changes and result in more robust proposals for the PRC to deliberate in the 90 days it has to deliver its opinion.

“There is a sentiment that the PRC should move more quickly to allow the Postal Service to move more quickly, so we came up with a new set

The announcement last year drew little notice: The long-troubled United States Postal Service was teaming up with equally distressed retailer Staples Inc. to offer mail services in 82 of its office supply stores.

The postal workers union views the deal as an attempt by management to escalate closings of post offices and privatize operations through a national retailer.

The union said the Staples counters should be staffed by postal service workers who are paid much better than store clerks, receive specific training in mail handling, and take an oath to protect the mail.

Last week Structural Graphics showed how lights were used in an invitation to stand out and really make an impact. Today, it features two examples of marketing with LEDs: a mailer to introduce the first automatic pool cleaner ever to include LED lights; and an LED print ad from Wired magazine that was used to invite readers to "customize their Motorola phones."

The U.S. Postal Service has reported its second quarter results of its 2014 fiscal year with a net loss of $1.9 billion. “The Postal Service is working diligently to improve its finances by streamlining our network to improve efficiency, reduce operating costs and increase revenue, which was up $379 million over the same period last year—the third straight quarter of revenue increase,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe.

This week, Structural Graphics shows how LED lights and audio can be used with dimensional mail to maximize the impact of a campaign. The “Soul Celebration” jukebox invitation was produced for ad agency RedRover Sales & Marketing, in Memphis, TN, for its client the MED Foundation.

Postal reform hit yet another snag on Wednesday after a scheduled House committee vote on a new piece of legislation was postponed due to a lack of bipartisan support.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced the delay just hours before a markup of his new bill overhauling the U.S. Postal Service was scheduled to begin. Issa introduced a bill to mirror a proposal put forward by the White House in President Obama’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal.  

Becca Watkins, a spokeswoman for Issa, said the chairman’s offering of the White House plan “represents an

The Postal Service’s improving financial situation is fueling a debate between the agency, lawmakers and unions over what kind of legislation is needed to save the struggling agency. The debate centers on which income best represents the Postal Service’s financial health: operating or net.

Measured by operating income—revenue minus expenses—the Postal Service has made more than $1 billion in profit since the beginning of fiscal 2014. However, net income factors in the Postal Service’s obligation to prepay for retiree health benefits and fund its worker compensation fund, and there the service shows a net loss of $1.7 billion.

Heaven knows the USPS needs an overhaul: It’s losing customers and billions of dollars per year, in part because electronic communication has rendered its traditional business model—first-class mail—obsolete.

It was in that depressing context that Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House committee that oversees the Postal Service, heard testimony this month on the Obama administration’s ideas for reform.