WASHINGTON, DC—Citing a nine billion piece reduction in mail volume during 2008, U.S. Postal Service Postmaster General John Potter asked Congress this week to drop the requirement of delivering mail six days per week. Potter noted the USPS was $2.8 billion in the red during 2008, and that the loss could climb as high as $6 billion this year.
BATON ROUGE, LA—A printing job mailed out by the Louisiana Department of Revenue accidentally exposed the personal information of nearly 300 taxpayers to other people with tax debts, according to the Associated Press. The department said letters that were mailed to taxpayers who owed money included the name, address, social security number and debt amount for a different taxpayer on the other side of the document. The state agency says it has no reason to suspect the personal information has been misused.
With mail volumes continuing to dwindle and added costs mandated by the Postal Act of 2006, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) finished its 2008 fiscal year with a net loss of $2.8 billion. The loss came despite cost-cutting measures in excess of $2 billion, including 50 million fewer work hours.
ASKING WHAT kind of impact that a recessional economy has on direct mail campaigns is like asking how many beach-goers will be turned away by an approaching hurricane. Sure, there are those who will want to brave it, but most people prefer to take a wait-and-see approach somewhere safe.
WASHINGTON, DC—With mail volumes continuing to dwindle and added costs mandated by the Postal Act of 2006, the U.S. Postal Service finished its 2008 fiscal year with a net loss of $2.8 billion. The loss came despite cost-cutting measures in excess of $2 billion, including 50 million fewer work hours. However, mail volume plummeted by 9.5 billion pieces to 202.7 billion, a decline of 4.5 percent compared to 2007. The USPS also cited the national economy and the use of electronic mail as reasons for the decline.
MONTREAL—Transcontinental Direct USA, the U.S. direct mail subsidiary of Transcontinental Inc., will consolidate production from its Warminster, PA, facility to its plant in Hamburg, PA. The move will result in the elimination of 460 positions, though employees will be offered the opportunity to apply for available positions in Hamburg. The transfer of production should be complete by January 2009.
CHANHASSEN, MN—With a dramatic decline in mail volume reducing the need for the facility's core of acquisition mail, IWCO Direct announced it was closing its Elm City, NC, facility, leaving 380 workers without jobs.
BALTIMORE—Vertis Communications has successfully consummated its prepackaged Chapter 11 plan and its merger with American Color Graphics (ACG). The new company will be headquartered here under the Vertis Communications brand. As a whole, the network boasts 100 worldwide locations and roughly 8,000 employees.
MARYSVILLE, OH—October 23, 2008—Univenture, Inc., is the award winning inventor and manufacturer of a wide array of eco-friendly products for direct mail, digital and document storage and packaging. The company will feature its comprehensive line of eco-friendly products and solutions at Graph Expo on October 26-29 at McCormick Place South in Chicago, IL in Booth 1582 located in the Mailing and Fulfillment Center.
ROCHESTER, NY—Oct. 22, 2008—Xerox Corporation (NYSE: XRX) today unveiled its Mail Shop in a Box program, a simple way for commercial and quick printers to add mailing services to their business. Xerox also announced a collection of new business development tools and services – including Web-based sales training and Webinars on industry trends.
