On Monday the Postal Service will make the changes in service standards official by publishing the Final Rule in the Federal Register. As we’ve been told since September, delivery of First-Class mail and periodicals will be slowing down — but not as soon as initially planned. [UPDATE: The Final Rule was not published until later in the week. An Advance … Read More
Final Rule to Revise USPS Service Standards
[from a USPS Industry Alert] Today the Postal Service sent the final rule to revise service standards for market-dominant mail products to the Federal Register. The final rule will be posted on our “Information for Mailers” webpage at http://about.usps.com/news/facility-studies/welcome.htm by COB Monday, May 21. Highlights excerpted from the final rule are provided below. Highlights The Postal Service is adopting new rules for market-dominant … Read More
Revised Network Rationalization: Map & user-friendly list
Yesterday the Postal Service released a revision of its Network Rationalization plan to consolidate over two hundred mail processing facilities. When the plan was originally announced on December 5, there were 252 facilities on the list. After the AMP (Area Mail Processing) studies were completed, a new list was released on Feb. 27, with 223 facilities approved for consolidation. The … Read More
Revised Estimates for Network Rationalization: Where have all the savings gone?
The Network Rationalization plan to consolidate some 260 mail processing plants may be running into problems. Not all the plants were approved for consolidation, so this week the Postal Service submitted revised estimates to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The total cost saving estimate has dropped from about $2.1 billion to $1.6 billion. That’s about half of what the Postal … Read More
The Case Against Consolidation: Rebuttal testimony challenges Network Rationalization
While the week’s postal news was dominated by the Senate vote on postal reform, something else important was going on. Opponents of the Postal Service’s plan to consolidate the processing network submitted their rebuttal testimony to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). This testimony — along with that of two independent experts brought in by the Commission — paints a vivid … Read More
How Network Rationalization speeds up Standard Mail and hastens the demise of First-Class
Sometime over the next few days, the Postal Service is expected to publish the final rule implementing the service standard changes that are the foundation for the Network Rationalization plan to consolidate over 220 mail processing plants. First-Class Mail that is currently delivered overnight will be delivered in two days, and much of the mail delivered in two days will … Read More
Modern Times at the Postal Service: Network Rationalization gives more work to idle machines
Last Tuesday, David Williams, USPS VP of Network Operations and the man running the Network Rationalization plan, was cross-examined before the Postal Regulatory Commission, which is working on its Advisory Opinion about the mail-processing consolidations and the change in service standards they depend on. Williams explained “the whole concept” behind the plan like this: “If you go into anyone of our … Read More
The USPS press release on the secret survey: They still can’t get their story straight
Yesterday, the Postal Service issued a press release responding to revelations about a market research survey it commissioned last summer but chose not to tell anyone about. The press release contains several misleading statements that only serve to compound the Postal Service’s bad faith in keeping the survey secret. One wonders why they even bothered issuing a press release, rather … Read More
More AMP Studies Released: Network Rationalization not looking very rational
Yesterday the Postal Service released more AMP studies, and we’re getting a clearer picture how much the Network Rationalization plan to consolidate about 230 mail processing plants will save and where the eliminated positions will come from. Not surprisingly, the savings look to be a lot less than the Postal Service has been saying, and it’s still a mystery where … Read More
More numbers on the AMP studies, and they still don’t add up, not even close
When the Postal Service announced the Network Rationalization plan to consolidate 250 area mail processing plants (AMPs) back in September, they said it would save $3 billion a year. When the Postal Service presented its case to the Postal Regulatory Commission in December, they said it would save $2.1 billion. Now that we can see the final AMP studies for … Read More