POStPlan

The Postal Service began implementing POStPlan a couple of weeks ago, and in a post last week we reported on problems that had already begun to emerge: surveys sent only to box holders, meetings scheduled during the workday, using the post office lobby as the meeting place.  A few more news reports have come out, and several people wrote in about … Read More

Last week the Postal Service began notifying citizens across the country that their post office would either have its hours reduced or be closed completely.  Reports from the field indicate that the Postal Service will not be rolling out POStPlan in a very gradual way.  It appears that any post office with a postmaster vacancy will be reviewed immediately, and … Read More

Last Thursday, the Postal Regulatory Commission issued its advisory opinion on POStPlan, the Post Office Structure Plan, and the Postal Service isn’t wasting any time implementing its plan to reduce hours at 13,000 post offices. On the same day the PRC published its findings, the USPS Postal Bulletin published changes to three operational manuals, laying out the details on POStPlan.   According … Read More

A couple of days ago the Postal Service gave the Postal Regulatory Commission a revised list of the 17,752 post offices impacted by POStPlan.  The new list includes the Administrative Post Office (APO) that will manage each Remotely Managed Post Office (RMPO). You can download the entire new list on the PRC website here.  An abridged list (with some of … Read More

USPS Manager of Retail Operations, Jeffrey Day —  the Postal Service’s one and only witness for POStPlan — testified before the Postal Regulatory Commission last week.  He was there to be cross-examined about the details in the plan to reduce hours at 13,000 post offices.  There wasn’t much in the way of Perry Mason moments, and judging by the questions … Read More

The implementation schedule for POStPlan just got a little clearer.  In a Q & A fact sheet posted today on the NAPUS website (available here), the Postal Service says the following: “The PRC advisory opinion is expected August 23rd.  Once the opinion comes back, Dean Granholm will lead the POSTPlan phased implementation.  The POSTPlan implementation is expected to begin at … Read More

POStPlan, the Postal Service’s plan to reduce hours at 13,000 post offices, was not invented out of thin air.  The Postal Service has been reducing hours at post offices for many years.  But try getting any information from the Postal Service about the scope or effects of those reductions. In 2004, the GAO issued a report about efforts to optimize … Read More

Some preliminary numbers are circulating on how the Special Incentive Offers are going.  About 45,000 mail handlers were offered $15,000 to retire, and as of June 22, the original deadline, 2,800 had decided to accept (2,500 optional and 260 VER).   The response is somewhat less than projections based on previous offers.  It’s a different story for postmasters, however, and … Read More

The Postal Service has notified postmasters considering retirement that they’re welcome to apply for a job as a Postmaster Relief (PMR).  It’s “an opportunity to continue to serve postal customers” — and an opportunity to earn $11.76 an hour. Who could pass up an opportunity like that?  Who wouldn’t want to give up a good-paying full-time job, transition into retirement a … Read More

Yesterday the Postal Regulatory Commission put out a press release announcing that it has established the docket (N2012-2) for its Advisory Opinion on POStPlan, the Postal Service’s plan to cut hours at 13,000 post offices. The Chairman of the PRC, Ruth Goldway, encourages postal customers “to become familiar with the new proposal and to let the Commission know of their … Read More

The Postal Service does not give out much information about the revenues post offices bring in, but it has provided enough data to enable one to make estimates.  So we’ve done a little figuring and made a table with estimated revenues for FY 2011 for all 17,700 post offices on the POStPlan list. You can view a spreadsheet here (good for an overview) … Read More