MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 1

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PSMAILERSMEMOto

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICEVOLUME 35 NUMBER 7

JULY 2000

continued on page 8 continued on page 7

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE

if legislativereform ispassed?

WHAT HAPPENSTO THE POSTAL SERVICE

3 JOIN A PCC AND BECOME A STAR

4 EXFC IS NOT PUFF

6 BROKEN BUNDLES ARE NO JOY

9 POSTAL FORUM REGISTRATION FORM

12 CALL US AND WE’LL COME RUNNING

WHAT’S INSIDE:

M any mailers have asked us:“What does the Postal Servicethink of the Postal Moderniza-

tion Act of 2000, H.R. 22?”This bill would fundamentally reform and

modernize our nation’s postal laws before acrisis threatens the U.S. Postal Service’s abil-ity to provide affordable, universal serviceto everyone, everywhere, every day.

It would give the Postal Service sometools to adapt, grow, compete and survivein the face of enor-mous challengescaused by chang-ing technologyand a dynamiccommunicationsmarketplace. Atthe same time,H.R. 22 ensuresthat in using thesenew tools to com-pete, the PostalService does notuse its govern-ment status unfairly.

The Act maintains a universal servicemandate and requires the Postal Serviceto develop and recommend standards thatdefine universal service, for considerationby Congress. Similarly, the Postal RateCommission would be required to developan annual estimate of the costs of univer-

There’s good news and bad news for eTailers (onlineretailers). The good news? A recent Jupiter Com-munications study indicates that by 2005, consum-

ers will spend almost $200 billion online annually. Thebad news? They’ll be spending more than triple thatamount offline.

Let’s face it, eTailers; your website needs to be easyfor eShoppers (online shoppers) to navigate and invitingfor them to buy. Your product needs to be priced right.And, of course, your company needs a shipper that goeseverywhere and helps you provide free return shipping.

The U.S. Postal Service not only has what you need —we go everywhere, we’re affordable and we provide aneasy way to return online purchases — we’ve now madeit easy for your website to link to ours by using the rightWeb tools.

This bill wouldfundamentallyreform andmodernizeour nation’spostal laws.

Announcing —Announcing —

2 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

business crime prevention tipsfrom the Postal Inspection Service

APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2000 USPSMAILING EXCELLENCE AWARD (MEA) ARESTILL BEING ACCEPTED THROUGH JULY 14.Eligibility for the award is based on theinnovative and effective use of the U.S.Postal Service as the primary vehicle fordelivering a product, message orcampaign during the 1999 calendar year.Each entry will be evaluated on thestrategy, creative execution andquantifiable results for each piece orcampaign. Entries for 2000 may be in thefollowing categories: Business,Government, Nonprofit, eCommerce andMulticultural.

THE MEA WILL BE PRESENTED at the2000 Fall National Postal Forum inAnaheim, CA. The winner in eachcategory will receive:■ National and local press coverage.■ Special National Postal Forum honors.■ Recognition at National Postal Forum

events within the mailing industry.■ A unique award designed for the

National Postal Forum by Stueben.APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2000 AWARD

are available through the Forum Website<www.npf.org> or by contacting one ofthe cosponsors: Association for PostalCommerce (PostCom); Direct MarketingAssociation (DMA); EnvelopeManufacturers Associations (EMA);Flexographic Technical Association (FTA);Mail Advertising Services Association(MASA); Printing Industries of America,Inc. (PIA); Association of Asian AmericanAdvertising Agencies (A5); and theAssociation of Hispanic AdvertisingAgencies (AHAA).

THE POSTAL SERVICE AND THENATIONAL POSTAL FORUM created thisprestigious mailing industry award in1998 to honor outstanding performanceand creativity in the field of direct mail.

2

lettersMemo to Mailers readers are invited to write lettersor send questions for response to: Editor, Memo toMailers, 475 L’Enfant Plaza SW, Room 10501, Wash-ington, DC 20260-3122. Letters may be edited forclarity and space restrictions.RATE CHARTS, PLEASE

It occurred to me that many readers would ap-preciate it if you would list First-Class and Interna-tional postage rates for letters and postcards in everyissue. Since I’m not sure of the respective incrementswhen basic weight categories are exceeded, I windup calling a post office or driving to one.

This would save consumers and businesses as wellas postal employees much time. Don’t you agree?

Jacob Steigerwald, Ph.D.Littleton, CO

Yep. Here’s your first chart to cut and keep. Also,don’t forget to check the USPS.com Website formore on rates. —Editor

In a false billing scheme, a swindler sendsyou an authentic-looking, professionallyproduced invoice for products or services

that you never ordered or received.Some false billers simply prepare or ob-

tain lists of businesses and mail invoices tothem. The swindler hopes your companywill process and pay the invoice withoutscrutiny.

In recent years, false billers have tele-

Maintain soundaccounting practicesto reduce yourchance of becominga victim of falsebilling schemes.

Do you check all youroffice invoices closely?

RATES FLASH CARDDOMESTICFirst-Class Mail®

first ounce $0.33second ounce 0.22 (0.55 total)

postcard 0.20Priority Mail®

up to 2 lbs. $3.20Express Mail®

1/2 pound $11.752 lbs. & flat rate 15.75Pickup fee for Express Mail,Priority Mail & Parcel Post

flat rate $8.25

INTERNATIONALInternational letter rates(all countries except Canada & Mexico)

1/2 ounce $ 0.601 ounce 1.00

postcard 0.55International letter rates Canada

1/2 ounce $ 0.481 ounce 0.55

postcard 0.45International letter rates Mexico

1/2 ounce $ 0.401 ounce 0.46

postcard 0.40Aerogramme for all countries

Each $ 0.60

phoned companies before mail-ing the false billings. High-pressure telephone salespersonsthen entice employees into pur-chasing a variety of products atexorbitant prices. These sales-persons falsely represent that thebusiness has already ordered theproduct, either currently or inthe past.

TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS

1

Do not buy from newsuppliers until youhave verified theirexistence andreliability. Verify allbilling authorizations,and don’t pay until allinvoices are verifiedon receiving reports. 3

Notify your localpostmaster or nearestpostal inspector ifyou receive aquestionable invoiceor have been taken ina false billingscheme.

✁

CUT ALONG DOTTED LINE

HURRY UP… A few days still left to win the MEA

TO FIND OUT VARIATIONS OF THIS SCHEME, CHECK OUT THE POSTALINSPECTION SERVICE WEBSITE AT <WWW.USPS.GOV/POSTALINSPECTORS>.

MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 3

Sheldon RinehartNew Haven Postmaster

John WargoVice President ofStrategic Marketing,USPSHost of PCC Day

Harley “Buddy” MorrisonGeorgia Power

Timothy TinariKnights of Columbus,New Haven

Marjorie BrownAtlanta Postmaster

Johnray EgelhoffPhoenix Postmaster

Shenandoah SmithOwner, Garrette II

Join a PCCand become a starin your company

If you are a serious mailer andhaven’t joined a local PostalCustomer Council (PCC) then

you are truly missing the boat.What is a PCC? It’s an asso-

ciation of business mailers andpostal officials who work to-gether at the local level, andthey’re all across the nation.Mailers who join their localPCCs learn:

■ new ways to reduce post-age costs;

■ new ways to increase sales;■ secrets to improving mail

service;

■ shortcuts in mail prepara-tion;

■ networking opportunities;and

■ important postal contactsto know.

By reducing work hours, sav-ing money and/or improving mailservice for their company, manyPCC members have used theirnew knowledge to earn raises andeven promotions. In short, theybecame stars in their company.

If nothing else, PCC membersusually learn something new atPCC meetings, which are held

monthly, quarterly or yearly. Yourlocal postmaster or Postal Busi-ness Center can help you find thelocation of the nearest PCC.

NATIONAL PCC DAYSix years ago, the PCC Advi-

sory Committee recognized thatwith over 250 PCCs across thecountry and only one Postmas-ter General to go around, a greatsolution was to bring the nation’sPCCs together via satellitethrough National PCC Day.

This year, live from Provi-dence, RI, Postmaster GeneralWilliam Henderson and Rep.John McHugh, chairman of thePostal Service Subcommittee, dis-cussed H.R. 22, the Postal Mod-ernization Act of 2000. ChiefPostal Inspector Ken Weaver wasalso on hand to discuss identitytheft, suspicious packages andmailroom security. As an added

attraction thisyear, followingthe satellitebroadcast, 50PCCs acrossthe nation hadan officer of thePostal Serviceparticipate in aQ&A session.

HOW TO BE BEST IN CLASSThe night before PCC Day,

the co-chairs of seven PCCs fromacross the nation were honoredat a special banquet for theiraward-winning efforts, as judgedby the PCC Advisory Commit-tee, from over 100 nominations.

Following are the stories ofthree of the seven winners’ ac-complishments presented duringthe “Best Practices Panel” atPCC Day and a list of the othercategories and winners.

Most Creative PCC EventThe Greater Atlanta PCC went “all

out” to get attendees to “Come See

the Stars” at last year’s National PCC

Day where board members dressed

as ushers in red blazers and served

“hot dawgs” and popcorn. They made

customers feel they were the stars by

having videos taken at their

companies and shown at the

innovative event.

Best PCC Co-ChairsThe “Most Outstanding PCC Co-Chair

Team” award went to Greater Phoenix

PCC “Sonny and Cher” team of

Shenandoah Smith, owner of Garrette

II in Chandler, AZ, and Phoenix

Postmaster Johnray Egelhoff. Since

September 1998, under this co-chair

team’s guidance, the Greater Phoenix

PCC has more than doubled its

attendance at monthly meetings and

has tripled its membership.

Most Innovative PCCFrom networking and educational

seminars, to community service and

golf tournaments, the Greater New

Haven, CT, PCC kept its members

working together to improve

business and the

communities in which

they live.

2000 PCC Day AwardWinnersCategory 1Most InnovativePCCGreater NewHavenRUNNERS-UPGreater Phoenix,Denver

Category 2Best New Member-ship CampaignWestern Massachusetts.RUNNERS-UPDallas, Greater Phoenix

Category 3Best Single PCCEventGreater AtlantaRUNNERS-UPOmaha, Sacramento

Category 4Best Multi-PCC EventCentral Missouri/Capitol City MissouriRUNNERS-UPDallas/Ft. Worth, Denver/No. Colorado,United South Carolina State PCCs

Category 5Best PCC NewsletterMetro WashingtonRUNNERS-UPCentral Ohio,Des Moines

Category 6Best PCCContributorMary Williams, SoSuburban PCCRUNNERS-UPKen Plummer,Milwaukee; JerryKidwell, Central Ohio;Chuck Winkle, GreaterSt. Louis

Category 7Best PCCCo-ChairsGreater PhoenixRunners-upGreater Philadelphia,Central Massachusetts,Denver

THE STARS

4 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

A nother puff piece” iswhat PostCom Bulletineditor Gene Del Polito

wrote about the recent ExternalFirst-Class (EXFC) measurementquarterly results.

Postal employees, however,believe that moving the localFirst-Class Mail delivery fromthe low 80th-percentile range inthe early 1990s to the 94th-per-centile range of today is defi-nitely not puff ... but worthy ofpraise.

Even more important, it’s areflection of their dedication,focus and continued hard work.

PricewaterhouseCoopers re-ports that during the March 4through May 19 time frame, 94percent of its overnight First-Class Mail was delivered ontime. This is a 1-percent increaseover the previous year’s result.

Besides local service, the re-sults of two- and three-day First-Class Mail service have been pub-licly reported at every Postal Ser-vice Board of Governors meetingsince the testing began.

However, some mailers haveprivately wondered why thosenumbers do not equal the localovernight result.

So here’s the deal. It’s truethat in the early years of EXFCmeasurement, the Postal Serviceconcentrated first on improvingthe local First-Class Mail servicebecause it represents nearly half

of the First-Class Mail volume.It’s also true that two- and

three-day First-Class Mail perfor-mance has lagged behind localservice. But even that has im-proved some 15 points from thehigh 70’s (in the case of two-daymail) to the high 80’s.

Frankly, two- and three-dayservice is harder to fix becauseit involves more than local trans-portation connections. It in-cludes airline, train and truck-ing connections and travelsthrough a number of differentpostal plants. But we’re work-ing on it.

To move the two- and three-day numbers even higher, postalmanagement is held account-able for this service result.

Finally, to clear up any mis-understanding of what is mea-sured by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers, here are the facts:1 Both metered and stamped

mail are tested — and havebeen for years. (During thepast 18 months, we indepen-dently tested indicia mail with18 major mailers. While theresults were confidential be-tween the USPS and compa-nies involved, we can say thatthey were comparable toEXFC results.)

2 Both businesses and house-holds are tested (street ad-dresses and post office boxes).

3 Testing mirrors “real” mailflows.

4 EXFC tests the most “mail han-dling” steps; therefore the re-sult reflects a true end-to-endmeasure of performance forthose ZIP Codes tested.

5 EXFC is a reflection of whatthe customer actually experi-ences. It is not a “step-by-stepprocess” measure.

THE BEST IN THE NATIONWhere is the best local service

in the nation? In postal quarterIII, fiscal year 2000, the Dakotasand the Central Plains led the na-tion with a 97 percent on-timeresult. Tied for second place at96 percent are the Appalachian,Kentuckiana, Albany, Springfield(MA), North Florida, Big Sky, Ho-nolulu, Seattle, Rio Grande,Suncoast, Van Nuys, WesternNew York, Albuquerque and Ak-ron Performance Clusters.

Two-day service nationwidematched that of the same periodlast year at 87 percent on-time.Three-day service nationwide isdown one point over the previ-ous year at 86 percent on-time.“The Postal Service is commit-ted to improving service perfor-mance,” says LizbethDobbins, manager of CustomerSatisfaction Measurement.

Leading the nation with a 91percent on-time delivery in two-and three-day combined serviceis the Pittsburgh cluster.

First-ClassMailisnotpuff...

MEASURING “

Postal employeesbelieve that movingthe local First-ClassMail delivery fromthe low 80th-percen-tile range in the early1990s to the94th-percentile rangeof today is definitelynot puff ... but worthyof praise.

93:1 93:2 93:3 93:4 94:1 94:2 94:3 94:4 95:1 95:2 95:3 95:4 96:1 96:2 96:384 83 84 84 84 79 83 83 84 85 87 87 88 87 9078 75 78 78 77 67 72 74 76 75 79 80 79 76 8082 77 80 82 79 65 77 79 80 76 82 83 82 71 82

60

THREE-DAY

EXTERNAL FIRST-CLASS MEASUREMENT SYSTEMNation Scores

100

95

90

85

80

75

70

65

OVERNIGHT

TWO-DAY

THREE-DAYOVERNIGHT

TWO-DAY

YEAR & QUARTER

MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 5

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EXFC Clusters (85)NATIONAL OVERNIGHT FIRST-CLASSPERFORMANCE FOREXFC — 94%

How is local First-Class Mailservice? To find out,

PricewaterhouseCoopersindependently measuresservice performance for First-Class Mail from deposit todelivery (“collection box to mailslot”) in 85 PerformanceClusters (PCs). EXFC results for March 4through May 19, 2000, indicatethat 94 percent of First-ClassMail pieces destined foraddresses within theirovernight-committed servicearea were delivered on time.Here are the results and alisting of the three-digit ZIPCode areas measured. For further information, contactFrank Ippolito in Consumer Affairsat (202) 268-4681.

More on EXFCEXFC is an externalmeasurement system ofcollection box to mailboxdelivery performance.EXFC continuously tests a panelof 465 ZIP Code areas selectedon the basis of geographic andvolume density from which90% of First-Class volumeoriginates and 80% destinates.EXFC is not a system-widemeasurement of all First-ClassMail performance.

LOCAL 3-DIGIT ZIP CODESDISTRICT RESULT INCLUDED IN SYSTEMAKRON 96 436, 442, 443, 445, 447, 449ALABAMA 94 350, 351, 352, 358, 361, 366ALASKA 96* 995, 996ALBANY 96 120, 121, 122, 123, 128, 130,

131, 132, 135, 139ALBUQUERQUE 96 870, 871APPALACHIAN 96 240, 250, 251, 252, 253, 263,

264, 265ARIZONA 94 850, 852, 853, 855, 856, 857ARKANSAS 94 720, 721, 722, 723, 727ATLANTA 92 300, 301, 302, 303BALTIMORE 95 210, 211, 212, 214, 217, 219BIG SKY 96 590, 591, 598BOSTON 94 021, 024CAPITAL 95 200, 206, 207, 208, 209CARIBBEAN 91 006, 007, 009CENTRAL FLORIDA 94 327, 328, 329, 334CENTRAL ILLINOIS 95 604, 605, 616, 617, 618, 627CENTRAL N JERSEY 95 077, 078, 079, 085, 086, 088,

089CENTRAL PLAINS 97 515, 516, 666, 670, 671, 672,

680, 681, 685CHICAGO 95 606, 607CINCINNATI 94 410, 450, 451, 452, 454, 458,

470CLEVELAND 95 440, 441COLORADO/WYOMING 93 800, 801, 802, 803, 809, 820COLUMBUS 94 430, 431, 432, 433CONNECTICUT 95 060, 061, 062, 064, 069DAKOTAS 97 570, 571, 573, 581DALLAS 94 750, 751, 752, 754, 757DETROIT 95 481, 482, 492ERIE 95 159, 161, 164, 165, 166FORT WORTH 94 760, 761, 762, 764, 791, 794GATEWAY 94 620, 622, 630, 631, 633, 652GREATER INDIANA 93 460, 461, 462, 463, 464, 466,

468 469, 473, 478, 479GREATER MICHIGAN 95 486, 488, 489, 490, 493, 494,

495GREATER S CAROLINA 94 290, 291, 292, 293, 294, 295,

296GREENSBORO 94 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275,

276, 277, 278, 286HARRISBURG 95 170, 171, 172, 178, 180, 185, 187HAWKEYE 95 500, 501, 502, 503, 507, 511,

520, 524, 612HONOLULU 96 967, 968HOUSTON 93 770, 772, 773, 774KENTUCKIANA 96 400, 401, 402, 405, 406, 471,

477LAKELAND 95 530, 531, 532, 535, 537, 543,

544, 549LANCASTER 94 176, 189, 193, 194, 196LAS VEGAS 94 890, 891, 895

LOCAL 3-DIGIT ZIP CODESDISTRICT RESULT INCLUDED IN SYSTEMLONG BEACH 95 902, 903,904,905, 906,

907, 908LONG ISLAND 95 115, 117, 118, 119LOS ANGELES 95 900LOUISIANA 95 700, 701, 705, 708, 711MAINE 95 040, 041, 043, 044, 045, 048MID-AMERICA 93 640, 641, 658, 661, 662MID-CAROLINAS 93 280, 281, 282, 283, 288, 297MIDDLESEX-CNTRL 95 015, 016, 017, 018, 019

MISSISSIPPI 95 386, 390, 391, 392, 395NEW HAMPSHIRE 95 030, 031, 032, 033, 034, 038NEW YORK 94 100, 104NORTH FLORIDA 96 320, 321, 322, 323, 325, 326NORTHERN ILLINOIS 93 600, 601, 602, 603, 611NORTHERN N JERSEY 93 070, 071, 072, 073, 074, 075,

076NORTHERN VIRGINIA 95 201, 220, 221, 222, 223NORTHLAND 94 540, 546, 550, 551, 553, 554,

559, 563OAKLAND 94 945, 946, 947, 948OKLAHOMA 95 730, 731, 740, 741, 743PHILADELPHIA 94 190, 191PITTSBURGH 95 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156PORTLAND 93 970, 971, 972, 973, 974, 986RICHMOND 93 224, 225, 230, 231, 232, 233,

234, 235, 238RIO GRANDE 96 765, 767, 780, 781, 782, 784,

786, 787 788, 789, 797, 799ROYAL 0AK 93 480, 483, 484, 485SACRAMENTO 94 952, 956, 957, 958SALT LAKE CITY 95 840, 841, 844SAN DIEGO 95 919, 920, 921, 924SAN FRANCISCO 94 940, 941, 943, 944, 949SAN JOSE 94 933, 937, 939, 950, 951SANTA ANA 94 917, 918, 926, 927, 928SEATTLE 96 980, 981, 982, 984, 985SOUTH FLORIDA 95 330, 331, 332, 333SOUTH GEORGIA 94 309, 310, 312, 314, 319SOUTH JERSEY 94 080, 081, 082, 083, 084, 197,

198SE NEW ENGLAND 95 020, 023, 027, 028, 029SPOKANE 95 835, 837, 838, 990, 991, 992,

994SPRINGFIELD 96 010, 011, 012, 013, 050, 054SUNCOAST 96 335, 336, 337, 338, 339, 341,

342, 346TENNESSEE 94 370, 371, 372, 374, 379, 380,

381TRIBORO 94 110, 112, 113, 114, 116VAN NUYS 96 911, 913, 914, 915, 916, 930,

931WESTCHESTER 93 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 125WESTERN NEW YORK 96 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145,

146* Two-day service

96:4 97:1 97:2 97:3 97:4 98:1 98:2 98:3 98:4 99:1 99:2 99:3 99:4 00:1 00:2 00:391 91 91 92 92 93 93 94 93 93 93 94 94 93 94 9480 76 72 79 79 79 79 86 88 86 83 87 88 86 84 8783 79 70 80 80 80 74 84 86 87 79 87 88 86 79 86

6 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

are no joy

brokenbundles

mtacmemo

Maybe it doesn’t soundlike a serious problemto you, but to flats mail-

ers and the Postal Service theextra mail handling costs are es-timated at over $100 million ayear. In addition, service maysuffer, and pieces — costing thesender from a few cents to sev-eral dollars per piece to produce— may be damaged.

To reduce breakage in

bundles (called “packages” inthe Domestic Mail Manual”),members of the Mailers’ Tech-nical Advisory Committee(MTAC) — who meet withpostal officials quarterly inWashington, DC — formed thePackage Integrity Work Group.

Russell Shores, of the BrownPrinting Co., in Waseca, MN,and Industry Co-Chair of theMTAC Package Integrity WorkGroup, says his group observedflats coming into a number ofpostal plants around the coun-try and consequently they wereable to determine some of theroot causes.

The main culprit?“That’s right,” says Shores.

“It’s the good old sack.”

Shores says that mailers maycarefully place their flats bundlesin the sacks, but due to the waythat sacks are loaded, trans-ported and processed, thebundles often break open.

“In fact, we found that a vastmajority of the broken bundlesoriginate in sacks delivered tothe Postal Service.”

What’s the cure? Shoressays the ideal is using pallets in-stead of sacks.

The Work Group estimates afailure rate at the first Postal Ser-vice handling of packages of al-most 18 percent for sacked mailpackages and just over 1 percentfor palletized mail. Also, onceimproperly secured bundles areentered into the mailstream, evenmore breakage can occur.

But what if you are a smallvolume mailer thatdoes not have thevolume for a pallet?The Package Integ-rity Work Group isreviewing a varietyof options to ensurebetter package in-tegrity, such as us-ing shrink-wrappingor double banding.

“The high inci-dence of broken flats bundles re-sults in Postal Service productiv-ity slowdowns when lines stop;Houston, we have a

problem. But notjust in Houston —it’s all over the U.S.postal system. Theproblem? Brokenflats bundles.

Broken bundles in sackBroken bundles

The main culprit! Properly loaded pallet

Phot

ogra

phs

by G

eral

d T.

Mer

na

MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 7

additional labor to repackage theloose product; and additionalsorting costs for pieces that can’tbe returned to original packages,”says Package Integrity teammember Sander Glick fromProject Performance Corporationin Washington, DC. “These costsinevitably translate to increasedpostal rates for flats mailers.”

The group also observed thefollowing:

■ Bundles of mail withglossy covers break at ahigh rate. For the majorityof this type of mail, shrink-wrap appears to ensurebetter package integritythan other packagingmethods.

■ In general, Periodical andStandard Mail (A) bundlesbreak at the same rate.Bundles secured with onlyone rubber band, onestring or one strap break ata significantly higher rate.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATEcontinued from page 1

sal service so that Congresscan better understand thosecosts, and provide the neces-sary protections in the future.

Under the Act, the PostalService would operate in com-petitive markets on the sameterms and conditions as faced byits private sector competitors.The Postal Service would begiven pricing flexibility in con-nection with these products buttheir pricing, collectively, wouldbe required to cover overheadcosts to the same extent as allpostal products, on average. ThePostal Service’s competitiveproducts would also be subjectto — among others — antitrustlaws, fair-trading laws and equalcustoms procedures.

H.R. 22 would subject post-age rates on non-competitiveservices to price caps based oninflation. It would also requirethe Postal Service to prepareannual reports on the quality ofservice provided by all of its non-competitive services. H.R. 22also includes new incentives forimproved postal efficiency, andprohibits the Postal Service fromcharging users of monopoly ser-vices with overhead costs thatshould be allocated to its com-petitive ventures; competitiveservices must stand or fall ontheir merits.

THE POSTAL MODERNIZA-TION ACT OF 2000: WHEREIT STANDS

Rep. John McHugh (R-NY),Chairman of the Subcommitteeon the Postal Service, intro-duced H.R. 22 on the first dayof the current Congress. OnApril 29, 1999, the Subcommit-tee approved ChairmanMcHugh’s revised bill by voicevote and sent it to the full Com-mittee on Government Reformfor consideration.

If nothing else, the MTACPackage Integrity Work Grouphopes that the “owners of themail” reading this article be-come aware of the magnitudeof the broken bundle problemand how much this contributesto increased postal costs thattranslate into higher rates forflats.

In the next few months, theWork Group plans a controlledtesting of various packagingmethods to come up with spe-cific recommendations to im-prove the packaging of sackedand palletized mail.

However, until then, theyrecommend that mailers do thefollowing:

■ Visit your printer’s plant toobserve how they packageyour mail and how theywork.

■ Take a tour of your localmail processing plant tosee how your mail is pro-cessed. A little under-standing goes a long way.

■ Know that differentmailpiece and packagecharacteristics may re-quire different packagingmethods. For example,shrink-wrap over one plas-tic strap will secure a pack-age of glossy magazinesmuch better than two rub-ber bands or even twoplastic straps.

■ In most instances, twobanding straps were betterthan one.

■ Note whether the strap-ping is bending and bow-ing your package. If so,consider shrink-wrapping

■ Watch the package weight.It must not exceed 20pounds; smaller weightlimits are even better.

■ Make pallet weights aslow as possible (withinDMM section M041 stan-dards) to minimize sackusage.

Shrink-wrapped and double-banded bundles

8 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

Pizzas in Iceland? Pizzasin Mexico? Pizzas inFrance? Who’d a

thunk it? Domino’s Pizzadid. And today there are over6,000 worldwide franchises(4,600 in the U.S.).

Needless to say, communi-cating with their internationalfranchisees is a necessity for

Domino’s, headquartered in AnnArbor, MI.

While they are not sendingpepperoni pizzas overseas [theycould with International ExpressMail™], they are now sendingthe Pepperoni Press — thefranchisee’s newsletter and ma-jor link to Domino’s headquarters— via the U.S. Postal Service.

Since switchinginternational carri-ers to the Postal Ser-vice, “Domino’s hasexperienced a mini-mum of 40 percentsavings per month,”

To get started just go to<uspsprioritymail.com/> andclick “online retailer” and thenclick “Web Developer’s Tool Kit”to give your customers — andemployees — easy access to im-portant shipping informationincluding delivery information,rates and more, right from yourInternet or intranet site.

The tool kit is not a hammerand wrench, but is actually aneasy way to link the PostalService’s cool products to yoursite.

Here’s a list of the free Appli-cation Program Interfaces (APIs)

that you can add to yourwebsite.

TRACK/CONFIRMLets your

c u s t o m e r s(and em-

ployees) find out the deliverystatus of Priority Mail® and Par-cel Post packages using a Deliv-ery Confirmation™ number. Italso provides tracking for Ex-press Mail® and Priority MailGlobal Guaranteed shipments— up to five lookups per trans-action.

RATE CALCULATORProvides automatedonline access to do-

mestic rates forExpress Mail,

Priority Mail andParcel Post, as well as interna-tional rate information for Glo-bal Priority Mail and ExpressMail International.

ELECTRONICMERCHANDISERETURN

Facil itatesthe prompt re-turn of merchan-

The companybegan with TomMonaghan, formerCEO, deliveringpizzas out of theback of hisVolkswagen.

Domino’s deliverspizza by camel andby snowmobile insome markets.

They deliver 600pizzas an hour inAustralia.

Domino’s sells more pizzasin Iceland than in any otherforeign country.

Mexico hasmore Domino’sthan McDonalds.Olé!

Pam’s phonenumber is734-930-3900(Fax 3498).

DOMINO’STRIVIAUSPS delivers for

DOMINO’S

Pam Meadows,Domino’s MailCenter manager.

says Pam Mead-ows, Domino’sMail Centermanager.

Meadowssays Domino’suses thePostal Serviceexclusively fortheir interna-tional and do-mestic mailingsunless it exceedsthe weight limits andthen they use an-other carrier.

“We are finding now thatour franchisees in other coun-tries are even returning theiroverseas mail via the U.S. PostalService, whenever it’s availablein their country.

“When I initially came onboard, a lot of programs withother international courierswere in place. We were payingexorbitant rates and our franchi-sees were complaining that theirmail was arriving late.”

After talking to Postal Serviceaccount representative CostanBostic, Meadows says she wasamazed at the array of servicesthe Postal Service offered and,of course, the savings.

“I would urge any companythat mails overseas to talk to thePostal Service first to see whatit can do for their bottom line,”concludes Meadows.

dise to you from your custom-ers who will be able to down-load and print postage-paid la-bels directly from your website.No other shipper offers a returnsolution like this.

DELIVERY CONFIRMATIONEnables you to generate a

graphic De-livery Con-f i rmat ionLabel forP r i o r i t yMail, ParcelPost, BoundP r i n t e dMatter, Li-brary Rateand Special Stan-dard, with distinct numbersand barcodes.

EXPRESS MAIL SERVICECOMMITMENTS

Answers ques-tions about Ex-

press Mail service and guaranteesfrom one ZIP Code to another.

PRIORITY MAIL SERVICESTANDARDS

E s t i m a t e sdelivery timesbetween ZIPCodes for Priority Mail.

STANDARD MAIL (B) SERVICESTANDARDS

This API provides estimateson delivery times between three-digit ZIP Codes for Parcel Post,Bound Printed Matter, Library

Rate and Special Standard.It’s easy to get started. Af-

ter register-ing for theAPIs, youwill receiveall necessarydocumentation, along with aprogrammer’s guide and sampleapplications by e-mail.

WEB TOOLScontinued from page 1

MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 9

national postal FORUM SPECIAL SECTION registration form

10 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

national postal FORUM SPECIAL SECTION general information

MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000 11

POSTAL NEWS BRIEFS

MEMO t ot oMAILERSVolume 35 Number 7

Sandra HardingEditor

Frank PapandreaArt Director

Frank Schultz-DePaloDesigner

William J. HendersonPostmaster General and CEO

Deborah K. WillhiteSenior Vice President,Government Relationsand Public Policy

Azeezaly S. JafferVice President, Public Affairsand Communications

MEMO to MAILERSis published by U.S. Postal ServicePublic Affairs and Communications.

USPS eagle symbol and logotype areregistered marks of the United StatesPostal Service.

Send address corrections andsubscription requests to:

MEMO TO MAILERSNATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTERUS POSTAL SERVICE6060 PRIMACY PKWY STE 201MEMPHIS TN 38188-0001

Send stories, photos and editorialsuggestions to:

EDITORMEMO TO MAILERSUS POSTAL SERVICE475 L’ENFANT PLAZA SW RM 10541WASHINGTON DC 20260-3100

fax: (202) 268-2392e-mail: mmailers@email.usps.gov

Online services:www.usps.comribbs.usps.comPCC Website: http://www.national.pcc.usps.comDirect Mail Kit: (800) THE-USPS x 2110

ON TOP OF THE WORLDTake a global bow. The

Postal Service was honoredwith two World Mail Awards2000 at the 11th World Ex-press and Mail Conference inParis. The Postal Serviceearned the Internet CommerceAward for its Electronic Mer-chandise Return Service andthe Innovation Award for Ad-dress Management’s fast for-ward program.

GSA NAMES TOP FEDMANAGERS

The General ServicesAdministration’s Office ofGovernmentwide Policy namesthe winners of its first annualFederal Mail Best PracticeAwards for demonstrating the“strongest commitment to inno-vative policies and practices inmail communications.”

Federal Mail Manager of theYear — Leonard A. Bartels, Of-

ficial Mail manager, Departmentof Defense.

Federal Mail Center Excel-lence — Mary R. Anderson,Alvan Majors, and TonyNellums, Mail Services Team,Department of Energy.

POSTAL FORUMAPPOINTS TWO NEWDIRECTORS

Two new directors were ap-pointed to the National PostalForum, announced Michael J.Genick, executive director andchief operating officer. They areMichael S. Coughlin, an accountexecutive/partner with the Com-puter Services Corp., and pastdeputy postmaster general from1987 to 1999; and C. NeilBenson, who served as deputypostmaster general under Will-iam Bolger from 1980 to 1983.

GOVERNORS NAMENEW SECRETARY

U.S. Postal Service Board ofGovernors Chairman EinarDyhrkopp today named DavidG. Hunter to serve as Secretaryto the Board of Governors.

As Secretary to the Board,Hunter will serve as the Gover-nors’ primary staff assistant. In1999, Hunter received thePostal Service’s Vice President’sAward for his leadership in de-veloping and managing the POSONE retail platform.

NICE JOBAutomatic Data Processing

(ADP) praised the Postal Serviceduring its recent proxy seasonfor “accurate and timely deliv-ery” of three million, two-poundproxy packages relating to thelarge mergers between Pfizerand Warner Lambert and MCIWorldCom and Sprint. ADP ex-perienced a 30 percent increasein volume, which the companysays the Postal Service processed“flawlessly.”

In early June, the U.S. Postal Service named the 2000 Quality SupplierAward winners that provided their very best — from tools to equip-ment to materials to services — that enabled postal employees to

deliver record service to Americans once again.Keith Strange, vice president of Purchasing and Materials, said the 10

winners passed a rigorous seven-step evaluation that mirrors theMalcolm Baldrige National Quality Award process.

To put the award into context, the Postal Service, during fiscal year1999, awarded more than 64,000 contracts worth more than $9.1 billion.

Following is the list of 2000 Quality Supplier Award categories and winners:

SMALL BUSINESSOperational ServicesAmplex Corporation of GrandPrairie, TXStamp fulfillment services to retailoutlets

Twin Cities Air Service, Inc., ofAuburn, MEAir taxi mail service

Professional & ConsultantServicesGeneral Technology, Inc. (GTI) ofNewport Beach, CAComputer software and support

Merrick & Company of Aurora, COArchitecture/engineering services

ManufacturingBoneal, Inc., of Means, KYParts and accessories for mailprocessing equipment

Light Corporation of GrandHaven, MIManufacturer of light fixtures

POSTAL SERVICE NAMESTop 10 Quality Supply Award Winnersfor 2000

LARGE BUSINESSOperational ServicesJ.E. Dunn Construction Companyof Kansas City, MOGeneral construction servicesProfessional & ConsultantServicesSRA International of Fairfax, VAY2K, information technology andsystems integration servicesThe Gallup Organization ofLincoln, NECustomer satisfaction and Voice ofthe Employee surveysManufacturingSystems & Electronics, Inc. (SEI)of St. Louis, MOLoading/unloading systems

THEY DID IT!Wendy’s employees came throughfor founder Dave Thomas byplacing the largest stamp order —ever — for 2.5 million Adoptionstamps. Helping to promote salesof the adoption stamp at Wendy’scorporate headquarters were (L toR) Bob Taft, governor of Ohio;adoptee Thomas; and John Ward,vice president for Core BusinessMarketing .

12 MEMO to MAILERS JULY 2000

MEMOt ot oMAILERSNATIONAL CUSTOMER SUPPORT CENTERUNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE6060 PRIMACY PKWY STE 201MEMPHIS TN 38188-0001

PRESORTEDFIRST-CLASS MAILPOSTAGE & FEES PAIDUSPSPERMIT NO. G-10

Change Service Requested

NO, this is not a pickup —we’re offering to pickup—your mail, that is.

Call us and we’llcome running

Here are some answers totypical questions.Q How do I pay for the pickup service

fee?A The postal carrier will accept cash,

check, postal money order, meter stripand good ole’ American stamps.

Q How do I “prepay” postage on Ex-press, Priority and packages?

A Larger businesses prepay primarily usingpostage meters. Smaller companies tendto use PC Postage (electronic postage)or postage stamps. Many small busi-nesses keep special flat rate stamps onhand: $3.20 for the Priority Mail 2-lb.rate and $15.75 for the Express Mail 2-lb. rate. Express and Priority Mail enve-lopes and boxes are free and available atlocal post offices or you can order themin advance by calling 800-527-1950 andwe’ll ship them to you for free.

Q How can I determine the cost foreach item?

A If you know the weight of your item andZIP Code destination, the folks at the(800) 222-1811 number will give youthe rate. You can also use the rate calcu-

lator on the Postal Service Website,usps.com. To figure out the weight,larger businesses use a postage scale.SOHOs (small offices, home offices) andindividuals can weigh themselves ontheir bathroom scale — without thepackage and then with the package —to figure out pound rates.

Q Can I hand you packages withoutpostage and have you bill me later?

A No. For our pickups, postage must bealready on the packages. The PostalService does not offer a billing service.

Q How late can I call for pickup?A Any time up to two hours before your

local post office closes.

Did you knowthat the U.S.Postal Service

will pick up all prepaidExpress Mail®, PriorityMail® and Parcel Post

packages fromyour office orhome for onefee of$8.25?

Just call (800)222-1811.(And include any otherpieces of mail that you’dlike to deposit — aslong as we can fit themin our vehicle.)