Recent Changes in Mail Count Regulations of Special Interest

1. DPS for a Closed School or Business: Credit for DPS closed school or business letter mail, whether cased or taken to the street will be credited in the following manner:
a. Credit will be given in Column A, Letters, for each piece when there are seven pieces or less
b. Credit will be given in Column D, Parcels, for one parcel when there are eight pieces or more
c. These mail pieces will not be deducted from Column L, DPS mail.

2. Form 3982-R Rural Boxholder Nondelivery Request: Time will be credited during the mail count in the following manner:
a. One markup in Column J for transcribing information on PS Form 3982-R or annotating or discarding the form when receiving a reinstatement of delivery.
b. One piece in Column A for casing Form 3982-R
c. One piece in Column N, Letters and Flats Collected, for bringing PS Form 3982-R back from the route.

3. Change of Address (COA) Procedure: The time allowance for Changes of Address (COAs) will be 15 seconds for each PS Form 3982 (yellow) label received during the count period and recorded in Column R. If the carrier is required to perform any additional duties of completing the following forms and/or writing on Form 3982 label, the credit will be two (2) minutes.
• PS Form 3575, Change of Address
• PS Form 3575-WWW, Internet Change of Address
• PS Form 3575-Z Employee generated Change of Address
• PS Form 3546 Official Change/Correction to Mail Forwarding Change of Address

4. Markups: The time allowance for markups will be 15 seconds per markup. The only individual markups will be
a)Deceased,
b)No Record Mail (CFS returns),
c)transcribing information to PS Form 3982-R and
d)others required by management

5. Carrier Pick-up Packages picked up only through the carrier pick-up Web application will receive 90 seconds for each carrier pick-up request completed and nine seconds for each Express Mail, Priority Mail and International Mail item collected with the pickup request and recorded in Column R. Prepaid ordinary and insured parcels and letters or flats collected in conjunction with the carrier pick-up items are recorded in columns N or O, as appropriate.

6. Mail History Tracking System (MHTS): Actual time to locate and remove errors from DPS associated with the Mail History Tracking System process is included in riffling time and credited in Column R

7. Do Not Bend/Do Not Fold: Non-rigid items endorsed Do Not Bend or Do Not Fold will NOT be credited as parcels unless they have been properly prepared in accordance with DMM (prepared with a stiffener) or unless the item would be damaged when casing with other mail.

8. Fletters: Letters (6 1/8" and under) processed on automated flat machines and found in automation processed flat tubs will be credited only in Column A, Letters per arbitration decision QOOR-4Q-C 030089889

NOTE: Results of mail count will be effective April 26, 2008

Berryton Rural Carrier Blazes Trail

By LindaK
Well, I was the first down this road anyway.

One of those mail delivery moments

Mail delivery sometimes has little embarrassing moments. Fleeting times of flushed face. Things quickly forgotten. Like forgetting a customer's name or needing a signature without a pen in sight. Earlier this week I had one of those

First, I have to say that when the roads are bad with snow or ice, I drive a Beater, or in other words a 1987 Oldsmobile front wheel drive. It’s a jewel. Everything works except the radio. With studded front tires, it gets me around the route in fine shape most Kansas winters.

It wasn’t entirely the car’s fault. We knew the muffler was loose. It wasn’t too bad and my husband had the parts. I didn’t anticipate two things. First, the trash truck making its rounds when the roads were soft creating deep ruts. Second, the temperature dropping and those ruts freezing.

After about the third time the Olds high centered on a frozen mud rut, the muffler fell off. Now I am delivering mail sounding like an old dump truck. It was near the end of the route. However, I did have to make one stop at a residence for a carrier pickup. I no sooner pulled up when the customer came running out to see who was taking their stuff. They saw it was me and looked bewildered as I started the car.

Only slightly red faced, I waved and roared away.

Frosty morning

By LindaK

Deal reached on bill to compensate feds for unused sick leave

is the headline for a Federal Times article by Stephen Losey today. According to the article Retiring employees under the Federal Employees Retirement System would get up to $10,000 in compensation under the latest version of a bill drafted by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va. The previous bill was capped at $5,000.

No word is given as to how the compension will be figured. It is generally thought that there will be a minimum number of hours required before compension will begin.

This is good news!

Fortuneteller Anyone?

I am a USPS FERS employee.

My full time hiring date was February 1984. The retirement system underwent massive change in January of 1984. No one explained it to me. I guess I could have been both CSRS and FERS had I known. In fact, it wasn’t until the National Rural Letter Carrier Convention in Chicago did I hear anyone spend time talking about FERS retirement. It was probably out there, but retirement was so far away that I just took out the maximum amount for investment each pay period and didn’t think much about it.

As it turns out, in all my ignorance, FERS has been good for me. My choices of investments have paid well through the years. And, they are mine. Unlike CSRS, I have been able to build sum of money that stays with me, and more importantly, my family whenever I die.

Of course, we all know the sick leave situation. It’s true, when I finally roll up the windows in my mail truck for the last time, I might loose a year’s worth of sick leave. On the other hand, if I need it for a major illness it is there. And, maybe legislation will be passed to compensate for a percentage. After all, the politicians are on the same plan as rural carriers.

The question remains, have I made the right decision to retire before my full retirement age of 66. I just read a blog entitled "Wait if you Can" by Dr. Ron Evans, a semi retired professor at Washburn University in Topeka. He suggested, in jest, consulting a fortuneteller. After all, when one should take retirement depends on length of life. Eighty years is the breaking point to make up the difference between the lesser amount at 62 and the full amount at 66.

As I said, the decision is made. Unless there is an unforeseen circumstance, I am retiring before the full age of 66. Maybe because I am even writing this, I have second thoughts. If anyone would like to weigh in on determining his or her retirement date, I am interested. Comments are welcome.

Anyone having thoughts like this?

FERS sick leave compensation

The January 11th Federal Times had an article concerning the new legislation concerning sick leave compensation entitled "Sick leave plan falls short, managers groups say" by Amy Doolittle.

It seems FERS employees have reached retirement age and have many hours of sick leave accumulated.

CSRS employees' sick leave is added on to the end of their retirement.

Not unexpectedly, FERS employees nearing retirement are finding themselves with a year of sick leave (in my case) or even more that will be completely lost at the time of retirement. Consequently, as they near retirement, more and more FERS people are using their sick leave--not illegally, but at the hint of an illness or as legitimate family leave. As the article indicates, it is costing the government millions.

Notice to FERS employees: We need to rally behind this!

Mailbox or In Box

The New York Time published an article Sunday, December 16, by Phyllis Korkki entitled Still Choosing the Mailbox Over the In-Box.

In the article Ms Korkki noted that today 275 million first-class cards and letters are expected to be mailed. From Thanksgiving to Christmas the USPS estimates 20 billion cards, letters, packages and other pieces of mail will be handled.

Korkki goes on to say many thought the Internet would be the beginning of the end of the USPS. Instead, the Internet, especially the online shopping aspect, has created the need for hard copy as well as a service to ship the packages. Consequently, since 2001, the first class volume of mail has remained fairly steady.

Finally, Korkki says,"...although email is now a permanent part of the communication landscape, the old-fashioned letter is far from dead...."

I agree. It is a great feeling to open my mailbox and find a letter from family or friends. I can reread it as often as I like and save it for reference later when I return the favor. And, sometimes the short three sentence notes are meaningful. My grand kids love to receive a note about something significant in their lives.

What do you think. Do you still choose the mailbox over the in-box?

Hi Fellow Carriers

I have not been updating this site as often as I had hoped. I will be posting from time to time, though, as I hear of news especially here in Kansas.

Meanwhile, check Rural Carrier News for up to date National news. If anyone reading this would like to submit a post or an idea for a post, please email me at femail66409@yahoo.com.

Postal Service has a moratorium on assigning routes to private contractors

Postal Service won't add more private mail carriers
by Alliston SteeleFriday July 13, 2007, 1:11 PM



The U.S. Postal service has agreed not to hand over any of the country's new
urban mail routes to private companies, at least for the next six months.
All plans to contract out new mail deliveries, including a proposal for
building in Perth Amboy, have been withdrawn.


The agreement is a victory for members of the national letter carriers'
union, who have been concerned with the postal service's increased use of
part-time, non-union employees to deliver mail. Now, according to a contract
tentatively agreed on last night, a committee will be formed to look at the
issue of privatization.

In New Jersey, the postal service has also reversed its recent decision to
privatize routes in Little Falls, West Paterson and West Orange. And in
Perth Amboy, the building that the postal service had planned to assign to a
private contractor is now part of a city carrier's route.

"I was very pleased to hear that," Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas said. "I think
it's the right decision."

See the entire article here

City carriers reach a tentative agreement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 12, 2007
CONTACT: Drew Von Bergen
(202) 662-2489
vonbergen@nalc.org



Tentative Agreement Reached
On City Letter Carriers Contract

WASHINGTON – The National Association of Letter Carriers reached tentative agreement today with the U.S. Postal Service on a new five-year National Agreement for all 222,000 city delivery letter carriers throughout the nation. The pact, which includes new limits on contracting out of city letter carrier work along with provisions covering wages, benefits, and working conditions, will be submitted to the NALC membership for rank-and-file ratification.

The agreement, retroactive to November 21, 2006, provides general wage increases of 8.85 percent over five years along with regular cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) and a single lump-sum COLA payment of $686 for the period between July 2006 and May 2007.

The proposed contract includes new limits on contracting out of city letter carrier work in more than 3,000 city delivery installations and establishes a six-month moratorium on contracting out city carrier delivery services elsewhere across the country. During the moratorium, a union-management task force will seek to develop an “evolutionary approach to the issue of subcontracting, taking into account the legitimate interests of the parties and relevant public policy considerations.”

The tentative 2006-2011 National Agreement also abolishes the use of low-wage temporary employees known as “casuals” and replaces them with bargaining unit “transitional employees” under terms and conditions established by the contract. It also includes negotiated resolutions to several long-standing issues involving automated sorting of large flat mail, adjustment of carrier routes and other operational matters.

Consistent with trends in the private sector, the proposed accord also provides the Postal Service relief on health care costs by increasing the share of health care premiums paid by city letter carriers by five percentage points over the five-year duration of the contract.

NALC President William H. Young said the tentative agreement is a ‘win-win’ contract for both unionized letter carriers and the Postal Service, and especially the American public that still relies on universal mail delivery for much of its critical personal and business communication.

“This agreement is fair to hard-working letter carriers by taking necessary steps toward protecting their jobs now and well into the future, along with financial compensation that takes into account increases in the cost of living and the difficult task carriers often face in delivering mail to our nation’s growing population,” Young said. “At the same time, it helps the U.S. Postal Service to build on its record as the most efficient and affordable postal service in the world.”

The agreement provides a 1.4 percent wage increase retroactive to November 25, 2006; and wage increases of 1.8 percent on November 24, 2007; 1.9 percent on November 22, 2008; 1.9 percent on November 21, 2009; and 1.85 percent on November 20, 2010.

The proposed agreement, which would expire on November 20, 2011, was approved unanimously today by the NALC Executive Council following negotiations over the past several days by bargaining teams led by Young and Postmaster General John E. Potter.

The NALC represents all city delivery letter carriers employed by the U.S. Postal Service in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam.


-30-

________________________________________________________

Ronnie Stutts










--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

www.kansascity.com | 07/09/2007 | On new routes, mail delivery is passing to private contractors

http://www.kansascity.com/105/story/183431.html

Alarming News

Policy Leaders Call for Lifting the
U.S. Postal Service's Mailbox Monopoly



For Immediate Release - July 2, 2007

Arlington, VA - In a public filing today with the Federal Trade Commission,
6 prominent policy leaders called for lifting the U.S. Postal Service's
monopoly on the use of mailboxes.


"We believe that the mailbox monopoly should be revoked, allowing greater,
and fairer, access for the benefit of individual consumers," they said.

The current monopoly bars private citizens and businesses from placing
letters or other items in mailboxes without paying Postal Service delivery
fees. The prohibition "injects unnecessary nuisance, cost and inefficiency
into simple acts of community communication," continued the statement.


The letter was signed by heads of leading organizations representing
taxpayers and consumers who rely on First Class letter mail and postal
services, as well as two prominent postal policy experts: Don Soifer,
Consumer Postal Council; Dr. John E. Berthoud, National Taxpayers Union;
Grover Norquist, Americans for Tax Reform; James L. Martin, 60 Plus; Dr.
Charles Guy, Former Director, Office of Economics, Strategic Planning, U.S.
Postal Service, and Dr. Rick Geddes, Cornell University.

"Universal postal service was established to meet the needs of American
consumers and businesses," said the Consumer Postal Council Executive
Director Don Soifer. "The Postal Service continues to enforce a monopoly
from which it enjoys many benefits, but which often works against the best
interests of American consumers."


The letter was circulated by the Consumer Postal Council. The council
(www.postalconsumers.org), founded in 2003, is dedicated to supporting the
interests of consumers who rely on First Class letter mail.


For more information, please contact Don Soifer at 703-312-4563.





June 29, 2007

The Honorable Deborah Platt Majoras
Chairman
Federal Trade Commission
Room 135-H (Annex F)
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20580



Dear Chairman Majoras:


We, the undersigned, wish to respond to the Federal Trade Commission's
request for comment regarding the U.S. Postal Service Study, Project No.
PO71200, as listed in the Federal Register on May 1, 2007. Specifically,
we'd like to address Question #2, relating to the U.S. Postal Service's
legal mailbox monopoly.


According to 18 U.S.C. § 1725:

Whoever knowingly and willfully deposits any mailable matter such as
statements of accounts, circulars, sale bills, and other like matter, on
which no postage has been paid, in any letter box established, approved, or
accepted by the Postal Service for the receipt or delivery of mail matter on
any mail route with intent to avoid payment or lawful postage thereon, shall
for each offense be fined under this title.

The prohibition of private citizens and businesses from using mailboxes
injects unnecessary nuisance, cost and inefficiency into simple acts of
community communication. Invitations to children's birthday parties, notices
about important neighborhood events, and circular coupons from local
businesses must all incur the cost, delay, and risk of misdelivery
associated with reliance on the U.S. Postal Service.

In addition, as consumer reliance on online commerce continues to increase,
barring individuals from receiving mailbox delivery of payments, documents
or other items through private delivery services creates a growing
inconvenience. For consumers who live in neighborhoods where they must rely
on locked mailboxes, the current monopoly effectively restricts their
delivery choices to U.S.P.S. offerings when they are unable to be home to
sign for delivery.


Because consumers generally purchase their mailboxes at their own expense,
it logically follows that they ought to have the right to dictate the terms
under which that property is utilized.

The President's Commission on the U.S. Postal Service, in its 2003 report,
recommended lifting the monopoly on mailboxes:


The Postal Regulatory Board should be authorized to permit mailbox access to
private carriers in future regulations, so long as it does not impair the
universal service or open homeowners' mailboxes against their will.

We believe that the mailbox monopoly should be revoked, allowing greater -
and fairer - access for the benefit of individual consumers.


Sincerely,

Don Soifer
Executive Director
Consumer Postal Council

Dr. John E. Berthoud
President
National Taxpayers Union

Grover Norquist
President
Americans for Tax Reform


James L. Martin
President
60 Plus

Dr. Charles Guy
Former Director, Office of Economics, Strategic Planning, U.S. Postal
Service


Dr. Rick Geddes
Professor
Cornell University


The Consumer Postal Council is affiliated
with the Free and Fair Post Initiative

Which side are you on?

William H. Young, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers wrote an editorial in the June Postal Record in response to this question.

On April 17, Young was among a dozen or more people called to testify at a House oversight hearing on the Postal Service. As he listened to those present, the answer to the question, which side are you on was, in his words, "astonishing."

On the NALC';s side were Rural Carriers and Mail Handlers, most members of the subcommittee and "here is the first astonishing part--all three postal management associations, NAPS, NAPUS and League of Postmasters."

"On the Postal Service's side were Postmaster General Jack Potter, Board Chairman James C. Miller III, the usual right-wing think tanks and [the second most astonishing part] the APWU."

At issue is the APWU lobbing against the consolidation of mail postal facilities where as the NALC supports H.R.2177. Young's position is there is no correlation between optimizing the automation process and hiring low-wage, no-benefit, part-time, non-union contractors to perform bargaining unit work.

Which side are you on? There should be no sides in this issue. As the NAPS President, Ted Keating said, [contracting out letter carrier work] "will be the death of the Postal Service." Why aren't we all standing together?

To read the entire article follow this link: http://www.nalc.org/news/precord/pres-index.html on click on "June 2007"

Thank you Ella and Vince.

Mailbox Vandalism

Last week many customers with mail service out of our office received mailbox damage. I guess school is out and the days are long.

The following is copied directly from the Postal Inspection Service web site. It helped me to be knowledgeable so I could better inform my customers about what to do in case of vandalism. Personally, I believe each high school newspaper should publish the possible $250,000 fine for messing with mailboxes. That is quite a deterrent.

United States Postal Inspection Service
Protecting Yourself
From Mailbox Vandalism

Rural area mailboxes are vulnerable to vandalism because they are usually isolated, located on public thoroughfares, and frequently not visible to the box
owners from their homes. City residential mailboxes are vandalized to a lesser degree.

Mailboxes are considered federal property, and federal law (Title 18, United States Code, Section 1705), makes it a crime to vandalize them (and to injure, deface or destroy any mail deposited in them). Violators can be fined up to $250,000 or imprisoned for up to three years for each act of vandalism.

You can take the following actions to help prevent the vandalizing or destruction of your mailbox and any mail that may be inside it:

Immediately report theft, tampering with, or destruction of mail and mailboxes to your local
postmaster.

Remove your mail from your mailbox as soon as possible after its delivery. Allowing mail to pile up for several days only tempts would-be vandals and
thieves.

Obtain Label 33 from the Postal Inspection Service. This sticker, which warns that willful damage to mail boxes and theft of mail is a crime, can be
affixed to your mailbox.

If you discover someone tampering with your or your neighbor's mailbox, obtain that person's description and that of his vehicle, including the license
plate number. Immediately report the information to your local police and postmaster.

Keep your mailbox in good repair by using proper installation methods. This may help prevent theft of the mailbox itself. If you have information on mailbox
vandalism or mail theft in your area, contact the Postal Inspection Service with your information. Your cooperation helps apprehend violators.

We attempt to publicize our successful investigations of mailbox vandalism to deter other potential vandals. You may provide your information and complaints to your local postmaster or the nearest Postal Inspector.

Rural carriers headed for arbitration

It was announced today from NRLCA headquarters that the negotiations have reached an impasse and most likely the next step will be arbitration.

The central issues are COLA, health benefits, EMA and time standards.

The USPS is asking for elimination of the COLA as well as a 2% increase in contribution to health plans. Also, reduction in annual leave and sick leave accrual. They are also asking for a locality based pay scale and less contribution to EMA.

For more information go to NRLCA and click on the "What's New" link.

Pollinator stamp and crop art

Stan Herd, the nationally known crop artist has teamed with Chip Taylor of Monarch Watch to plant the Dogface butterfly taken from the pollinator stamps to be issued this summer by the USPS.

The "stamp" is located between Lawrence and Eudora, Kansas. It has been planted and is expected to reach its full potential by the middle to end of June. I talked to Chip tonight and he gave me this link for Pollinator.org. There are pictures of the progression.

So far, no one knows how the USPS will be participating. Hopefully, they will not miss this beautiful opportunity.

I will post any updates on this project.

Newspaper article on EMA

The Tulsa World published an interesting article entitled "Gasoline prices cost rural carriers." It was written by Jaclyn Cosgrove.

It doesn't appear you will need to log in to the newspaper. Check it out, it is worthy of note.

Thank you Vince and Ella.

Iowa's Harkin introduces bill

The Des Moines Register reports today that Senator Tom Harkin, D IA, has introduced a bill to stop the USPS from contracting out new growth routes. Click on this link for the entire article.

In case the link requires a registration, here are several quotes from the article by Jane Norman, reporter for the Register

Much is at stake, Harkin said on the Senate floor.

"Each day, millions of sensitive materials, including financial statements, credit cards, Social Security checks, passports and ballots, pass through the mail stream," he said. "We cannot afford to allow the safe delivery of these personal, private documents to be granted to the lowest bidder."

And, "Rural carriers, who are in a separate union, also are opposed to contracting, worried that future routes will be taken away from them, threatening their livelihoods and the ability to pay for retiree pensions.

Randy Anderson, director of labor relations for the 122,000-member National Rural Letter Carriers Association, said contracting is becoming "widespread" across the country, though the union can't keep track of exact numbers. Several grievances have been filed by rural carriers in Iowa, he said.

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Ia., met last week with upset rural carriers, said his press secretary, Beth Levine. "Senator Grassley said he would take a hard look at the bill and would do what he can to ensure that Iowa rural and urban postal customers continue to receive reliable delivery service," Levine said."

Thank you to my retired rural carrier friend, Nancy from Nebraska, for sending me this article.