Archive for the ‘USPS’ tag
Interview with USPS VP Jim Cochrane
USPS Postal Explorer and Other Resources
The USPS put out a great list of online resources in a DMM Advisory today. These include:
The “DMM” Domestic Mail Manual - the USPS “Bible” for mailing.
Quick Service Guides - the “show and tell” of mail preparation, including many illustrations.
Notice 123 - Price List
Pub 28 - Addressing Standards
Beginner tools such as Business Mail 101
USPS Outlines Action Plan for Future
These are the points made in today’s presentation, nicely summarized in the PCC Insider
>Restructure retiree health benefits payments to be consistent with what is used by the rest of the federal government and the majority of the private sector and address overpayments to the Postal Service Civil Service Retirement System pension fund.
>Adjust delivery days to better reflect current mail volumes and customer habits.
>Continue to modernize customer access by providing services at locations that are more convenient to customers, such as grocery stores, pharmacies, retail centers and office supply stores. Increase and enhance customer access through partnerships, self-service kiosks and a world-class website.
>Establish a more flexible workforce that is better positioned to respond to changing demand patterns, as more than 300,000 employees become eligible to retire in the coming decade.
>Ensure that prices of Market Dominant mailing products are based on demand for each individual product and its costs, rather than capping prices for every class at the rate of inflation.
>A modest exigent price increase will be proposed, effective in 2011.
>Permit the Postal Service to evaluate and introduce more new products consistent with its mission, allowing it to better respond to changing customer needs and compete more effectively in the marketplace.
What do you think? Comment this blog, or contact me directly.
Translating the DMM Advisory
I’d like to take a crack at translating a DMM Advisory that came out today. Here are some of the sections that need translating:
DMM Advisory:
PostalOne!® Release 22.0 (November 15) - The USPS® deployed PostalOne! Release 22 on November 15 to support the Intelligent Mail Full-Service pricing incentives that will be effective on November 29. Release 22 will also allow mailers to provide electronic documentation and retrieve Mailer IDs, Customer Registration IDs, and Full-Service feedback using Mail.XMLTM. The PostalOne! Release Notes will be posted on RIBBS Friday, November 20th (today).
Translation:
You can’t get release notes for the major Full Service supporting PostalOne! release scheduled for implementation on November 29th until Friday, November 20th. You then have 5 business days to review and react to any changes that might affect you.
——————————–
DMM Advisory
Guides Update - Postal ServiceTM Mail.XML Technical Specification has been updated. Postal Service Mail.XMLTechnical Specification for Postage Payment and Reporting (eDoc) - The specification was updated to correspond with Mail.XML version 7.0C.The error codes were updated and elaborations were added, several exceptions scenarios were updated and business rules were clarified. Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Appointment Scheduling (FAST®) - Error codes were updated and business rules were clarified. Postal Service Mail.XML Technical Specification for Profiles and Full Service Feedback - business rules were updated as well as state codes for ACSTM data.
Translation:
Look in several different guides for lots of changes to specifications for Mail.XML. Try to figure out what was updated, what was clarified, what was added, and what was changed. Best of luck.
————————–
DMM Advisory:
Postage Statements submitted electronically prior to the software release as of November 15 cannot be finalized. A postage statement submitted prior to November 15 with a mailing date of November 15 or after cannot be finalized for payment by the USPS acceptance employee. The acceptance unit will notify the mailer/mail preparer (whoever submitted the electronic postage statement) to cancel the original job/postage statement and resubmit. The resubmitted job/postage statement must have a mailing date of November 15 or later.
Translation:
On November 15 files that went through PostalOne! without a problem subsequently failed after November 16. Your local acceptance clerks had no idea why and were unable to help. This is what happened, and what you had to rework as a mailer, through no fault of your own.
———————–
DMM Advisory:
A list of known issues and workarounds, if available, is posted on RIBBS under PostalOne! Critical Issues List.
Translation:
A bunch of stuff is broken, and the USPS knows about them, but it is still full steam ahead. Go to RIBBS and try to find the Issues List. Give up? It is hidden at RIBBS, Intelligent Mail, Intelligent Mail Latest News, with a link to the list in the box on the right. 16 pages of issues and workarounds. Again, best of luck.
Time flies. . .
RAG CONTENT - Journal - Time flies. . . .
A good look back at the Postal Enhancement and Accountability Act of 2006.
Mailers Fear New USPS Reform May be Needed
USPS Steps Up Mail-Processing Consolidation
Post office wrong target for conservatives
Should the USPS Eliminate Sunday Mail Processing Operations?
From a Tweet from the USPS Office of Inspector General:
Should the USPS eliminate Sunday Mail Processing Operations? Tell them what you think:
http://tinyurl.com/mhr3bf
* a “Tweet” is a post or status update on Twitter, a microblogging service. Because Twitter only allows for messages of 140 characters or less, “tweet” is as much a play on the size of the message as it is on the audible similarity to Twitter
