March 3, 2020 Amazon announced today (March 3, 2020) that Prime members in Philadelphia, Phoenix, Orlando and Dallas can have delivery in just a few hours after ordering, at no charge for orders over $35. Amazon’s newest weapon in the same-day delivery battle is new, “first of a kind buildings” that serve as mini-fulfillment centers,…
March 2020 The rise of same-day delivery packages is not seen as a threat to the US Postal Service, according to a January 2020 report by the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The January report suggests that focusing on next-day delivery is a better use of resources for the USPS. According to the OIG’s…
February 2020 The USPS and the USPS Office of the Inspector General (OIG) have been focused on maintenance and repair of Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems throughout postal facilities. Tom Samra, Vice President of Facilities stressed the importance of HVAC equipment to Postal Service operations, to AUSPL, saying that when temperatures are too…
February 2020 Since 2018 Amazon has been building its Delivery Service Partner program. This program outsources package deliveries to entrepreneurs around the country. A consequence of this expansion is the effect on over 800 small logistics companies that have contracted with Amazon in the past. Recently, Amazon has parted company with some logistics companies…
Have You Noticed an Additional Flag at the Post Office? Changes to the United States Code require the U.S. Postal Service to fly the POW/MID (Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag at post offices every day that the United States flag is flown. Prior to changes made in November of 2019, the US Postal Service…
According to 1/6/2020 USPS Industry Alert, Postmaster General Megan Brennan has agreed to delay her planned retirement date of January 31, 2020 in order to facilitate the search for the new PMG. The Postal Board of Governors is conducting that search, and Chairman Robert M. “Mike” Duncan has expressed that the Board is “grateful to…
Effective January 26, 2020 first class mail costs will increase from $ .50 to $ .55 for the first ounce, with additional ounces being priced at $ .15. Postmaster General Megan Brennan retires on January 31, 2020. Her tenure has been unique in that for much of it there has been no active Board of…
November 2019 The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a world-wide organization created for the purpose of facilitating international mail exchange, agreed in September to allow the United States to set its own inbound postage rates, thereby keeping the US as a member nation. In exchange for an annual contribution of approximately $40 million into the UPU’s…
November 22, 2019 Representative Carolyn Maloney, (NY12) has become the newest chairman of the House Oversight Committee. She had already been serving as acting chair of that committee following the death of former chairman, Representative Elijah Cummings in October. Rep. Maloney defeated Rep. Gerald Connollly in a caucus-wide ballot earlier this week. Rep. Maloney has…
November, 2019 A bill designed to repeal the USPS’s prefunding of retirement benefits and thereby make significant progress in solving its financial difficulties was introduced in the House on April 14, 2019. H.R. 2382, the USPS Fairness Act, is sponsored by Oregon Representative Pete DeFazio and has accumulated bipartisan support from 272 co-sponsors (as of…