The Postal Service is upgrading its fleet of vehicles with the purchase of 9,113 Ram ProMaster cargo vans. The 2016 model has more room for packages in its cargo area and is well-suited for snowy and slick road conditions. The Ram ProMaster is not a replacement for the over 21 year-old Long Life Vehicles (LLV),…
Paragraph #5 “Other Provisions” in the USPS lease (on page 2 of the lease form dated February 2004) states: The following additional provisions, modifications, riders, layouts, and/or forms were agreed upon prior to execution and made a part thereof: 1) Utilities Services & Equipment Rider, 2) Maintenance Rider – Landlord Responsibility, 3) Maintenance Rider UST…
Ideally, companies sending household bills to customers would like to eliminate the mailman and rely instead solely on the Internet. That’s not happening fast enough for billers, though. So, companies that send transactional mail –household bills – to their customers are taking the first steps to prepare consumers for a paperless future. One way for…
As more people use smart phones for browsing the Internet and shopping by phone or tablet, businesses find the need for a mobile strategy to complement the company website. In 2009, the Postal Service developed USPS Mobile. This app let customers find a nearby post office, schedule a pick-up, put their mail on hold, track…
Representatives Sam Graves (MO-6) and Gerald Connolly (VA-11) have referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform House Resolution 12 entitled “Empower the United States Postal Service to Thrive in the 21st Century.” This resolution urges the USPS to take all appropriate measures to ensure the continuation of six day mail delivery service.…
During the 2015 annual AUSPL Conference in Reno, NV, Dennis Pottenger and I gave a presentation entitled “Unraveling the Mysteries of the USPS Lease Agreement.” As members of AUSPL’s Board of Directors with many years of experience dealing with postal leases, we shared with attendees our experiences and insights. We hope the presentation was informative…
AUSPL Conference 2015 provided opportunities for attendees to ask questions of speakers and workshop presenters. One of the questions posed by an AUSPL member to Representative Amodei was why the US Census Bureau sends out surveys using UPS rather than the US Postal Service. Harry Glenn of Van Scoyoc and Associates contacted a congressional staff…
Samuel Dattel, 88, passed away on Sunday, September 13, 2015, after a long illness. In 1981, Mr. Dattel, along with Lawrence Schlager, Jerry Frankel, Ray DeLeo, and Merritt Meyer, founded AUSPL. The founders recruited 25 postal lessors to join the new postal association. From this small group of postal landlords, AUSPL has grown to represent…
The Postal Service may or may not negotiate for inclusion of termination rights in a postal lease. When entering into a new lease, the landlord negotiating the lease may want to 1) refuse to agree to a termination option for the USPS, 2) agree to such an option only in cases in which the leased…
In an August 26, 2015 Washington Post article, Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (D-VT) addressed problems with the US Postal Service. He called the recent cost-cutting measure of closing mail processing plants a “disaster that is negatively impacting Americans all over this country.” Senator Sanders called the US Postal Service’s required pre-funding of future health-care…