Rural Carrier Kathryn Lidstrom was recently delivering mail in a Fairfield, MT, neighborhood when she noticed an older customer operating a weed trimmer near an irrigation ditch on his property. Shortly afterward, the man was nowhere to be seen, which worried Lidstrom. She stopped to check in the ditch, where she spotted the customer, who […]
The “Heroes’ Corner” story about Sara Mikoulinskii, a Neenah, WI, city carrier assistant who helped a girl having a seizure, was great. Kudos to Ms. Mikoulinskii. […]
The Postal Service has again been named the top government agency for multicultural business opportunities. For the ninth consecutive year, Omnikal, a social media and networking organization that promotes business inclusiveness, has given USPS its top Omni50 Award in recognition of the Postal Service’s efforts to offer opportunities to multicultural small businesses and entrepreneurs. USPS […]
The Postal Service has a reminder for employees: Voyager credit cards are to be used only to purchase fuel for postal vehicles. If you have a USPS-issued Voyager card, don’t use it to buy food, drinks, or fuel for a personal vehicle. Doing so violates the misuse of property provision of the standards of ethical […]
USPS offers a variety of products and services at affordable prices — as well as a lot of material at no cost to customers. For example, Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express boxes, envelopes and labels are available at no charge, along with international mailing products and customs forms. Customers can order these materials at […]
This Friday is the month’s 13th day. To help you get ready, here are seven facts about a date that some consider to be anything but lucky. 1. Friday the 13th’s unlucky origins are a mystery. It’s unclear when pairing Friday and the number 13 became synonymous with bad luck. Historians have linked the day […]
Letter Carrier Kirk Miller was delivering mail on an August day last year in Danville, PA, when he came upon a customer facedown in a yard. Miller rushed to aid the man, who had passed out and hit his head. The Postal Service employee immediately called 911 and, suspecting heat-related illnesses, shielded the man from […]
Three cheers for Gail Etienne-Stripling, the Tulsa, OK, mail processing clerk who helped integrate the New Orleans public school system as a child during the 1960s. She is the type of person I’m proud to have as part of my postal family. […]
The Postal Service will handle one of the largest mailings in its history when it delivers 590 million mailpieces from the U.S. Census Bureau, beginning in March. The pieces will include questionnaires, letters and postcards regarding the 2020 census, the constitutionally mandated survey that seeks to count every resident of the United States. USPS will […]
The stamp honoring iconic golfer Arnold Palmer, who rose from humble beginnings to help transform an elite pastime into a sport for the masses, will be released Wednesday, March 4. A native of Latrobe, PA, a working-class steel mill town, the driven and charismatic Palmer (1929-2016) captured his first major title in 1958, notching his […]
Like letter carriers, rural carriers, mail handlers and others, retail associates are an important part of the Postal Service’s workforce. USPS has about 121,000 associates at its more than 34,000 Post Offices, stations, branches and other retail locations. These employees play a vital role in helping the organization achieve its business goals. In addition to […]
The Postal Inspection Service is highlighting government impostor scams during National Consumer Protection Week, which began March 1. Here are five things you should know, courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission and the Inspection Service. 1. Impostor scams were the No. 1 fraud reported to the Federal Trade Commission in 2019. People who contacted the […]
Rural Carrier Danny Spurlock was recently delivering mail in Annville, KY, when he spotted an overturned all-terrain vehicle at the bottom of an embankment. Spurlock stopped and rushed to check on the occupants: a man and a woman who were seriously injured. The Postal Service employee immediately called 911 and rendered first aid to the […]
It’s amazing how often lives are saved by Postal Service employees like Floydada, TX, Letter Carrier Ofelia McCown, who helped a customer who was seriously injured while operating a power saw. […]
Want to know more about leap years? Here are a few things that, uh, leap to mind. 1. Julius Caesar helped create leap years. A leap year occurs every four years and contains an extra day — Feb. 29 — to keep the calendar and the seasons in sync. The concept was pioneered thousands of […]
Scanning is a vital part of the Postal Service’s efforts to deliver excellent customer experiences, one of the organization’s core strategies. Scanning allows consumers to track their packages and mail. Many mailpieces receive multiple scans as they move through the postal network, and this information is fed to usps.com, the Informed Delivery feature and other […]
The Postal Service is making sure the Lunar New Year gets off to a good start. In addition to holding last month’s dedication ceremony in Monterey Park, CA, for the Year of the Rat stamp, USPS employees are participating in special events in communities across the nation. For example, in Chicago, the Chinatown Chamber of […]
If you’re a Postal Service employee, the organization wants you to remember the rules on engaging in activities outside USPS. These activities can include working for other employers while still holding a postal job, serving on an outside board or volunteering for a group. Federal ethics regulations don’t prohibit you from engaging in any outside […]
Upland, CA, Letter Carrier Danny Marcrum was recently delivering mail at a cluster box in a senior-oriented community when he heard a sound that concerned him. At first, Marcrum thought it was a cat in distress, but as it persisted, he decided to investigate. The Postal Service employee followed the sound to a nearby residence, […]
I enjoyed reading “Man of letters,” the article about Kirk Douglas’s appreciation for handwritten correspondence. Who knew he wrote so many letters? […]
The Postal Service has released a guide to Election Mail and Political Mail for the 2020 primary season that began this month and the general election season in the fall. In addition to the presidential race, there will be congressional, gubernatorial, state and local races. The guide, which was published in last week’s edition of […]
The Postal Service is reminding facility managers that they must compile and display work-related injuries that occurred during the 2019 calendar year in order to comply with OSHA requirements. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, requires postal facilities to complete manual or automated versions of OSHA Form 300A, Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses. […]
USPS offers multiple products and services to help today’s busy customers manage their mail and package deliveries. For example, Informed Delivery allows consumers to preview images of their incoming mail and manage their packages on smartphones, tablets and other devices. Informed Delivery users can also sign up for text and email notifications, schedule delivery alerts, […]
George Washington was born Feb. 22, 1732. To mark the occasion, here are eight facts about the nation’s founding father and first president, courtesy of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. 1. President Washington never lived in Washington, DC. George and his wife Martha lived in New York and later Philadelphia, where they received members of […]
Rural Carrier Brenda Lumley was recently delivering mail in Parker, PA, when she spotted a customer in trouble. The man had suffered a medical emergency while driving near his home and crashed into a tree. He had managed to escape from the smoking vehicle, and he had collapsed in the middle of the road when […]
Ann Mailloux and Michael Saint, the USPS couple profiled in “Post marriage,” are absolutely adorable. This was a perfect story for Valentine’s Day. […]
The Postal Service is sharing updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about the novel coronavirus outbreak that recently began in Wuhan, China. According to CDC, the best way to prevent infection is to avoid being exposed to the virus and to follow these recommendations to help prevent the spread of […]
The Postal Service is reminding employees not to perform work for an outside employer or for a side business while on duty. Doing so violates the standards of ethical conduct for employees of the executive branch, which applies to postal employees. USPS employees also cannot use postal equipment to perform outside work. “Our customers expect […]
Small businesses offer big opportunities for the Postal Service. The United States is home to about 30 million small businesses, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. USPS offers a variety of products and services to help these businesses grow — and one of the most valuable is Every Door Direct Mail. Since its launch […]
Grab some popcorn, a box of tissues and a few sheets of stationery. Here are 14 movies about love letters to help you get ready for the most romantic day of the year on Feb. 14. 1. “To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before” (2018). In this Netflix production, a shy high school student (Lana […]