Letter carriers Grady Sharps and Jalel Fykes recently crossed paths while delivering mail at a Charlotte, NC, shopping center. As they exchanged pleasantries, a shout pierced the air: “Call 911! My husband passed out!” Sharps and Fykes soon spotted the shoppers who were in crisis — a man and a woman desperate for help at […]
Do you know why it’s important to maximize your Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) account throughout your Postal Service career? Your annuity and Social Security alone won’t be enough to replace your current income in retirement, so making TSP contributions throughout your career can help you fill retirement gaps. Here are some things to keep in […]
Tivoli Wiley loves mail — and hates missing it when she’s on the go. This is why the Redway, CA, retail associate recently signed up for Informed Delivery, the free feature that allows users to digitally preview their incoming mail and manage their packages from computers, tablets and mobile devices. “I signed up so I […]
A new video features highlights from the recent dedication of the Illinois Statehood stamp. “Just like Illinois, this commemorative stamp will stay with us in Illinois forever,” says Acting Chief Customer and Marketing Officer Jacqueline Krage Strako, who led the ceremony. The Illinois stamp — the 21st entry in the Statehood series — commemorates the […]
To help mark National Card and Letter Writing Month in April, here’s a list of five letters that helped shape our world. 1. Albert Einstein’s letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 1939, Roosevelt, then president, received a letter from Einstein warning of a potential nuclear threat from Germany’s Third Reich. The letter prompted Roosevelt to […]
“Love, Dad” and the other recent stories about fathers sending postcards to their kids touch my heart. Corresponding is becoming a lost art. I know how much I treasure the monthly letters sent from my grandmother, who is now gone. […]
Rural Carrier Suzanne Mates was recently delivering mail on a harsh winter day in Ithaca, MI, when she heard distressed moans coming from inside an older customer’s home. Mates investigated and found the woman on the floor, where she had apparently been collapsed for a long while. The customer’s disabled daughter, who lives with her, […]
Antonio Brunson used to wonder how Postal Service leaders spent a typical day. Now he knows. Brunson, a Batesburg-Leesville, SC, city carrier assistant, recently spent a day “shadowing” Greater South Carolina District Manager Darryl Martin. Brunson observed Martin as he attended meetings, interacted with employees and met with customers. “Not everyone is willing to take […]
The Postal Service is planning a promotional campaign to encourage more customers to submit change-of-address requests through usps.com. The goal is to show that it’s fast and easy to change an address online. Customers submitted 36.8 million change-of-address requests last year, including more than 16 million requests through usps.com. Online requests rose 3 percent year-to-year […]
“New Places,” a new video from the Postal Service, shows how the organization works with business customers to deliver their messages. “We work with printers, mail houses and over 1 million retailers to send over half a billion pieces of mail every day, making sure every message gets to where it needs to be,” the […]
The Postal Service will release its Mister Rogers stamp Friday, March 23. Here are five facts about the man the stamp honors, Fred Rogers, and his beloved children’s television series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” 1. Rogers got into television because he didn’t like it. He was displeased with the way the medium addressed children and thought […]
I loved “Go west,” the story about Phoenix Physical Security Specialist Jay Robertson’s ride with the Hashknife Pony Express. […]
Johnston City, IL, City Carrier Assistant Travis Cooper was recently delivering mail when he spotted a house fire. Cooper called 911 and located a garden hose, but seeing no spigot, he attempted to extinguish the flames with bottled water. Neighbors soon emerged from their homes and told Cooper someone was likely inside the residence, so […]
The Postal Service has once again been recognized as the top government agency for multicultural business opportunities. This is the seventh consecutive year USPS has received the top Omni50 Award from Omnikal, a social media and networking organization with more than 2 million members. The annual award recognizes agencies that offer opportunities for small businesses […]
William Gresham has witnessed a lot of changes during his 50-year postal career. The biggest: the increasing importance of package scanning and automation. “It’s made my job easier and really changed everything,” said Gresham, an Atlanta letter carrier. One adjustment he is not a fan of has been the change in work reporting time from […]
To help mark Women’s History Month, here are five facts about Mary Katherine Goddard, the first known woman Postmaster in the United Colonies, the predecessor of the United States. 1. Goddard came from a postal family. She was born in 1738 in New London, CT, where her father, Giles, served as a physician and Postmaster. […]
City Carrier Assistant Naseem Elias was recently delivering mail in Sterling Heights, MI, when he encountered a customer shouting for help. He soon learned that the woman spoke only Arabic, and she desperately needed medical attention for her 9-month-old baby, who wasn’t breathing. Elias, who counts Arabic among five languages he speaks, told the customer […]
I just read “Love at first write,” the article about five famous couples’ love letters. To love and to be loved in such terms actually brought me to tears. […]
Augie Ruiz and Mary Perez were visiting relatives in Illinois at Christmastime in 1965 when they were fixed up on a blind date. They saw the new James Bond movie “Thunderball” and went on a few more dates before Ruiz, a Navy sailor, embarked on his next tour of duty, and Perez boarded a bus […]
The Postal Service dedicated its latest U.S. Flag stamp last week in Fort Lauderdale, FL. South Florida District Acting Manager Timothy Costello, who led the dedication ceremony, noted flag stamps are a longtime USPS tradition. “Since 1957, the Postal Service has produced colorful stamps that celebrate the American flag in all of its beautiful red, […]
The Postal Service wants more business customers to use the Informed Visibility analytics platform. Informed Visibility shows the physical movement of letters and flats in near-real-time. The platform centralizes scanning data and other information from postal facilities and equipment from across the nation. Business customers can use an external application, Informed Visibility Mail Tracking and […]
To mark Presidents Day, here are five facts about a Postmaster who later became a commander in chief: Abraham Lincoln. 1. Lincoln was a youthful Postmaster. The future president was 24 when he was appointed Postmaster of New Salem, IL, in May 1833. He served until the office closed in May 1836. 2. His annual […]
The first time Humboldt, IA, Rural Carrier Associate Kathy Lucero saw a Postal Service customer walking a new puppy one day recently, everything was fine. But when they later crossed paths again on Lucero’s route, a crisis erupted. Two stray pit bulls bolted toward the woman and attacked her puppy, leaving her screaming for help […]
Patty Albert remembers how the Thomas Fire looked — and how it sounded. “I never knew fire had a sound, but it does,” said Albert, an Ojai, CA, rural carrier. “It sounded like 20 freight trains coming at you. It was deafening. It was the loudest roar I had ever heard in my life.” The […]
USPS has announced the recipients of the 2016 Postmaster General Sustainability Excellence Awards. The awards recognize facilities, teams and projects that successfully recycle, conserve energy, reduce consumable waste and save water. The recipients are: Caparra Heights Station in San Juan, PR, where a “green team” is building sustainability awareness through no-cost and low-cost actions Erie, […]
USPS will conduct its next Postal Pulse employee survey from Tuesday, May 1-Friday, June 1. The survey measures engagement — employees’ involvement, enthusiasm and commitment to their work. The Postal Service uses the feedback to improve its workplaces. The survey takes about 5 minutes to complete. Bargaining employees will receive the survey at their home […]
To help mark Valentine’s Day next week, here’s a look at five couples through the ages who used letters to express their love. 1. Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning. The 19th-century poets, whose relationship inspired Barrett’s most famous sonnet (“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.”), exchanged more than 500 letters. In […]
Postal Service customer Judi Gosselin still doesn’t know precisely what caused her to collapse recently in the driveway of her Johnstown, NY, home. But she’s certain of one thing: Nicole Hunt, the letter carrier who came to her aid, is a hero. “Oh my gosh, she saved my life!” Gosselin told The Leader-Herald, a local […]
“Dear John” was a great article about singer John Mayer asking fans to mail him typewritten letters. We need more folks talking about paper and envelopes. […]
You hear a lot about Postal Service employees who have banked years’ worth of sick leave during the course of their careers. What does that actually mean — and how could saving sick leave benefit you? Here are some things to keep in mind: • Conserving leave can help you when you’re sick. By saving […]