Pamela Harrison, Trout Lake, MI
I’m excited about the stamps previewed in “Hello, 2021.” I hope the Happy Birthday stamp will issued each year with a different design. […]
Mike Milligan
Posts by Mike Milligan
Home for the holidays
The Postal Service is sending households across the nation a mailer that highlights how mail helps people connect during the holidays. “We go the distance to bring you closer,” the piece reads. “Stay in touch with all your loved ones this year with our tools, services and package tracking — all accessible on usps.com/together.” The […]
Kindness of strangers
Operation Santa, the Postal Service’s annual program to aid people in need during the holidays, is going nationwide for the first time in its 108-year history. Through Operation Santa, USPS employees, customers and organizations “adopt” letters to Santa Claus and fulfill holiday wish lists from children and others who are less fortunate. Since beginning in […]
Kids’ stuff
Do you know how to keep your child safe from internet dangers? Many children are using laptops, tablets and other devices to attend classes online during the coronavirus pandemic. As they explore the internet, children can unwittingly become easy marks for cybercriminals ready to con them into downloading inappropriate content or malware. To protect kids […]
Big four
Do you understand the different types of health plans available to Postal Service employees? You can enroll in four types of plans during the annual open season benefits enrollment period: Health maintenance organizations, which provide care from in-network plan physicians and hospitals located in particular geographic or service areas Preferred provider organizations, which offer fee-for-service […]
Scanning snapshot
Scanning snapshot. A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 97.18 percent during the week ending Nov. 13, down 0.06 percent from one week earlier. The data was collected Nov. 18. Western-Pacific led the four areas with a rating of 97.6 percent, while Southern ranked last with a 96.85 percent rating. […]
John Henderson, Cincinnati
I’m honored to work with employees like Jody Forte, the Philadelphia letter carrier who befriended little Julius Westfall and gave him a mail carrier costume for Halloween. “Little boy blue,” the article about their friendship, definitely put a smile on my face. […]
Just $1
A new Postal Service video encourages every USPS worker to give $1 from each paycheck to the charity of their choice during the Combined Federal Campaign. “If everyone gives a little, we can achieve something amazing,” the narrator says. The campaign, also known as the CFC, allows federal workers to contribute to more than 7,000 […]
Protecting the mailstream
The Postal Service wants employees to safeguard the mailstream from improperly wrapped or damaged packages containing hazardous materials. Once packages containing damaged, leaking or nonmailable hazardous materials are identified, they should be brought to a designated rewrap or hazardous material mail staging area for assessment. Hazardous items that are disposed of locally could be regulated […]
Best defense? Good offense
Defending the Postal Service’s computer network from attack requires a good offense. While the Corporate Information Security Office (CISO) leads the daily charge of defending the network, all contractors and employees — including Postmasters, retail associates, maintenance staff and others — play a role in protecting USPS systems from cyberthreats. To keep the postal network […]
Scanning snapshot
A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 96.94 percent during the week ending Oct. 30, down 0.16 percent from one week earlier. The data was collected Nov. 4. Western-Pacific led the four areas with a rating of 97.34 percent, followed by Central (97.04 percent), Atlantic (96.9 percent) and Southern (96.51 […]
Sherron Hart, Greensboro, NC
I loved the “Heroes’ Corner” column that highlighted Keith Rollins, the Washington, DC, carrier technician who helped a lost 2-year-old boy who had wandered nearly a mile away from home. Rollins deserves a medal for his efforts. […]
Little boy blue
A Philadelphia letter carrier recently delivered quite a treat to a little customer along his route — just in time for Halloween. During the coronavirus pandemic, Jody Forte gained a friend in 2-year-old Julius Westfall. After months spent at home social distancing, Julius began looking forward to Forte’s daily deliveries. Because the boy’s parents, Thea […]
Acting vice president
Christine Bailey has been named acting sales vice president for the Postal Service. She succeeds Timothy Costello, who became Southern Area’s acting retail and delivery operations vice president in September. Bailey previously was national sales executive director, bringing in more than $15 billion in annual revenue and leading a team of 800 employees. She has […]
Behind the scenes
Cybersecurity isn’t just about technology. It’s also about people. The Postal Service is marking National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October by highlighting the Corporate Information Security Office, also known as CISO, and its work to design and build cybersecurity technology. Much of this work is handled by a cybersecurity engineering team of skilled professionals who […]
Scanning snapshot
Scanning snapshot. A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 96.85 percent during the week ending Oct. 23, down almost half a percentage point from one week earlier. The data was collected Oct. 28. Western-Pacific led the four areas with a rating of 97.24 percent, followed by Atlantic (96.98 percent), Central […]
Military merit
This Veterans Day, the Postal Service will honor employees who have served in the armed forces with a special badge and badge clip. The retractable clip reads “USPS Veterans Proudly Serving America,” while the badge features a message of thanks from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. Additionally, each employee who is a veteran will receive a […]
Risky business
Life is never without risk. Just ask the USPS Corporate Information Security Office. To help mark National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, the Postal Service is highlighting this organization — also known as CISO — and its work to protect USPS from cybersecurity threats. CISO’s enterprise cybersecurity risk management portfolio has several of these responsibilities, […]
Survey says
The latest Postal Pulse employee survey results show one-quarter of participants feel engaged, a slight decline from last year but an 8-point increase from the first survey in 2015. Engagement refers to how committed employees are to their organization, their role, their manager and their co-workers. The Postal Service has made engagement a priority because […]
Retirement info
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar on preparing for retirement. The session, “Understanding Health Insurance in Retirement,” will be held Tuesday, Oct. 27, at noon EDT. Susan Allgood, a federal plans team relationship manager for Aetna, will conduct the webinar, which will cover the Federal Employees Health Benefits program, U.S. Office of […]
Scanning snapshot
A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 97.06 percent during the week ending Oct. 16, down less than 1 percent from one week earlier. The data was collected Oct. 21. Western-Pacific led the four areas with a rating of 97.38 percent, followed by Central (97.3 percent), Atlantic (96.98 percent) and […]
Getting better
The Postal Service has improved its Single Package Lookup Tool, which integrates multiple tracking systems into one user-friendly application. The application, also known as the SPLU Tool, produces an average of 46,000 tracking insights each day that employees use to resolve customer inquiries. In July, the SPLU team conducted a survey to better understand employees’ […]
New vice president
Peter Pastre is the Postal Service’s new government relations and public policy vice president. He recently joined USPS from MetLife’s Washington, DC, office, where he began working in 2003, first as vice president of federal government relations and then as vice president of global government relations. Prior to that, Pastre was assistant vice president for […]
Beyond protection
In a world where the cybersecurity landscape is constantly shifting, protecting USPS isn’t the Corporate Information Security Office’s only responsibility. The department, also known as CISO, works to strengthen and improve the Postal Service’s cybersecurity efforts, too. To help mark National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, the organization is highlighting CISO and its teams, including […]
Scanning snapshot
Scanning snapshot. A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 97.03 percent during the week ending Oct. 9, down almost two-tenths of a point from one week earlier. The data was collected Oct. 14. Central led the four areas with a rating of 97.27 percent, followed by Western-Pacific (97.23 percent), Atlantic […]
Scanning snapshot
A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 97.04 percent during the week ending Oct. 2, down 0.05 percent from one week earlier. The data was collected Oct. 7. Central led the four areas with a rating of 97.38 percent, followed by Western-Pacific (97.21 percent), Atlantic (97.09 percent) and Southern (96.61 […]
Looking ahead
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar on long-term care insurance and retirement planning. The session, “Understanding FLTCIP 3.0,” will be held Thursday, Oct. 15, at 2 p.m. EDT. The administrators of the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP) will conduct the webinar, which will explore the realities of long-term care, family caregiving […]
Front lines
The Postal Service is a global powerhouse — processing and delivering 48 percent of the world’s mail. This makes the organization reliant upon a strong technology network to ensure uninterrupted performance. Protecting this network is the job of the Corporate Information Security Office (CISO), which USPS is highlighting throughout National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October. […]
Are you stocked?
USPS wants Post Offices to ensure they have an adequate supply of burial flags on hand for customers who request them. Through the organization’s Burial Flag Program, all retail Post Offices serve as a burial flag repository. Employees must use the eBuyPlus system to order U.S. flags for the program. Flags will be shipped from […]
Money’s worth
USPS and the Internal Revenue Service are encouraging employees to conduct a paycheck checkup to determine whether they need to update their tax withholding for 2020. Updating federal withholding is especially important for employees who had an unexpectedly high tax bill or a penalty this year. Similarly, employees who have had a major life change […]