An unusual event in West Babylon, NY, was part Art of the Skateboard stamp promotion, part local hero celebration. Special guest Chad Caruso, a native of nearby Lindenhurst, NY, recently completed a 3,000-mile solo skateboarding trek from Venice Beach, CA, to Virginia Beach, VA, an achievement that made him a Guinness world record holder. Amy […]
The Postal Service is requiring managers at sites that use Voyager credit cards to update the profiles of their drivers in the Fleet Commander Online (FCO) system. Incomplete FCO driver profiles will be deactivated, and the drivers’ fuel card PINs will no longer work after Aug. 3. Fleet managers are required to access the FCO […]
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team will hold a veterans’ roundtable for Postal Service employees on Sunday, July 23, at 1 p.m. Eastern time. The discussion will center on the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act, the most significant expansion of benefits and services for toxic-exposed veterans in more than 30 years. The […]
Zoom, the video conferencing platform used by the Postal Service, has added several enhancements for meetings and webinars. Here are some of the upgrades and how they work: • Immersive view: As many as 25 participants can be placed into a single virtual background scene by selecting “Immersive view” in a meeting or webinar. • […]
It’s so great to see young people like Vinoda Thiyagarajan — the seventh grader who won two awards at a national invention competition for the “smart mailbox” she created — contributing to the nation’s future. […]
Jonathan Thompson, a tractor-trailer operator in Garden City, NY, was recently on duty when he saw an alarming sight: Two little girls were standing in the middle of a busy highway. Thompson stopped and guided the pair — identically dressed twins around the age of 4 — out of harm’s way. Once they reached the […]
Summer has arrived and the heat is on. The Postal Service encourages all employees who work in hot conditions to: • Hydrate before, during and after work — even if they don’t feel thirsty. • Wear light-colored, loose-fitting and breathable clothing. • Avoid direct sunlight whenever possible. Apply sunscreen of at least SPF 15 and […]
USPS employees exceeded the organization’s goal of 30,000 sales leads submitted during the June #LEADtheWay challenge. Employees submitted 33,657 leads during the month, up from 30,467 leads submitted in June 2022. Since the start of the current fiscal year in October 2022, Postal Service employees have submitted more than 170,000 sales leads, generating more than […]
The Postal Service has launched USPS Ground Advantage, a new offering that provides a simple, reliable and more affordable way to ship packages in 2-5 business days across the contiguous United States. “USPS Ground Advantage is a game-changer — for our customers, the industry and USPS. By efficiently and effectively integrating our ground transportation model […]
The Postal Service is reminding employees to be conscious of sales and advertising activities conducted on postal property. Federal regulations prohibit commercial sales and advertising on postal property without a valid contract with USPS. Employees who are on duty, in uniform or on postal property also may not engage in any type of sales activities […]
The Postal Service wants employees and contractors to regularly monitor their financial and online payment accounts for possible fraud. Cybercriminals are increasingly using social engineering techniques to con users into revealing checking, savings and investment information by claiming there is a problem with their accounts. Social engineering typically involves phishing emails that urge victims to […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar to learn about the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program and Medicare. The session, “Medicare and FEHB,” will be held July 13 at 1 p.m. Eastern. Representatives from GEHA, a not-for-profit provider of health plans for federal employees, will conduct the webinar and explain how Medicare […]
The Postal Service is reminding employees and contractors to regularly back up essential digital files on their computers and mobile devices because lost files are often difficult, if not impossible, to recover. Human error, malware, technology failure, viruses, accidents and theft can all result in lost documents, photos, charts, presentations and other data, which is […]
Several Postal Service price changes will take effect July 9. Here’s a list of the current and new prices: • Letters (1 ounce): 63 cents (current), 66 cents (new) • Letters (metered 1 ounce): 60 cents (current), 63 cents (new) • Domestic postcards: 48 cents (current), 51 cents (new) • International postcards: $1.45 (current), $1.50 […]
The Postal Service is making major improvements to better serve its shipping customers, Chief Commerce and Business Solutions Officer Jacqueline Krage Strako told industry leaders last week. Under Delivering for America, the organization’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, USPS is creating an integrated mailing and shipping network that will allow it […]
Here’s a look at some recent changes in the Postal Service leadership ranks: • Lisa Bobb-Semple, sales communications director, was named acting stamp services director. • LaTasha N. Grabowski was named a New York 3 District workforce planning specialist. She previously served as a maintenance operations support supervisor at the Western Nassau, NY, Processing and […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar on staying healthy as you get older. The session, “Aging Gracefully Naturally,” will be held July 10 at noon Eastern time. Two representatives from GEHA, a not-for-profit provider of health plans for federal employees, will lead the webinar: Coletta Meyer, manager of health engagement, and Lindsay […]
USPS has announced the recipients of this year’s PCC Leadership Awards, honoring postal customer councils throughout the nation. The councils, also known as PCCs, are local groups that allow businesses and the Postal Service to build relationships, increase the use of mail and address mutual concerns. More than 220 nominations were submitted for this year’s […]
The Postal Service is modernizing its technology to better serve customers, Chief Information Officer Pritha Mehra told an industry conference recently. Under Delivering for America, the organization’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence, USPS is investing $40 billion in capital improvements. These improvements include technology upgrades throughout the organization. “As we march […]
The Postal Service is reminding employees that metallic mercury and items containing metallic mercury are prohibited in the mailstream. Metallic mercury can be found in older thermometers, barometers, blood pressure monitors and the like. Newer or digital versions of these devices generally do not contain metallic mercury. If a person knowingly mails items or materials […]
Rio Grande, NJ, Letter Carrier Ryan Ritchie was recently making deliveries when he grew worried about a customer whose mail was piling up unusually. Ritchie contacted one of the woman’s family members. It was soon discovered that the customer was in dire need of medical attention after suffering a stroke several days earlier. “Thankfully she […]
The Postal Service has released a video to highlight its Endangered Species stamps, which were released in May. The Forever stamps celebrate the Endangered Species Act, which marks its 50th anniversary this year. USPS dedicated the stamps on May 19 in Wall, SD. The stamps are available in panes of 20 at Post Offices and […]
USPS will readminister the paper version of the Postal Pulse survey from June 27 to July 28. The annual survey allows employees to share observations about their work environments, providing the organization with valuable feedback to make improvements. Because of an error by survey vendor Gallup, USPS instructed managers and supervisors to destroy the original […]
Postal Service employees enrolled in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program (FSAFEDS) should review their pay stub for erroneous deductions. FSAFEDS is aware of the issue and has taken steps to resolve it. Employees who have an erroneous deduction should call FSAFEDS at 877-372-3337. Do not contact the USPS Accounting Service Center. For information regarding […]
The Postal Regulatory Commission has approved the Postal Service’s plan to launch USPS Ground Advantage on July 9. USPS Ground Advantage will provide a simple, reliable, more affordable way to ship packages in 2-5 business days. Pricing for USPS Ground Advantage will reflect a decrease of 1.4 percent compared with predecessor USPS ground shipping products. […]
The Postal Service wants employees to know that there are ethics rules to consider before accepting work with highway contract route or contract delivery service contractors. A highway contract route, or HCR, is a mail transportation contract. A contract delivery service, or CDS, is a mail delivery service. USPS employees may not hold, or bid […]
The Postal Service will offer a virtual job fair for front-line supervisory positions on Sunday, July 23. The fair is part of Focus on the Front, an initiative to fill 2,800 Executive and Administrative Schedule Level 17 supervisory jobs. Participants will hear from operational leaders and receive an overview of the knowledge and skills needed […]
Letter Carrier Steven Graff was recently delivering mail in North Tonawanda, NY, when he encountered an older man who was struggling to reload a rocking chair that had fallen out of the vehicle he was transporting it in. Graff stopped to assist the customer, who soon collapsed. The Postal Service employee immediately called 911 and […]
The Postal Service has released a video to highlight its Chief Standing Bear stamp, which was released in May. The Forever stamp celebrates the Ponca tribal leader, who won a landmark court case that recognized Native Americans as persons under the law with an inherent right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. USPS […]
The Postal Service recently expanded a pilot program offering in-person identity proofing services for Login.gov at more than 18,000 Post Offices across the United States. USPS began the pilot in February 2022 in seven locations in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, DC. Login.gov is a shared service used by several federal agencies, including USAJobs and the […]