The United States and Mexico celebrated 200 years of diplomatic relations on March 8 at the National Museum of American Diplomacy in Washington, DC. Judy de Torok, the USPS corporate affairs vice president, accepted a special letter of solidarity written by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to be delivered by mail to Marcelo Luis […]
Retail associates Catherine Rivera and Kiel Stewart were recently on duty in Geneva, NY, when they grew concerned about a customer who seemed disoriented. The postal employees called 911 and kept an eye on the woman until emergency responders arrived and took her to a hospital. The customer’s daughter later told Postmaster Vernon Ficcaglia her […]
Postal Vision will cease broadcasting at the end of June to USPS facilities that use the application. Commonly found in break rooms and other nonpublic areas at Post Offices, mail processing centers and other postal facilities, Postal Vision screens have been a standard way for the organization to disseminate information to employees. The Postal Service […]
The Postal Service will release its Art of the Skateboard stamps on March 24. The bold designs on these four stamps capture skateboarding’s excitement while reflecting the diversity and influences of the artists themselves. The designs incorporate both ancient iconography and modern graffiti. The first skateboards mimicked surfboards. They were simple in design and might […]
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy is encouraging all employees to participate in the revamped USPS lead generation program. Called LEADing Together, the new program combines the Business Connect, Clerks Care, Customer Connect, Mail Handlers, Rural Reach and Submit a Lead programs into one, using a common portal for employees to enter customer information. It’s “now easier […]
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s efforts to transform the Postal Service are the focus of a lengthy profile in Time magazine. The article outlines many of the goals of the Delivering for America plan, including establishing sorting and delivery centers, converting more than 125,000 part-time employees to full time and making USPS both efficient and profitable. “That’s […]
The Postal Service has released a video celebrating its new Railroad Stations stamps. The Forever stamps celebrate the noteworthy architecture of five iconic, historic stations in the United States that continue to play an important role in their community. Each stamp in the pane of 20 is an illustration of one of the featured stations. […]
The Postal Service will offer a virtual career fair for front-line supervisory positions on Sunday, March 26. 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 […]
The Postal Service recently earned the Public Service Award for its Election Mail program from the nonpartisan Election Verification Network. The award is given annually to a public official or government unit for protecting and promoting election integrity. “This award is further confirmation of the Postal Service’s deep commitment and great success in delivering the […]
Letter Carrier Gary Powell was delivering mail on a fall day in Martin, TN, when he came upon a duplex on fire. Powell immediately called 911 and banged on the units’ front doors, then heard a customer yelling for help from a side entrance. The Postal Service employee rushed to aid the woman, who uses […]
The Postal Service has announced release dates and dedication locations for stamps that will be issued from June through August: • U.S. Flag, April 10, Freedom, ME; no ceremony • Waterfalls, June 13, Yellowstone National Park, WY • Northern Cardinal Stamped Envelope, July 9, Bird City, KS; no ceremony • John Lewis, July 21, Atlanta […]
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has paused all new applications for the Federal Long Term Care Insurance Program. Unenrolled individuals cannot apply for the program. The suspension period, which will run for 24 months from Dec. 19, 2022, is designed to give OPM and the John Hancock Life and Health Insurance Co., the […]
USPS has a message for employees and contractors: Don’t simply toss away light bulbs when they are no longer usable. Most light bulbs — including fluorescent, compact fluorescent, high-intensity discharge (HID), light-emitting diode (LED), neon and ultraviolet lamps — contain mercury, toxic metals and other hazardous materials. Consequently, the Postal Service considers these items universal […]
The USPS Corporate Library would like to remind employees that there is a treasure trove of online research tools at their fingertips. A new Training Resources page on Blue offers assistance to those who are unsure of how to search and navigate these sites. The page offers links to guides and tutorials — including short […]
The Postal Service is reminding managers of an upcoming deadline for reviewing employee and contractor access to the organization’s applications and systems. The periodic reviews are required under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) accounting law. Managers must perform the reviews using both eAccess and ARIS. The USPS ServiceNow website has instructions for performing both kinds of […]
A railway supply chain summit had brought two Washington, DC-based postal inspectors — Brendan Donahue and Brendan Soennecken — to Fort Worth, TX, last summer, and their presence was fortuitous for a woman who experienced a medical emergency. A scorching day had cooled little by the time of an evening reception the inspectors were approved […]
Daylight saving time returns Sunday, March 12, at 2 a.m. In areas where the change is observed, clocks should be set ahead one hour Saturday, March 11, at bedtime. Standard time will resume Sunday, Nov. 5, at 2 a.m. […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar on Medicare and retirement. The session will be held Wednesday, March 15, at noon EDT. Leslie Priest, a senior relationship manager with Aetna, will discuss benefits available for federal employees after retirement, including health plans, Medicare parts A and B, and dental and vision care. She […]
New USPS-approved cargo-pocket pants are now available for purchase by city letter carriers. In addition to the standard side seam pockets, the new trousers have a utility pocket lower down on each leg — a useful spot for scanners and other mobile devices. The pants are offered in men’s and women’s styles and in summer […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar to learn nutrition and management techniques for controlling diabetes, a chronic health condition that affects more than 34 million people in the United States. “Diabetes: Manage Well, Live Well!” will be held Monday, March 13, at noon EDT. The session is hosted by the Wellness team […]
The Postal Service will release its Toni Morrison stamp on March 7. Morrison (1931-2019) was the rare author who achieved both critical success and bestseller status. Some of her best-known novels include “The Bluest Eye,” “Song of Solomon” and “Beloved,” which explored the diverse voices and multifaceted experiences of African Americans. She received many honors, […]
Neither rain nor wind nor gloom of night could stay roughly 200 Boy Scouts, their leaders and others from their annual Barefoot Mailman Hike in South Florida. As fate would have it, rain, wind and gloom of night were part of the equation this year, but the scouts soldiered on. The February hike is a […]
By the time the older couple sought Postmaster LeEtte Duncan’s help last summer in Pacific City, OR, she feared it was too late to stop the financially crippling scam they’d fallen for. A caller impersonating a bank representative had convinced the couple they needed to send a cashier’s check for $99,000 via Priority Mail Express […]
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 March 9 at 1:30 p.m. EST. 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 of the importance of stand-up talks on safety matters. Stand-up talks are the organization’s main communication method to inform employees on a wide range of issues. This information is valuable to everyone, regardless of their level or job title. Managers, supervisors and installation heads must regularly deliver safety-oriented stand-up […]
The Postal Service has awarded contracts for 9,250 left-hand drive battery electric vehicles, as well as orders for more than 14,000 charging stations to be deployed at USPS facilities. These awards are part of the vehicle electrification strategy that was announced in December by USPS leaders and senior White House officials. Overall, the Postal Service’s […]
The Postal Service wants employees to remember the rules for submitting and approving eTravel expense reports. Here are some general guidelines: • If you add a meal transaction to an expense report, designate it as nonreimbursable by placing a check mark in the box titled “Personal.” If you purchased the meal on your employee travel […]
The Postal Service issued a high-denomination Floral Geometry stamp Feb. 24 at the San Diego Stamp Show. The $10 stamp joins last year’s $2 and $5 Floral Geometry issues. Each denomination is a different color: The $10 stamp is red, the $2 stamp is green and the $5 stamp is purple. They were designed to […]
The Postal Service’s latest behind-the-scenes video shows viewers how the organization’s spring ad campaign was filmed. The TV commercial, “Orchestrated Delivery,” began airing last week. The seven postal employees in it represent a shift away from the focus on letter carriers in previous campaigns. “This time around, we’re actually featuring a variety of employees because […]
After reading “Vital valentines,” the article about the organization that sends valentines to senior communities to combat the effects of social isolation and loneliness, I wrote a note to an elderly customer. The sweet lady had lost her husband a few months ago and I just wanted her to know that I was thinking of […]