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 […]
Darren Hale, a St. Louis letter carrier, was delivering mail last summer when a stormy day took a perilous turn: He came upon a neighborhood that was quickly flooding, where he encountered customer Cherry Jackson, who had rushed home from work at the urging of her 11-year-old daughter. The girl was trapped inside the family’s […]
The Postal Service recently released stamps showcasing school buses and sailboats. The School Bus stamp honors the iconic bright yellow form of transportation for millions of students across the United States. The brilliant color of school buses can be attributed to a group of state transportation officials and bus and paint manufacturers who met in […]
After a twister hit the historic Mayfield, KY, Post Office in December 2021, the building was deemed a total loss. To give an idea of how powerful the EF4 tornado was, an LLV from the site was whooshed up and deposited more than six miles away. But among the debris, a group of postal workers […]
Jerelyn Morton, a rural carrier in Stockbridge, GA, was recently delivering mail when she spotted a customer, James Alexander, unconscious in his garage. Morton sprang into action, enlisting the help of his neighbor Roberta Richardson, calling 911 and performing CPR on him for five minutes until emergency responders arrived and took over. Alexander, who has […]
The new puppy and kitten stamps in the Love series are “pawsitively” adorable! Friends and local animal rescuers are eager to use them to show their love for dogs and cats. […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming virtual cooking demonstration on ways to cut oil and sugar in food preparation. The session, “Cooking Without Oil/Dump the Sugar,” will be held Wednesday, Feb. 22, at noon EST. Representatives from Blue Cross Blue Shield will show healthy ways of cooking and using alternatives to oil and […]
The reimbursement rate for travel related to medical care for participants in the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program will continue to be 22 cents a mile in 2023. The FSAFEDS rate was increased to 22 cents last year on July 1. From Jan. 1-June 30, 2022, the rate was 18 cents a mile. The deadline […]
When World War II separated Farm Credit Administration (FCA) employees-turned-soldiers from their colleagues back home, the mail kept them together. The FCA is an independent federal agency that regulates the financial institutions of the Farm Credit System, which serves the credit needs of the nation’s farmers, ranchers and agricultural cooperatives. Last Veterans Day, the agency […]
The Postal Service wants employees to always choose regular unleaded fuel when purchasing gas for vehicles in the USPS fleet. Using premium fuel is against postal policy. To ensure accuracy, review the receipt after each transaction and report discrepancies in fuel type to the merchant and your manager. An account dispute form is available on […]
Editor’s note: This story has been revised since it was first published. The Skype for Business application will be turned off and removed from all ACE workstations on Feb. 27. As a replacement for Skype, USPS is offering Zoom Team Chat. The application allows users to switch from chat messaging to an instant Zoom meeting. […]