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Are you in the know?

Want to stay on top of the latest Postal Service news? Link mobile can help. The mobile-friendly version of the Link website offers news reports, feature stories and informational videos, including coverage of Delivering for America, the organization’s new 10-year plan. The site is particularly helpful to craft employees and others who don’t have regular […]

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Tiptop tickers

February is American Heart Month, a time to learn about the causes of cardiovascular disease and how to prevent it. The USPS Health and Wellness team encourages employees to use the month to learn more about living a heart-healthy lifestyle and to address the risks for developing coronary disease. The three most common risk factors […]

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Package deal

The Postal Service has revised package shipping labels to include two new barcodes. The labels now incorporate two-dimensional Intelligent Mail matrix barcodes, which are similar to QR codes. They appear on shipping labels above and below the one-dimensional Intelligent Mail package barcode and contain the same tracking number. “Some packages from mailers — usually clothing, […]

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Weekend warrior

Linsey Goodale, a city carrier assistant, was making deliveries on a Saturday morning last fall in Kingman, KS, when she spotted smoke billowing from an apartment at a 20-unit complex. She immediately called 911 and rushed from unit to unit, banging on doors and windows to alert residents, many of whom were sleeping. Firefighters soon […]

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Something’s phishy

The Postal Service wants employees and contractors to learn the basic skills necessary to identify phishing lures in a sea of office emails. Phishing emails are often sent by an unknown external entity, composed with poor grammar, contain attachments or include an urgent request that you to click on an embedded link. However, as phishing […]

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Voice for the oppressed

The Postal Service celebrated the stamp release honoring author Ernest J. Gaines at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on Jan. 23. “Dr. Gaines brought worldwide attention to generations of men and women who asserted their human dignity in the face of racial oppression and violence,” said Donald Lee Moak, a member of the USPS […]

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Rabbit redux

The Postal Service has released a video to highlight its newest Lunar New Year stamp, Year of the Rabbit. The stamp shows a stylized mask of a rabbit’s face, which is covered with meaningful symbols. USPS dedicated Year of the Rabbit this month in San Francisco. The stamp is available in panes of 20 at […]

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Better, faster, greener

The Postal Service is seeking nominations for the 2023 USPS Sustainability Excellence Awards. The program, which includes the PMG Sustainability Excellence Award, recognizes efforts to create a more sustainable workplace and protect the environment. Nominees can include employees or teams who have improved the Postal Service’s environmental stewardship throughout fiscal year 2022 (Oct. 1, 2021-Sept. […]

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Natural wonders

The Postal Service will release two stamps, Florida Everglades and Great Smoky Mountains, on Jan. 22. The denominations are $9.65 for Florida Everglades and $28.75 for Great Smoky Mountains. The stamps were designed for use on Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express flat-rate envelopes. Artist Dan Cosgrove created the digital illustrations for both stamps, working […]

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Keeping track

The USPS Logistics team has installed new barcodes on nearly 95 percent of the Postal Service’s fleet of owned and leased trailers and box trucks. The new 99V barcodes use two-dimensional data matrices, which are also known as QR codes, and are replacing traditional barcodes. The barcodes, when scanned, provide a vehicle identification number and […]

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To remember

President Joe Biden has ordered U.S. flags flown at half-staff to honor the victims of last week’s mass shooting in Monterey Park, CA. Flags should be flown at half-staff until Jan. 26 at sunset. To fly the flag at half-staff, hoist the flag to the peak for an instant and then lower it to the […]

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Blaze battler

Letter Carrier Willie Shannon was delivering mail one day last summer in a Sacramento, CA, neighborhood when he spotted a balcony on fire. Shannon sprang into action, calling 911 while knocking on doors at the four-unit apartment building to let customers know there was an emergency. The Postal Service employee then used a garden hose […]

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Roundtable reminder

The Postal Service will hold a veterans roundtable discussion Sunday, Jan. 22, for employees who are in or have served in the military. The virtual event, which takes place at 1 p.m. EST, is hosted by the USPS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. Several topics — including the Wounded Warriors Leave Act, suicide awareness and […]

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FEHB and Medicare

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 Jan. 26 at 2 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 […]

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Hare do

The Postal Service dedicated the latest stamp in its Lunar New Year series, Year of the Rabbit, at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco on Jan. 12. “This is an important celebration for many Asian people, with an estimated 1.5 billion people around the world marking this special occasion,” said Derek Kan, a member […]

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Houston, we have a problem

Customer Services Manager Renee Butler was recently on duty in Houston when an older customer came into the Post Office to seek help. The man, who has Alzheimer’s disease, said he was lost and needed assistance to get home. Butler immediately offered the customer water and a place to sit while she called 911. Responding […]

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Jump start

The Postal Service has rolled out new resources and tools to help employees resolve technology issues without IT support. These include: • Network outage dashboard. Network connectivity outages — outage effects, facility downtimes and county power outages — have been added to the Operations Automated Weather Alert & Realtime Events dashboard to help managers make […]

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Network notes

The latest Delivering for America postcard is on its way to Postal Service employees’ homes. This card touts USPS efforts to transform its delivery network, which include reducing reliance on third-party carriers, adding new mobile delivery devices and package processing machines, and introducing sorting and delivery centers. Also, a part of the mailing is a […]

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A gilded route

Daniel Nerka knows he’s got it good. “Can’t get any better than delivering on the Hill,” the St. Paul, MN, letter carrier said. Nerka is referring to Cathedral Hill, which gets its name from the magnificent beaux-arts cathedral that anchors this historical and architecturally rich section of Minnesota’s capital city. The Cathedral of Saint Paul […]

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Midterm elections

The Postal Service delivered 54.4 million ballots during last year’s midterm elections, with 98.96 percent delivered from voters to election officials within three days. On average, completed ballots were delivered from voters to election officials in under two days. The data, which covers the period from Sept. 6 through Dec. 6 — the date of […]

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Preventing user error

The Postal Service is reminding employees to remain vigilant when using the organization’s computer network, to reduce the possibility of costly user errors. Several major companies have learned the hard way that user error, whether unintentional or the result of inaction, often contributes significantly to breaches in cybersecurity. Verizon and IBM recently reported that user […]

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USPSCA update

The Postal Service has begun closing inactive USPSCA accounts as it continues the process of shutting down the payment method on July 1. USPSCA, also known as United States Postal Service Corporate Accounts, is used to pay Express Mail Corporate Accounts and Priority Mail Express Manifest Accounts. The Postal Service is discontinuing USPSCA because of […]

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Out of sight

James Fenton, a carrier technician in Cottonwood Heights, UT, was recently delivering mail on a hot day when he heard a customer yelling for help. Fenton soon located the woman behind parked cars in her driveway, where she’d fallen, leaving her stranded and struggling to get assistance for her broken hip. The Postal Service employee […]

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Dee Nelson, Kansas City, MO

I loved reading “Going home,” the article about the Perry, ME, postal employees who discovered a trove of “Dear Santa” letters from almost 30 years ago. The letters are priceless and couldn’t have been found at a better time. I am Postal Proud of the employees.   […]

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Labor update

USPS and the Postal Police Officers Association have reached a tentative agreement on a 66-month contract, covering more than 360 postal police officers represented by the union. The tentative agreement is subject to a ratification vote by the union membership, a process that will take several weeks. Upon ratification, the agreement will expire at midnight […]

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Black belt training

The USPS Continuous Improvement team is offering Lean Six Sigma black belt training. Registration closes Jan. 13 and applicants must have completed green belt certification to apply. Lean Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that uses data to reduce waste, increase revenue and streamline work processes. The training will take place in person beginning […]

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Seeing clearly

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month, a time to learn more about the second leading cause of blindness worldwide. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that damage the eye’s optic nerve, leading to vision loss and blindness. Glaucoma usually first affects peripheral vision — what you can see on the side of your head when […]

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Walk with care

The Postal Service wants employees to take precautions when walking in winter weather. Snowy and icy conditions increase the likelihood of slips, trips and falls that could result in pain, injury and lost productivity. To avoid these accidents, employees should follow these tips: • Wear proper footwear with good tread and grippers (ice cleats); • Walk […]

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Courageous countdown: No. 1

Link is looking back at the year in “Heroes’ Corner” with a countdown of the 10 most-viewed articles. Coming in at No. 1 is “He’s not joshing,” the story of Josh Williamson. The letter carrier was off duty at a Louisville, KY, bar on a summer night when a crisis erupted: A man wielding a […]

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