Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar to learn facts about strokes. The session, “Be Stroke Smart,” will be held Thursday, May 12, at noon EDT. Representatives from CareFirst and the Virginia Hospital Center will conduct the webinar and provide an overview of stroke risk factors, warning signs and what to do during […]
When career opportunities knock, Joshua Snow answers. Snow is a customer services supervisor in Lexington, KY, where he began his postal career as a city carrier assistant in 2017. “I have only been at USPS for five years, but I knew what I wanted to do and I kind of knew I could do it, […]
The Postal Service will release a stamp May 4 to honor pioneering marine biologist Eugenie Clark, who worked tirelessly to change public perception of sharks. Clark (1922-2015), an ichthyologist and oceanographer known as the “Shark Lady,” debunked myths about sharks as vicious, fearsome creatures. For example, she demonstrated that lemon sharks could be trained to […]
May is Stroke Awareness Month, a time to learn about the symptoms that occur when blood supply to the brain is blocked, or a blood vessel in the brain bursts. A stroke can lead to brain damage and death, and it is a leading cause of long-term disability. Any person, including children, can have a […]
Rural Carrier Jerry Engst was recently delivering mail in dense fog in Frazee, MN, when he came upon an accident that left a semitractor-trailer jackknifed on a highway. Engst stopped to check on the driver, who was uninjured and able to call 911. The Postal Service employee returned to his vehicle, turned on the flashers […]
Shibani S. Gambhir and Robert H. Raines Jr. have been appointed to lead separate business divisions, effective immediately. As Business Development vice president, Gambhir will lead commercial strategy across the Postal Service, including spearheading design and planning for a $10 billion shipping portfolio. Previously, Gambhir was customer contracts and pricing director, where she forged multibillion-dollar […]
Postal Service employees must reset their self-service profile (SSP) password after April 24 to comply with the organization’s new security requirements and avoid disruptions in access. An SSP password allows an employee to access several applications and websites, including LiteBlue, PostalEASE, ePayroll, eRetire, eOPF and eReassign, as well as IdeaSMART and HERO. The password resets […]
Climate change is the subject of this year’s International Letter Writing Competition, the Universal Postal Union’s annual contest for young people ages 9 to 15. Participants are asked to “write a letter to an influential person about why and how to take action on climate change.” The Universal Postal Union, a United Nations agency that […]
The Postal Service wants employees and contractors to remember they’re prohibited from speaking on behalf of the organization without permission on websites, blogs and other forms of social media. Under the organization’s policy, employees must receive written permission from the USPS social media and legal teams and the appropriate vice president before establishing online accounts […]
Letter Carrier Avtar Sanghera was recently delivering mail in a Chowchilla, CA, neighborhood when he heard someone yelling for help inside a residence. Sanghera went to the front door and found that an older customer in a wheelchair was stranded in a room filling with smoke from a smoldering TV set. The wheelchair was stuck, […]
Employees at one Post Office in Texas have been busy submitting leads for the new USPS Connect Local delivery option. USPS Connect Local, which began a national rollout in February, offers businesses affordable next-day delivery in select locations, with same-day delivery, Sunday delivery and pickup options in each state. Waxahachie Post Office employees have submitted […]
The Postal Service will release five stamps celebrating painter and sculptor George Morrison — one of the nation’s greatest modernist artists — on April 22. A founding figure of Native American modernism, Morrison (1919-2000) created distinctive abstract landscape paintings and enormous wood collages. His work was drawn from childhood memories of Lake Superior and his […]
USPS employees still have time to earn a complimentary registration to this year’s National Postal Forum (NPF). The annual meeting brings together USPS leaders, business customers and other mailing and shipping industry professionals. This year’s NPF will be held May 15-18 in Phoenix. So far, seven employees have received a free registration by recruiting five […]
USPS is taking additional actions to improve its service reliability by implementing changes to service standards for First-Class Package Service, effective May 1. This initiative is part of Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability and service excellence. Modifying these service standards will allow for additional transport time for long-distance […]
The Postal Service is reminding employees that they are required to abide by the Hatch Act, including the guidelines for using social media. Here’s a quick recap of the law: • The Hatch Act exists to keep politics out of federal workplaces. The law, passed in 1939, limits certain political activities of federal employees, including […]
Letter Carrier Jeremy Downing was delivering mail on a summer day in Miamisburg, OH, when a customer approached him, frantically asking if he’d seen her 2-year-old son. The woman said the boy had apparently slipped out the front door while she was preoccupied elsewhere in their residence, and Downing assured her he would keep an […]
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s efforts to modernize the Postal Service are the subject of a lengthy article in Bloomberg Businessweek. The feature details the challenges facing USPS when DeJoy became the 75th postmaster general, in 2020, including the effects of COVID-19 on the organization’s 644,000-member workforce and the issues associated with the increase in mail-in […]
The Postal Service released its Flags on Barns stamps for business-mail users on April 14. The series of four stamps, set in rural landscapes, shows barns that have the U.S. flag painted on them. Illustrator Stephanie Bower used pencil and watercolors on watercolor paper to create the original art for the four stamps. The words […]
Glad to see James Bircher — a Fort Worth, TX, bulk mail technician who used the Clerks Care program to pass along a sales lead to USPS — and others receive recognition for their efforts to generate new revenue for the organization. […]
Rural Carrier Brittany Siler was recently delivering mail in Peru, IN, when she grew concerned about a customer whose mail was piling up. Siler alerted a neighbor, who arranged for someone to check on the woman. The customer was found stranded in her bathtub, where she’d fallen two days earlier. She soon received medical attention. […]
The Postal Service reform legislation that President Biden signed into law on April 6 will involve changes to employees’ health and retirement benefits. USPS understands that employees have many questions, so here are a few things to know: • The law establishes the Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Program, which will provide health insurance to […]
Here’s a look at some recent changes in the Postal Service leadership ranks: • Pamela A. Dunaway, Kansas-Missouri District’s manager, retired March 25 after 31 years with USPS. • Eric D. Gilbert, a California 6 District Post Office operations manager, was named the Columbus, OH, Post Office’s acting officer in charge. • Gina M. MacNeill […]
The USPS Benefits and Wellness team is encouraging employees to join the 10KaDay challenge, a six-week interactive program that helps build behaviors for lifelong wellness while virtually traveling the globe. Employees can use their personal, nonpostal devices to log into the 10KaDay website or download the program app to track physical activity, access hundreds of […]
The USPS Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team will host a virtual fair, beginning in April, to mark Celebrate Diversity Month, a time set aside to honor the diversity that is a longtime hallmark of the Postal Service. “‘E pluribus unum’ is inscribed on all coins minted in the United States. It is Latin for ‘out […]
The Postal Service will require employees to reset their self-service profile password after April 24 to comply with new online security rules. A self-service profile password allows an employee to access several applications and websites, including LiteBlue, PostalEASE, ePayroll, eRetire, eOPF and eReassign, as well as IdeaSMART and HERO. Employees who fail to comply will […]
Postal Service employees can participate in an upcoming webinar to learn about making healthy food choices to get more nutrient-rich and disease-preventing foods on their plate. The session, “Food as Medicine,” will be held Monday, April 18, at noon EDT. Mandy Katz, a nutritionist for the Giant supermarket chain, and Coletta Meyer, health and wellness […]
Customer Services Supervisor Lamont Cooper had recently left work in Elkridge, MD, when he witnessed a serious accident: A tractor-trailer overturned at an intersection, crushing a car beside it. While 911 was called, Cooper sprang into action, safely rescuing the car’s driver. Paramedics soon arrived and treated the man for minor injuries. […]
A neighborhood pharmacy in New York City is now using USPS Connect Local for deliveries, thanks to the enthusiasm of one customer services supervisor. USPS Connect Local, which began a national rollout in February, offers small businesses affordable next-day delivery in all locations, with same-day delivery, Sunday delivery and pickup options in select locations. After […]
The Postal Service will release a Forever stamp in honor of Shel Silverstein, the multitalented, acclaimed children’s book author and illustrator, on April 8. Silverstein (1930-1999) wrote and illustrated several bestselling books, including “Where the Sidewalk Ends” (1974), “A Light in the Attic” (1981), “Falling Up” (1996) and “Every Thing on It” (2011). Each featured […]
The Postal Service has released six videos that detail how to report accidents and hazards, conduct investigations and develop safety action plans using the Safety and Health Management Tool. The tool — also known as SHMT — replaced the Employee Health and Safety accident reporting process last October. The topics addressed in the videos include: […]