The Postal Service recently released Hot Wheels stamps to honor the 50th anniversary of the miniature die-cast cars. To mark the occasion, here are six factoids, courtesy of Mattel Inc. 1. Hot Wheels were an instant hit. Elliot Handler, Mattel’s co-founder, challenged a design team that included a General Motors car designer and a rocket […]
I was saddened to hear about the death of Brandy Pleasants, the Ashland, VA, rural carrier who was featured recently in “Heroes’ corner” for helping a store clerk in medical distress. My condolences to her family. […]
Letter Carrier Clubber Targton was recently delivering mail in a DeSoto, TX, neighborhood when she grew worried about a customer who’d met her at her vehicle. The woman looked unwell, and Targton asked for her husband’s phone number so she could let him know. The customer provided the number but insisted she was fine. However, […]
Carol Stream, IL, Postmaster Carrie Koutsogiannakis finished work one recent Friday evening and was about to leave her office when the phone rang. The customer on the other end of the line, Sridutt Bhalachandra, urgently needed her help. Sridutt had spent weeks trying to track down an envelope that contained a government document he needed […]
The Postal Service is offering suggested mail-by dates for customers who want to send holiday letters and packages to diplomatic and military service members overseas. The dates are listed in an Oct. 9 news release, along with details on ordering free military care kits and guidelines for addressing packages to Army/Air Post Offices, Fleet Post […]
A new stamp celebrating Kwanzaa, the annual Pan-African holiday, will be released Wednesday, Oct. 10. Created in 1966, Kwanzaa was conceived as a unifying holiday in the face of struggles to end racial oppression in the United States. Each year, millions of African-Americans gather with friends and family from Dec. 26-Jan. 1 to honor the […]
In honor of the U.S. Navy’s 243rd birthday Oct. 13, here are five things you may not know about the connection between the Postal Service and one of the military’s oldest branches. 1. The Navy once fired a missile full of mail from a submarine. While off the coast of Florida in 1959, the naval […]
The recent “News quiz” question on the Birds in Winter stamps was great and should be submitted to “Jeopardy!” […]
Rural Carrier Associate Camille Garrett was recently delivering mail in Clermont, GA, when she saw a woman standing by a car alongside the road. Garrett stopped to check on the woman, who seemed scared and confused as she explained that she couldn’t find her way home. The rural carrier associate asked the woman’s name and […]
The Postal Service celebrated the classic painting showcased on its newest Christmas stamp at an Oct. 3 dedication ceremony in Santa Fe, NM. Madonna and Child by Bachiacca features a detail of a 16th-century Italian Renaissance portrait that depicts the Virgin Mary holding an infant Jesus Christ. The image was painted in the 1520s by […]
1. What is the theme of this year’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Month? a) “Cybersecurity is Our Shared Responsibility and We All Must Protect Ourselves from the Dangers of the Dark Web” b) “Cybersecurity is Our Shared Responsibility and We All Must Work Together to Improve our Nation’s Cybersecurity” c) “Cybersecurity is Our Shared Responsibility and […]
Employees at two Utah Post Offices stepped up to ensure customers received their mail when wildfires threatened the surrounding communities. The fires, which prompted the evacuation of about 6,000 people, occurred late last month in Elk Ridge and Woodland Hills, two foothill communities in south-central Utah. At the Payson Post Office, which serves Elk Ridge, […]
The USPS online holiday newsroom is ready to offer postal cheer. The site will feature holiday news releases, Link stories, videos, stamp information, fact sheets, mail-by dates and details about the Operation Santa and Letters from Santa programs — all displayed on a snowy landscape. Like previous years, visitors can “paint” the site’s background with […]
Link makes so many people smile through its work to keep us engaged. We love seeing pictures of our co-workers and the wonderful jobs they do, learning more about them and the common humanity we all share. […]
Letter Carrier Tiffany Ejima-Zane was recently delivering mail in Honolulu when she discovered an older customer who had collapsed outside his home. While his wife called 911, Ejima-Zane rushed to provide first aid and was assisted by a senior activity program driver also on the scene. The 911 dispatcher guided Ejima-Zane and the driver as […]
USPS is making mail more valuable through innovations like Informed Delivery and Informed Visibility, Postmaster General Megan J. Brennan told industry leaders last week. “Mail is an incredibly powerful marketing channel, and we’re giving it new capabilities,” she said. Brennan spoke during National Postal Customer Council (PCC) Week, an annual event that brings USPS and […]
The Postal Service will release a Christmas stamp this week that features a detail of a 16th-century painting by Italian Renaissance artist Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi, also known as Bachiacca. “Madonna and Child,” an oil painting that dates to the early 1520s, depicts the Virgin Mary embracing a haloed Christ child. Bachiacca (1494-1557) relied heavily on […]
Help wanted. Link wants to hear from Postal Service employees whose lives have been touched by the Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). For example, during last year’s campaign, Link highlighted: • Bernice Redden, a Clearwater, FL, customer services supervisor who credits several CFC charities for their help after her son was born with cerebral palsy • […]
World Post Day, an event to raise awareness of the role of postal services in people’s lives, is held each year on Oct. 9. Here are five facts about postal organizations around the globe. 1. USPS is one of the world’s largest posts. The organization handles 47 percent of the world’s mail, delivering more mail […]
Thank you, USPS, for celebrating first responders with the excellent Honoring First Responders stamp. […]
City Carrier Assistant Brian Abeyta was recently driving to work on a rain-slicked canyonside road when a car skidded out of control. The vehicle wound up overturned precariously against a guardrail protecting it from a steep drop. Afraid the car would go over, and with traffic at a standstill, Abeyta rushed to aid the trapped […]
It’s time to say farewell to the Learning Management System (LMS). The HERO learning portal will become the Postal Service’s one-stop shop for employees’ online learning needs, beginning next week. The portal will fully replace LMS, which will no longer be accessible after Sunday, Sept. 30, at 11:59 p.m. CDT. USPS recently announced the transition. If […]
Postal Service employees have helped USPS generate more than $45 million in new revenue for fiscal 2018 through the Submit a Lead program. Submit a Lead allows employees who are not eligible to participate in other lead generation programs — such as Customer Connect, Rural Reach and Clerks Care — to help target new business […]
The Postal Service wants employees to remember the differences between Election Mail and Political Mail. Election Mail refers to mail that allows individuals to participate in the voting process, such as ballots for domestic or international delivery, while Political Mail consists of mailings from registered political candidates, parties and related organizations. There are also different tagging […]
To mark the arrival of the new Honoring First Responders stamp, here are five things you may not know about these public servants. 1. St. Florian is the patron saint of firefighters. Legend has it that before his death in 304 A.D., Florian extinguished a massive fire with only a single bucket of water, saving […]
Rural Carrier Steven Harmer was recently delivering mail in Shingle Springs, CA, when he spotted smoke billowing from a brush fire. Harmer was concerned that the blaze — reportedly caused by a construction crew mishap — threatened a nearby residence, so he immediately drove closer and started honking his horn. A woman who was home […]
The “Playing it safe” article about suspicious $1 money orders was very informative. […]
It was a day to salute real-life heroes. The Postal Service dedicated its Honoring First Responders stamps Sept. 13 in Missoula, MT. The stamp recognizes the firefighters, law enforcement officers and emergency medical professionals who respond to critical situations. “We honor first responders for responding to emergencies, both small and large, that occur every day […]
It’s time to show some more love. This year’s Combined Federal Campaign (CFC), the world’s largest annual charity drive, began Sept. 10 and runs through Friday, Jan. 11. The CFC, led by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), allows the Postal Service and other federal employees to contribute to more than 8,000 charitable organizations. […]
Reminder: If your department is being audited by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) or the Government Accountability Office (GAO), you should contact the USPS Corporate Audit and Response Management (CARM) team. The Postal Service cooperates with OIG and GAO, two independent agencies that review federal spending and performance. However, CARM must coordinate the postal […]