Thursday, March 20, 2025
Mercado named chief retail and delivery officer
He joined the Postal Service in 1988
Elvin Mercado has been named the Postal Service’s chief retail and delivery officer — a position he’s held on an acting basis since Jan. 17.
He succeeds Dr. Joshua Colin, who is now the Postal Service’s chief performance officer.
Mercado oversees 430,000 employees in more than 30,000 retail and delivery sites.
He most recently was acting delivery operations vice president. Prior to that, Mercado was retail and Post Office operations vice president.
He also previously served as Central Area’s vice president, Atlantic Area’s acting vice president, manager of the former Westchester and Triboro districts, retail and delivery transformation director, and postmaster for Manhattan and the Bronx, NY.
Mercado joined USPS in 1988 as a letter carrier in the Bronx.
A vibrant celebration for these leaves
New postcard-rate stamps make their debut in Ohio
The Postal Service dedicated its Vibrant Leaves postcard-rate stamps at the Garfield-Perry March Party Stamp Show in Strongsville, OH, on March 14.
The pane of 20 stamps features photographs of leaves in various stages of color. Each stamp displays a single leaf from one of five tree species: aspen, maple, oak, sassafras and sweetgum.
“The Postal Service has a proud tradition of celebrating the natural world through our stamp program,” said Jacshica D. Laster, a Cleveland customer service operations manager for USPS who spoke at the ceremony.
Other speakers included Rocco Caponi, March Party Stamp Show co-chairman; Shirley Goldberg of the Western Reserve Post Card Society; and Bill Brooker, a member of the Ohio Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture.
Chris Lazaroff of the American First-Day Cover Society was master of ceremonies.
The Vibrant Leaves stamps are available in panes of 20 and coils of 100 in Post Offices and on usps.com.
March 27, 2025
Datebook
Betty White stamp ceremony
The Postal Service will dedicate its Betty White stamp on Thursday, March 27, in Los Angeles.
The ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Pacific at Allen Ludden Plaza, part of the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens, 5333 Zoo Drive.
The speakers will include Amber McReynolds, chair of the USPS Board of Governors.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP online.
WestPac Area, Pennsylvania 1 District lead in scanning
A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 96.71 percent during the week ending March 14, down 0.64 percent from one week earlier.
The data was collected March 19.
WestPac led the four areas with a rating of 97.04 percent, while Central ranked last with a 96.16 percent rating.
Among the 50 districts, Pennsylvania 1, part of Atlantic Area, ranked first with a 98.08 percent rating, while Hawaii, part of WestPac Area, ranked last with a 93.07 percent rating.
Scanning data allows customers to track their mail and packages, which helps USPS deliver excellent service, boost loyalty and drive revenue.
To see the latest data, go to the Informed Visibility website and select “Customer Experience,” followed by “DES 2 Scan Performance.” Postal Service employees must request Informed Visibility access through eAccess.