Sometimes it’s hard to get a straight answer. One such occasion was at the recent meeting of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee. In a session that included a presentation about USPS service performance, the presenter showed charts (like the one above) that, among other data, compared service in late September 2025 to what it was a year earlier. After looking…
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Traditionally, a postmark would provide evidence of timely mailing, and would be critical to ensuring mailed-in ballots are accepted by election officials. However, both voters and the agencies that oversee elections are concerned that ongoing Postal Service operational changes may eliminate postmarks or end their relevance to when a ballot was mailed. For example, as reported September 26 by the…
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In the July 14 issue of Mailers Hub News we initiated an award – the bull trophy – that would be given to the Postal Service when it makes an announcement that is no more than transparent spin, or issues a proposal that is egregiously self-serving, and thus worthy of being equated to what the trophy animal produces. We’re making…
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The Postal Service’s attitude toward the Postal Regulatory Commission became more confrontational and dismissive under the tenure of former postmaster general Louis DeJoy, and apparently continues to be so even now that he’s gone. Background Docket SS2022-1, Special Study on Issues Related to Flats Operations, was opened on July 14, 2022, to fulfill a requirement of the Postal Service Reform…
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Deep in an appropriations bill passed by the 52nd Congress on March 3, 1893, was the clause “For free-delivery service, including existing experimental free-delivery offices, eleven million two hundred and fifty-four thousand nine hundred dollars, of which the sum of ten thousand dollars shall be applied under the direction of the Postmaster-General to experimental free-delivery in rural communities other than…
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In “Postmarks and Postal Possession,” a proposed rule published in the August 12 Federal Register, the Postal Service sought to establish a distinction between the date shown on a postmark and when the USPS was actually in possession of a mailpiece. After a lengthy exposition about the history of postmarks and how the Postal Service has applied them, the crux…
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After five years of contentious relations with former postmaster general Louis DeJoy, many in Congress may see the arrival of his successor as an opportunity for fresh thinking at L’Enfant Plaza and different perspectives on some of the issues that nettled Congress the most. With memories of last December’s confrontations at House and Senate hearings still fresh in their minds,…
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It’s hardly a report for the evening news, but Sioux Falls (SD) station KSFY reported July 14 that Lewis Drug and Hy-Vee stores would no longer be able to “sell postage or mail packages” for the USPS by the end of September. When asked for comment, a USPS representative stated only that “the Postal Service determined that nearby postal facilities…
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After reading the Postal Service’s July 1 Industry Alert (“USPS to Implement Second Phase of Service Standard Refinements on July 1”) it’s clear that the agency’s PR writers have again shown their singular ability to spin anything the USPS does into a great benefit for its customers. Accordingly, we’re proposing that an award be developed that can be given out…
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Though not as yet listed on the White House website, several news outlets have reported that the president has nominated Anthony Lomangino to be a governor of the Postal Service, replacing Roman Martinez IV whose carryover year beyond the expiration of his term ends December 8. The nomination was received by the Senate on June 2 and referred to the…
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