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Category: Industry FYI

Extended Producer Responsibility: Our Legal Advisors Offer Guidance

The issue of extended producer responsibility is a growing concern for commercial mail producers, so our legal advisors from Brann & Issacson have offered our subscribers some guidance on the matter. California’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Program: Why Commercial Printers and Mailers AreOfficially in the Conversation For years, environmental compliance lived comfortably upstream – brand owners worried about it, packaging…

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Three Nominees Submitted for USPS Board of Governors

On March 2, the White House sent to the US Senate three nominations to fill vacant positions on the Postal Service’s Board of Governors.  No details about the nominees’ education, professional experience, or qualifications were included with the nominations, so any such information had to be gleaned from internet searches. The recent nominees join a fourth whose name was originally…

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USPS Wants More Last-Mile Business

In an example of what’s-old-is-new-again, the Postal Service announced on December 17 that it will be taking bids from shippers who want the agency to provide last-mile delivery.  Details of the program will be disclosed “in the coming months,” with winning bidders being selected “in the second calendar quarter” of 2026 and service beginning the quarter after that, i.e., in…

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Reality Check – Commentary

When Amazon announced last week that it was making plans to expand its delivery network into places served by the Postal Service’s rural routes, many postal observers rightly went UH-OH, knowing how impactful the associated loss of business would be on USPS finances.  Though the possibility was always looming that Amazon could in-source more or all of the volume it…

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Amazon May – or May Not – Be Leaving the USPS

Apparently as yet unable to reach a satisfactory deal with the Postal Service, Amazon reportedly is making plans to ditch the agency and instead build out its own rural delivery network.  According to an article by Jacob Bogage in the December 4 Washington Post, “Amazon is preparing to expand its nationwide delivery network and give up its long-standing partnership with…

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Understanding the Need for Training: Management and Employee Development

Workshops begin October 14, 2025. Registration is open. Despite the value of such a program, employee development is sometimes well down the to-do list of commercial mail producers.  To help company executives better understand why developing future managers is a wise practice, and a good investment, please consider these points: In short, for small businesses – where resources are tight…

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USPS Proposes to Define the Postmark

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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Industry Alert: Plant-Verified Drop Shipment Updates

Per today’s Industry Alert from the USPS: “In conjunction with the price change occurring on July 13, 2025, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) mailings will be verified and accepted as follows: Current Prices— PVDS mailings verified and paid for on or before July 13, 2025, using the current prices will be accepted at destination entry postal facilities through Monday, July 28, 2025, when presented using…

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Lighter News From the NPF

Registration and vendor participation at this year’s National Postal Forum was greater than in recent years, and offered attendees an extensive matrix of sessions, a busy exhibit hall, and evening receptions on Sunday and Monday evenings.Outgoing Executive Director Maureen Goodson, incoming Executive Director Karen McCormick, Mary Guthrie, NPF’s Director of Marketing and Exhibits, and the entire NPF staff rightly deserve…

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