Link Online | August 23, 2005
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`CONTENTS - August 23, 2005
`
`PARS excellence
`New processing system deployment complete
`
`July financial results released
`Revenue for month under last year by 3.1%
`
`Let the judging begin
`Carrier Pickup Tag Team Tagline entries being
`reviewed
`
`IT Tip
`Have it your work way
`
`Quotable Quotes
`A real benefit
`
`Postscripts
`A-PLUS recognition
`
`Mailbag
`A public thank you
`
`Heroes' Corner
`Persistence saves a life
`
`Newsstand
`Most retailers online today
`
`PARS excellence
`New processing system deployment
`complete
`With installation of scanning equipment at 87 Computer
`Forwarding System sites nationwide, the first phase of Postal
`Automated Redirection System (PARS) deployment is
`complete.
`
`Change of Address Forms Processing System
`scanners (left) scan newly-designed Change of
`Address cards for employees at Remote Encoding
`Centers (right) to process.
`The equipment is part of the Change of Address Forms
`Processing System replacing mechanized terminals previously
`used to manually enter information.
`
`Engineering Program Director Raj Kumar says the key to
`success is a newly designed Change of Address card. “The
`
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`cards can be read by an optical character reader,” says
`Kumar. “The forms are all scanned and the images sent to one
`of four Remote Encoding Centers to be processed.”
`
`Headquarters and Area PARS team members worked with
`Engineering, Processing Operations, Customer Service
`Support, Supply Management, the National Customer Service
`Center, the National Center for Employee Development, the
`Maintenance Technical Support Center and Information
`Technology to complete the deployment.
`
`The next phase of PARS deployment is scheduled to begin
`Aug. 29 and continue through August 2007 at 233 P&DCs. Full
`deployment to the Phase I and II sites is estimated to save
`more than 5.5 million labor hours annually.
`
`Back To Top
`
`July financial results
`released
`Revenue for month under last year by
`3.1%
`Revenues of $5.275 billion for July were in line with our
`forecast, as they were 0.5% ($26 million) over plan. However
`revenues were 3.1% ($170 million) less than July last year.
`
`There was one less business day this year, which would
`represent a 3% to 4% revenue change. Net loss of $251
`million was $9 million over planned loss. Total mail volume
`was 1.4% less than July last year. Standard and Periodicals
`were greater than July 2004, while First-Class Mail and all
`other classes declined.
`
`Year to date (YTD), net income for the year is $1.5 billion.
`This is $1.182 billion greater than plan and $1.329 billion less
`than the same period last year.
`
`Revenue is 1.9% greater than plan, down from 2.1% over
`plan YTD June. Expenses have increased 3.7% compared to
`last year and are 0.1% below plan. The expense plan
`underrun is in non-personnel expense categories. Plan
`overruns in transportation costs due to increased fuel prices
`thus far have been offset by savings in other supplies and
`services.
`
`Total mail volume is 4.5 billion pieces, or 2.6% greater, than
`the same period last year. First-Class Mail revenue is 1.3%
`below last year ($391 million) YTD. Standard Mail revenue is
`up 4.6% over last year ($684 million).
`
`Full results are posted at Financial & Operating Statements on
`usps.com.
`
`Back To Top
`
`Let the judging begin
`Carrier Pickup Tag Team Tagline
`entries being reviewed
`We all know that Carrier Pickup Online Notification powers the
`perfect tag team — customers and USPS carriers.
`
`In fact, we have more than
`2,000 ways to say it. That’s
`how many entries were
`submitted to the Tag Team
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`Tagline contest.
`
`The 2,057 entries are now
`being judged to determine 10
`finalists — one from each
`Area, Capital Metro and
`Headquarters.
`
`The finalists will be posted on the contest website Sept. 6,
`ready for you to vote for your favorite. Voting is open Sept.
`6-15. Employee vote results will be combined with points
`awarded by the judges and the winner will be announced
`Sept. 26.
`
`Western Area submitted the most entries, 448, followed by
`Eastern with 424 and Southeast with 238. Go to the contest
`website by following the link on LiteBlue, liteblue.usps.gov, to
`see the final standings.
`
`Back To Top
`
`IT Tip
`Have it your work way
`Nowadays, the movie would be called “9 to 6” or maybe “7 to
`4.” For many employees, the work week doesn’t start at 9
`a.m. Monday. Why not adjust your Outlook calendar so it
`reflects your schedule? Click on “Calendar” in the Folders List
`or Outlook bar. Click “Tools,” then “Options.” On the
`Preferences tab, look at the Calendar section. Do you want
`Outlook to automatically set a 15-minute reminder? If not,
`uncheck the reminder box. Click the “Calendar Options”
`button. Click on your working days and set the start time of
`your work day. Click “OK” when you’re finished.
`
`It’s your schedule. See it your way.
`
`Back To Top
`Quotable Quotes
`“Making our services available 24 hours a day, seven days a
`week will make it easier than ever for customers to do
`business with us at their convenience. Now that’s a real
`benefit.”
`— Missouri City, TX, Postmaster Karen Parson.
`
`Back To Top
`
`Postscripts
`A-PLUS RECOGNITION. Representatives from the African
`American Postal League – United for Success (A-PLUS)
`recently presented USPS Public Affairs and Communications
`VP Azeezaly Jaffer with Frederick Remington’s “Trooper of the
`Plains” for his contributions and support over the years.
`
`Accepting on behalf of his staff, Jaffer thanked past A-PLUS
`presidents — retired Dallas Metro Manager Floretta Reed and
`USPS Finance Administration Manager Angelo Wider — and
`retired Postal Inspector and current A-PLUS Chairman Michael
`Clinton. Jaffer and his team have provided many of the Black
`Heritage stamp series awards A-PLUS has presented to its
`members through the years. Jaffer is only the second person,
`and the first postal executive, to be given the Remington
`award by the organization. Pitney Bowes CEO Michael Critelli
`was the first.
`
`DEAN OF MAIL. Olivet, SD, Postmaster Mary Schoenfish is
`impressed with Augustana College Dean of Students Jim Bies.
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`At the Sioux Falls college registration, Bies told parents how
`important it is for new students to receive letters in their
`mailboxes, not just e-mail and phone calls. Bies told of a
`student who attended college in his hometown so his mother
`dropped off a care package. When her son looked
`disappointed, she asked what was wrong. Bies said the
`freshman commented, “I wanted to get it in the mail like the
`other kids.”
`
`Back To Top
`
`Mailbag
`Cathy Toomer, Capital Heights, MD: Congratulations to
`Waldorf, MD, Retail Associate Ronald Martin. He always
`provides outstanding customer service and recently got a
`public thank you in the local newspaper. A woman had
`mistakenly mailed a bank envelope with a large amount of
`money, which Ronald found and called to let her know. “This
`certainly restores my faith that there are kind and trustful
`people in the world,” the customer wrote.
`
`Ken Batastini, Lakeland, FL: Hooray for Gary Chandler, who
`donated his kidney to his brother (Heroes’ Corner, 8/19). As a
`kidney donor myself, I certainly can empathize. My daughter,
`Alyssa, was the recipient of mine. Although it lasted only 12
`years, she did get a “perfect match” kidney from her older
`sister and today is living a normal life, free from anti-rejection
`medicine.
`
`Editor’s Note – Most of the mail we received in response to
`Corlene Ziegler’s letter to PMG Jack Potter, which ran in the
`Aug. 19 issue of Link, supported Ziegler’s concerns about the
`recent Congressional vote on postal reform. One reader,
`however, wanted to “set the record straight” concerning
`Ziegler’s analogy about prayer in public schools, noting in a
`letter to Public Affairs and Communications VP Azeez Jaffer,
`that “only officially sanctioned or mandatory prayer has been
`declared unconstitutional.” The writer, Ken R. Clark, Confirm
`Mail Diagnostic Developer, Memphis, TN, also questioned
`whether the Supreme Court ruling was the result of “one
`person who wouldn’t stop.” That decision, Clark said, “was the
`result of a lawsuit filed by ten parents against a school district
`in New York state.”
`
`Back To Top
`Heroes' Corner
`Spring Hill, FL, Rural Carrier Tracy Norfleet’s persistence saved
`the life of an elderly customer who had fallen in her home.
`Concerned about uncollected mail, she knocked at the door
`and heard a faint cry for help. Norfleet dialed 911 but couldn’t
`get through the locked front door. She also tried a side door
`and window. Finally gaining entry through a back door, she
`found the customer on the floor next to a toppled walker and
`suffering from dehydration. Medics say she would not have
`lasted another day without Norfleet’s intervention.
`
`Back To Top
`
`Newsstand
`MOST RETAILERS ONLINE TODAY. DMNews reports that
`the traditional “mail order” industry has been revolutionized by
`the Internet, which has opened a new, versatile channel for
`remote shopping and spurred a growing trend for consumers
`to shop and buy online. The article said few major retailers
`today lack some form of online presence, even if it is just to
`draw store traffic from customers who have already decided to
`buy, and are now seeking a place — online or at the retail
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`counter — to finalize their purchase.
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`Back To Top
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`Link Online Archive
`© United States Postal Service
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