USPS HELPING MAKE APRIL 15 LESS TAXING

USPS HELPING MAKE APRIL 15 LESS TAXING. USPS customer care call centers will extend their hours today to help last-minute filers with questions about their nearest Post Office and its hours of operation. More than 500,000 callers are expected and almost 90% will hear the information they request from an agent within 20 seconds of dialing 1-800-ASK-USPS. “We might not be able to make it easier for you to complete your taxes, but the Postal Service does make it easier for you to meet the deadline,” Consumer Advocate Mike Spates said.

USPS: HATS OFF TO POTTER.

HATS OFF TO POTTER. “Every company executive who uses the mail should take his or her hat off to Postmaster General John E. Potter and his staff for reining in costs, reducing the size of the USPS’ labor force and managing operations.” So says DirectMarketing News Editor in Chief Tad Clarke in a DMNews editorial. Clark points out that USPS’ competitors have raised rates three times since 2002 and have imposed surcharges due to higher fuel costs — but thanks to PMG Potter and his staff, the Postal Service has not.

Clarke also says that, although a rate case is never welcome, “you have to admit that the Postal Service’s rate case . . . is overdue.” Clarke even points out that if Congress would remove the $3.1 billion escrow requirement, “we could see the rate increase disappear until 2007.”