USPS: Mail truck drivers on strike

Your mail may be a little slow in coming days, as drivers are on strike at the major trucking contractor that hauls mail for the US Postal Service in this region. Lance Coles (coalz) is president of American Postal Workers Union Local 44 in Des Moines. Those drivers are employed by Mail Contractors of America, probably the largest contractor that hires drivers to haul mail across the country.

See full story here: http://www.radioiowa.com/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=765F3F45-269A-4963-801E86B25AD6388F

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USPS: DOG BITES ON THE DECLINE.

DOG BITES ON THE DECLINE.

USPS mail carriers have reported fewer dog attacks and bites so far in 2005 compared to the same period last year. It’s a trend the Postal Service hopes to continue as spring and summer approach — traditionally the worst period for these incidents. Compared to 2004 at this time, there is a 9.42% reduction in dog attacks and bites nationwide.

Dog Bite Prevention Week is May 15-21 this year. More information about how to prevent pet attacks is available at your local Post Office.

(Delivery) Uniforms give people false sense of safety

ORLANDO, Fla. -

When a man recently walked up to Bay Hill Jewelers carrying an armload of packages and wearing a FedEx uniform, a worker buzzed him in, no questions asked.

But the deliveryman was a fake. After tying up the employee, he and an accomplice emptied the southwest Orange County, Fla., store's display cases of more than $1 million of jewelry.

Read the entire story here ---> http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/03/14/build/nation/55-uniforms.inc

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USPS: THE FINANCIAL FACTS

THE FINANCIAL FACTS.
When the Newark, NJ, Star Ledger published a commentary that the Postal Service should be privatized, Public Affairs and Communications V.P. Azeezaly Jaffer responded with a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on how the Postal Service has improved its financial situation, including “debt reduction of $9.3 billion, net income of $7 billion, productivity gains of 4.2%, the elimination of accumulated deficits and reductions of about 45,000 career employees.”

Normal operations restored at Washington, DC's V Street postal facility

National Mail Service Updates

Posted Thursday, March 17, 2005

Normal operations have been restored at Washington, DC's V Street postal facility which handles mail for delivery to federal government agences with the ZIP Code prefixes 202 through 205.

USPS: National Mail Service Updates

National Mail Service Updates

Posted Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 2pm

An extensive series of environmental samples taken at Washington, DC's V Street postal facility have tested negative for anthrax. As a result, the facility has been reopened and operations there have resumed. The V Street facility handles mail for Washington, DC area federal agencies with ZIP Code prefixes 202 through 205. The testing was conducted as a precaution following a positive test result at a Department of Defense facility that receives mail from V Street. It has been determined that the initial positive test result was not connected to the mail.

DEFINITIVE PENTAGON TEST RESULTS TODAY - No employees exhibit anthrax symptoms

DEFINITIVE PENTAGON TEST RESULTS TODAY

No employees exhibit anthrax symptoms

Routine sampling at the Pentagon Remote Distribution Facility (RDF) has produced possible positive results for anthrax. This facility processes mail from the Postal Service, as well as correspondence and packages from a variety of private couriers, including UPS, FedEx and DHL.

All USPS mail for this facility comes through the Washington, DC, V Street government mail processing unit. USPS letters and flats addressed to the Pentagon are irradiated before delivery.

In addition, a monitoring system detected a possible biological threat at a Falls Church, VA, military distribution center. All of the items in this distribution center would have originated in the Pentagon RDF.

None of the samples collected up to this point have been associated with any particular item in the RDF or the Falls Church military facility. Additional testing is under way at the U.S. Army Research Institute for Infectious diseases, Fort Detrick, MD. Definitive results are expected later today.

Environmental sampling also is underway at the USPS V Street facility. The results of these samples should be available Wednesday and will help determine if a mailpiece containing anthrax passed through this facility.

Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, potentially affected workers in all three facilities have been offered short-term antibiotic medication.

However, no employees who may have been potentially exposed at any of the facilities have exhibited symptoms consistent with anthrax. The Postal Service, in coordination with public health officials in the District, Maryland and Virginia, is monitoring the health of V Street employees.

USPS: TRENTON FACILITY RE-OPENS

TRENTON FACILITY RE-OPENS. More than 1,000 people turned out for the reopening of the Trenton, NJ, Processing & Distribution Center. The facility — a major center for the New York Metro Area — closed more than three years ago as a result of the anthrax attacks. Safety and emergency systems in the facility have been modernized or replaced. The building includes a new state-of-the-art Biohazard Detection System, providing an added level of protection for employees and the public. Retail services are available at the facility’s retail lobby. Other operations will be phased-in over the next several weeks.

UPS Truck Overturns in Oklahoma

Authorities said a strong gust hit a United Parcel Service truck as it was entering the parkway. The wind toppled the truck on its side, authorities said.

It took crews about 1 1/2 hours to turn the truck upright and to clear the road. No injuries were reported in the accident.

Authorities said that no packages were damaged in this incident.

USPS Employee Statitistics Update

As of February, USPS career workforce stands at 690,301, down 14,280 from the prior year. The biggest reductions were in clerks- 10,042; mailhandlers- 1,267; supervisors- 1,117; and Area/HQ- 886. City carriers dropped by 64, while rural carriers were the only group to increase, up by 999.