Letter Writers Alliance

The Coming of the Robofleet

The postal fleet, with its distinctive boxy Grumman LLV trucks is overdue for renewal. They are in the final stages of selecting a new design, and it's really about time considering that some trucks are just catching on fire. In an effort to really modernize, the U.S.P.S. is looking at autonomous delivery. Self-driving trucks are doing a trial run hauling mail between USPS facilities in Phoenix and Dallas to see how the technology might improve delivery times and costs. Currently, that stretch is not able to be completed by a single driver.

The drives won't be completely left in the hands of our soon-to-be AI overlords, a safety driver will sit behind the wheel to intervene if necessary and an engineer will ride in the passenger seat. The program is a two week trial. Who knows if the U.S.P.S. will end up adopting this technology, but it's nice to see innovation in the postal service. The post office should be on the bleeding edge of logistics technology. They tried sending mail by rocket! They pioneered air travel! They started email (kinda)!

P.S. Image found on Reddit. Thanks zeldadmx!

Royal Mail Rate Change

We're an international organization, dontcha know? I'll admit to having a large U.S. bias in my... what is this? Reporting? I think it's more like digesting information of interest to me in hopes of framing it to be interesting to other people who are like me, but aren't me. Is that reporting? Anyway, I mention this to say that it's not just the U.S. where postage rates are going up. On March 26th, stamp rates go up in the U.K. as well.

 

Look, no one likes having to pay more money for things, but such is life! It is pointed out that the rate change is more than inflation, and there's some sort of date shenanigans happening, which results in the Royal Mail donating a portion of the revenue from the change to charity for a week. 

 

Honestly, I am constantly surprised that these systems we have work as well as they do for having so many moving parts. Perhaps it is my new reality, functioning in a corporate environment, learning that there are a dozen people involved in changing one light bulb and that's in a relatively small business. I cannot imagine the logistics behind massive global mailing operations. And really, is it that much more to pay, really? REALLY? I do not understand the obsession with these minute increases in our INCREDIBLE MAIL SERVICES. Anyway, stamps are going up everywhere, and you know what, they should. It's worth it.

 

On that note, I'll have an announcement on Friday in regards to increases in prices for us, too. The more things change...

 

World Book Day Royal Post Boxes

The instagram feed for the Royal Mail let me know about a fun series of decorated post boxes around the U.K. in celebration of World Book Day. A number of beloved children's authors like C. S. Lewis, Judith Kerr and David Williams have been memorialized with graphics on selected boxes. This isn't the first time the Royal Mail has changed up its iconic red. To commemorate Olympic gold medalists, some of the boxes were painted gold. I do like it when mail boxes get used this way. I liked the R2D2 mailboxes and the SpongeBob mailboxes over here too, even if it was just advertising, rather than being an honorific. Of course, if either post office was going to make a habit out of this, I'd be less enthused. I do love the standard blue and the bright red (or some rare cases, green).

New USPS Website

Did anyone notice that the U.S.P.S. website is shiny and new? (That's good.) I went looking for a press release about the new postage stamps, which I couldn't find because the site has been redesigned and they don't have an archive of their press releases. (That's bad.) But, hey, they do have a new media page and that's fun. They link to the Postal Museum now and also to something called Postal Explorer, which seems very helpful.

National Thank a Letter Carrier Day

Today, February 4th, is Mail Carrier Appreciation Day. Most mail carriers have an assigned route and they are out there working hard to get all that mail to your door.  If you opt for a physical gift for your carrier, keep in mind that there are some rules when it comes to gifting an employee of the U.S.P.S.

All postal employees, including carriers, must comply with the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch. Under these federal regulations, carriers are permitted to accept a gift worth $20 or less from a customer per occasion, such as Christmas. However, cash and cash equivalents, such as checks or gift cards that can be exchanged for cash, must never be accepted in any amount. Furthermore, no employee may accept more than $50 worth of gifts from any one customer in any one calendar year period. 

Gift ideas include things like a new pair of gloves, a box of chocolate, a package of pens, or something else small and useful. Whatever you do, remember the people who are getting our mail around and remember to be grateful. We can't send our mail without them.

P.S. Image from the U.S. Postal Service Instagram account.

U.S.P.S. Rate Increase

It's a new year; it's a new postage rate. There's a lot of increases in package rates, both First Class and Priority, but the ones that matter most to us are that First Class letters are going up 5 cents for the first ounce. That means your regular stamps will be 55 cents. The additional ounce/non-machinable rate is actually going down...by a penny. So your heavier letters and your square cards will be an even 70 cents now. Postcards, the stalwart correspondence card that they are, remain an attractive 35 cents. There's also no change in International First Class stamp rates. As ever, I think these prices are a steal. I'm buying stamps now. I'm buying stamps later. I'm buying stamps forever. The new rates go into effect on January 27th, making the 28th the first day for new postage.

Regular Mail Rates Letters (1 oz.) Letters (additional ounces) International Letters (1 oz.) Domestic Postcards

WAS 50 cents 21 cents $1.15 35 cents

WILL BE 55 cents 15 cents $1.15 35 cents

 

Priority Package Rates Small Flat Rate Box Medium Flat Rate Box Large Flat Rate Box APO/FPO Large Flat Rate Box Regular Flat Rate Envelope Legal Flat Rate Envelope Padded Flat Rate Envelope

WAS $7.20 $13.65 $18.90 $17.40 $6.70 $7.00 $7.25

WILL BE $7.90 $14.35 $19.95 $18.45 $7.35 $7.65 $8.00

Check Your Boxes!

Today is the last day in the U.S. for Priority Mail to be sent if you want it to arrive by Dec. 25th. Be sure that if you're in a rush, you don't accidentally ship your cat to your Aunt. We all know cats love boxes. I'm frankly surprised we don't see stories of this nature. (And if you do this intentionally, you are a monster.) Happy AND SAFE mailings, everyone!

P.S. Although last call for L.W.A. was back on the 9th, we've done our best to get everything out that we could, sans cats. Happy Holidays everyone!

Free Shipping Costs Someone

It's certainly appealing, especially in this cyber world we live in, to have your purchases sent directly to you for low or no fee at all. It feels good to be thrifty about things. Saving money on shipping feels like you have more money to put towards something else. Unfortunately, there is no free shipping, not when you account for the labor practices involved, the environmental impact, and the damage to local economies. Sorry to be such a downer here in the feel good season, but these are things we need to consider about our world and how we choose to live in it. 

I read a very candid account of a postal worker in Medium recently examining how the U.S.P.S. is helping Amazon exploit postal employees as well as their own. At least a third of all Amazon packages in the U.S. are delivered by the postal service, with Sunday deliveries devoted solely to the task. While on paper, the service agreement between the two companies is beneficial, its unquantifiable costs are quite high. 

"...the arrangement has also increased the amount of work without also expanding the full-time career workforce. In addition to working Sundays and holidays, part-time employees are called on to cover career carriers’ regular routes if they are on vacation or out sick. These workers are paid less, have fewer benefits, and are beholden to more chaotic scheduling than their full-time counterparts; meanwhile, the increasing number of Amazon packages means more—and more difficult—work."

Also from the article, in the words of the anonymous carrier:

"I feel like I work for Amazon because the physical toll that the job takes on my body is mostly related to packages, and my lack of time off is mostly due to Amazon because of the Amazon Sundays. ...I feel like my life depends on Amazon. I imagine that the Postal Service treats us like this because they’re answering the demands of Amazon. Like, “If we upset Amazon, they’ll pull out, and we need their help.” I’ve heard that from my supervisors."

I don't have a good answer for how to fix this, but I do want the U.S.P.S. to succeed and I want them to do it while supporting the people that help make them great. I am willing to pay more for shipping to see everyone treated better. I am pretty sure that most people, when they understand the cost, would make that same choice.

Holi-DATES

Believe it or not, it is past time to start thinking about holiday mailings in some cases. Here's a run-down of U.S.P.S. mailing deadlines for 2018.

• Nov. 6      – APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) USPS Retail Ground®
• Dec. 4      – APO/FPO/DPO (ZIP Code 093 only) Priority Mail® and First-Class Mail®
• Dec. 11    – APO/FPO/DPO (all other ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
• Dec. 14    – USPS Retail Ground
• Dec. 18    – APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express®
• Dec. 20    – First-Class Mail (including greeting cards)
• Dec. 20    – First-class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
• Dec. 20   –  Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
• Dec. 20    – Priority Mail
• Dec. 20    – Alaska to mainland Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
• Dec. 22    – Alaska to mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 22    – Hawaii to mainland Priority Mail Express
• Dec. 22    – Priority Mail Express

Of course, it's not a guarantee, but they do their best...even when that means delivering a card almost a year late. Your best bet is to mail before those deadlines. According to the U.S.P.S. News Room bulletin, "the Postal Service expects to deliver nearly 200 million packages per week during these [first] two weeks [of December]. The week of Dec. 17-23 is predicted to be the busiest mailing, shipping and delivery week. During this week alone, the Postal Service expects to process and deliver nearly 3 billion pieces of First-Class Mail, including greeting cards."

Here's a link to Canada Post holiday deadlines. Here's one for Royal Mail. Australia Post was less forthcoming with this info. Best I found was this link from 2017 with a bunch of videos and how Australian kids can send letters to Santa. And then I remembered that ya'll have Google too. Please share your  country's postal deadlines in the comments below!

 

Suspicious Packages

It hasn't been a fun mail news week. Rate increases, postal strikes, and now, attempted terrorism via post is in the news. Bombs and other harmful substances being sent in the mail is an unfortunate occurrence that makes life more difficult for everyone. Thankfully, no one was injured by these devices. It's not even publicly known if they would actually have caused any damage. It feels flippant to just be annoyed at how this is going to fluster my already constricted attempts at creative mailings, but it will.

Postal people are annoyed too, as reading through numerous postings on r/USPS tells me. (That's my new favorite place on the internet, by the way.) The whole reason you have to take packages with stamps on that are over 13 ounces to the counter is because of the Unabomber. Security is also probably the reason that newer collection boxes feature much narrower slots to accept mail. I say "probably" because I can't get anyone who might know to talk to me about it. My theory seems pretty reasonable. 

Be careful out there, postal persons. Don't lick any suspicious mail.