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Medicare integration

Top story

Medicare integration
Explaining how it would benefit USPS retirees
2 days ago
Operations changes
New groups formed within organization
23 hours ago
Back in session
As classes resume, watch out for students
1 day ago

Let them know

Let them know

Tell craft employees about Link mobile
USPS wants managers, supervisors and others to tell craft employees about Link mobile, the Link site’s mobile-friendly version.
1 day ago

Are you prepared?

Are you prepared?

Hurricane season continues until Nov. 30
Here are the steps you should take to safely weather a major storm.
2 days ago

Good old summertime

Good old summertime

Video highlights State and County Fairs stamps
The four State and County Fairs stamps were dedicated July 25 during the North Dakota State Fair in Minot.
2 days ago

Pass it on

Pass it on

News Quiz: Remember what you read?
This week’s quiz will test your knowledge of passports, mail and package volumes, Informed Delivery and more.
2 days ago

Mile-high motors

Mile-high motors

Colorado VMF keeps mail, packages rolling
A USPS vehicle maintenance facility in Denver oversees the repairs and maintenance of more than 2,000 postal vehicles.
3 days ago

Easier than ever

Easier than ever

Use new method to update your info
The Postal Service is reminding you about a new method to provide the organization with your current contact information.
3 days ago

Scanning snapshot

News Briefs

Scanning snapshot

Business Connect also highlighted
Read about the Postal Service’s latest scanning snapshot and Business Connect Month.
3 days ago

Pushing the envelope

Pushing the envelope

Employee’s idea leads to change
A USPS employee used the IdeaSMART platform to alert the organization to outdated information on earnings statement envelopes.
3 days ago

‘Seems like yesterday’

‘Seems like yesterday’

Employee marks 50 years of service
Joshua Dial’s colleagues recently marked his milestone with a surprise celebration at the Charlotte, NC, Processing and Distribution Center, where he is based.
4 days ago

Saving Skippy

Saving Skippy

Employee gives dog new leash on life
Letter Carrier Laura Domnick saves abandoned dog Skippy in Wilmington, DE
5 days ago

Archives

  • By the numbers: 1,400: Number of New Deal-era murals and sculptures in Post Offices across the United States

Heroes’ Corner

  • To serve and protect

    Employee saves customer from scam

    Aug. 23

    To serve and protect

    Employee saves customer from scam
    Aug. 23 at midnight

    Retail Associate Terry Ball was recently on duty in Anthony, KS, when he grew concerned about an older customer who purchased money orders totaling $3,000 and said he needed to mail them to claim lottery winnings.

    Ball advised the man to keep his funds, and postal inspectors were notified of the suspected scam attempt.

    The customer returned several days later, adamant about mailing the money orders, so Ball called one of the man’s family members who could come to the Post Office and convince him he was being victimized.

    The customer’s next visit was for a different reason: to praise Ball for protecting him.

    “Thanks for watching out for us old men out here!” he said.

    Archives

Best Practices

  • Talk to people

    Employee always on lookout for leads

    Aug. 19

    Talk to people

    Employee always on lookout for leads
    Aug. 19 at 12:28 p.m.

    Howie Kobrin never misses an opportunity to boost Business Connect.

    One example: While picking up his daughter from a newly opened dance studio last year, Kobrin, the customer services manager at Little Neck Station in Flushing, NY, struck up a conversation with the owner.

    “She mentioned that she wanted to spread the word that the dance studio was open,” he recalls.

    Kobrin knew what to do next: He submitted the owner’s contact information as a lead through Business Connect, which led to the studio signing up for a $7,000 Every Door Direct Mail campaign.

    Simple conversations like that have helped Kobrin bring in more than $1 million in Business Connect sales each year for the past four years.

    USPS is encouraging Postmasters and other customer services managers and supervisors to follow Kobrin’s lead in August, which is Business Connect Month.

    To help others promote the program, Kobrin offers these tips:

    • Get business cards from everyone. “If I see a competitor’s truck at a business, I stop in and talk with the owner or the manager and ask for a card. We could win shipping business from them,” he says.

    “I’ll also ask for cards from customers that come in and drop off bags and parcels. It may look like we have that person’s business, but they may be shipping with others as well.”

    • Don’t be afraid to seek leads outside of your ZIP Code. “Your ZIP gets credit, no matter where the business is,” he says.

    • Be polite and confident when talking with a potential customer. “Offering a service that will benefit them gives me confidence. When I walk in, I’m going in knowing I’m going to help them,” Kobrin says.

    “Emphasize that we can help them save on shipping costs and talk about other ways to help, such as our package pickup service. They don’t have to drag boxes into the Post Office.”

    Archives

On the Job

  • Playing his part

    Rural carrier looks out for customers

    Aug. 23

    Playing his part

    Rural carrier looks out for customers
    Aug. 23 at 10:59 a.m.

    My name is Carlos Almeda, and I’m a rural carrier in Manassas, VA. I deliver mail and packages to customers on my route and play a part in helping USPS serve my community.

    I come in early every day and prepare for delivery by putting my letters and packages in order.

    While the routine does not vary, some days are different. Wednesdays and Thursdays are my heaviest days. At certain times of the year, such as back-to-school season and Christmas, there’s more volume. But basically, it is the same, just more of everything.

    I like to help people. My customers and I have built trust and communication. They like to tell me when they are expecting things, and I look out for them as much as I can.

    I joined the Postal Service in 2004 as a substitute carrier. I then got my current route in 2006. Back then, I handled more letters and flats. Now it’s more about packages.

    My wife, Glenda, and I married 27 years ago in Puerto Rico, where we had our first two children, who are now 27 and 24. In 2003, we moved to the mainland and had two more children, who are 15 and 11. All four of our kids are boys, but I have a granddaughter, who is 9 months old.

    I love spending time with my family, going out to eat with them and taking them to places where they can have fun.

    The Postal Service is good place to start or continue a career. I like being outside and talking with people. It’s a good job.

    Archives

The List

  • In equal measure

    5 facts about women’s suffrage

    Aug. 20

    In equal measure

    5 facts about women’s suffrage
    Aug. 20 at 9:51 a.m.

    To help mark Women’s Equality Day on Monday, Aug. 26, here are five facts about the voting rights movement that inspired the annual commemoration.

    1. Women’s Equality Day honors the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. Ratified Aug. 18, 1920, the amendment codified the idea of universal suffrage and granted women the right to vote. It was the single largest extension of democratic voting rights in the nation’s history.

    2. It was once argued that voting was bad for pregnant women. There were many arguments made against allowing women to vote, all of them unfounded. One such argument was that voting would jeopardize a woman’s pregnancy. A prominent Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor once said the “responsibilities of suffrage” would be “harmful to both mother and child.”

    3. Susan B. Anthony voted illegally. Suffragette Susan B. Anthony and 15 other women voted in Rochester, NY, in the 1872 presidential election, almost 50 years before they were legally allowed to do so. Anthony was subsequently tried and convicted of illegal voting.

    4. Some women had the right to vote and then lost it. States such as Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York allowed women to vote in the 1700s before stripping them of the right when they later re-wrote their state constitutions. New Jersey was the last state to allow women’s suffrage until banning the practice in 1807.

    5. Women’s suffrage has been honored with stamps. In addition to stamps honoring Anthony, women’s suffrage movement leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Carrie Catt and Lucretia Mott have also appeared on a stamp. In 1970 and 1995, respectively, stamps were released celebrating the 19th Amendment’s 50th and 75th anniversaries.

    Archives

Mailbag

  • Margaret Arenivar, St. Louis:

    Riverside, IA, Rural Carrier Associate Elijah Hoyt helping to free a fawn trapped in a wire fence proves you can’t say enough about being in the right place at the right time. Good job, Elijah.

    Archives

Latest videos

  • ‘State and County Fairs’ Aug. 22
  • ‘Frogs’ Aug. 21
  • ‘Military Working Dogs: Labrador Retri... Aug. 15
  • ‘Military Working Dogs: Belgian Malinois’ Aug. 14
  • ‘Military Working Dogs: Dutch Shepherd’ Aug. 13
  • ‘Military Working Dogs: German Shepherd’ Aug. 12
  • ‘1969: First Moon Landing’ Aug. 9
  • ‘Sesame Street’ Aug. 8
  • ‘George H.W. Bush’ July 26
  • ‘Fresh Look’ July 25

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