Daily News: November 25, 2022

Cyber Monday

USPS offers customers shipping guidance
Cyber Monday purchases are expected to hit $11.2 billion this year.

The Postal Service wants customers to know it is “Holiday Ready” to deliver their Cyber Monday purchases this year.

Online purchases on the Monday after Thanksgiving are expected to hit $11.2 billion, marking the busiest day of the season, according to projections from market researcher Adobe Analytics.

In a Nov. 23 news release, USPS reminded customers that products and services such as Click-N-Ship, Package Pickup and free Priority Mail boxes are available at usps.com and will help take care of their mailing and shipping needs from home.

The Postal Service is also encouraging customers to watch its collection of holiday “how to” shipping tips videos on YouTube. Customers can also go to the USPS Holiday Newsroom website for domestic, international, and military mailing and shipping deadlines.

To help handle this year’s holiday shipping, the Postal Service is expanding Sunday deliveries in high package volume locations. Mail carriers will also deliver Priority Mail Express packages on Christmas Day for an additional fee in select locations.

As part of the Postal Service’s Delivering for America plan, there are temporary price increases in place through Jan. 22. The increases affect both retail and business customers for some popular shipping products.

USPS expects holiday customer traffic to increase beginning Dec. 5, with the season’s busiest period for mailing, shipping and deliveries occurring the week of Dec. 12.

Big four

Understanding health coverage types
USPS employees can enroll in four different types of health plans during open season, which runs through Dec. 12.

Do you understand the four types of health plans available to Postal Service employees?

They are:

  • Health maintenance organizations, or HMOs, which provide care from in-network physicians and hospitals located in particular geographic or service areas;
  • Preferred provider organizations, or PPOs, which offer fee-for-service plans that allow you to choose physicians, hospitals and other health care providers both inside and outside of a network;
  • High-deductible health plans, or HDHPs, which offer plans with low premiums and high deductibles that must be met before insurance begins to cover costs; and
  • Consumer-driven health plans, or CDHPs, which are high-deductible plans that are usually coupled with a tax-advantaged health savings account to help offset costs.

USPS is encouraging you to learn about the available plans to find one that best fits your needs and the needs of your family.

This year’s open season runs from Nov. 14 through Dec. 12.

The Open Season LiteBlue page has additional information, as well as a link to Checkbook’s Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees, a resource that can help you evaluate and compare specific plans

 

 

News Briefs

Scanning snapshot

Facebook frames, Postal Bulletin, chat also highlighted
WestPac was the area leader in scanning during the week ending Nov. 18, while IA-NE-SD finished first among the districts.

Scanning snapshot. A snapshot of Postal Service scanning data shows the national rating was 96.32% percent during the week ending Nov. 18, down 0.18% from one week earlier.

The data was collected Nov. 23.

WestPac led the four areas with a rating of 96.58 percent, while Southern ranked last with a 95.93 percent rating.

Among the 50 districts, IA-NE-SD, part of Central, ranked first with a 97.58 percent rating, while California 5, part of WestPac, ranked last with a 92.02 percent rating.

Scanning data allows customers to track their mail and packages, which helps USPS deliver excellent service, boost loyalty and drive revenue.

To see the latest data, go to the Informed Visibility website and select “Customer Experience,” followed by “DES 2 Scan Performance.” Postal Service employees must request Informed Visibility access through eAccess.

Delivery data. From Oct. 1-Nov. 11, the Postal Service delivered 92.1 percent of First-Class Mail on time when compared with the organization’s service standard, according to data released last week.

During the same period, USPS delivered 94 percent of Marketing Mail and 86.4 percent of Periodicals on time, the figures show.

Frame of mind. A new social media frame promoting the USPS Operation Santa program is available on Facebook this holiday season. Facebook members can adorn their profile photos by selecting “add frame” and the amount of time they would like to display the USPS OperationSanta.com frame. Once saved to the profile, the frame can appear on other platforms as well, including LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Outlook. The USPSOperationSanta.com frame is available now through mid-January.

Postal Bulletin. Postal Bulletin’s Nov. 17 edition features a guide to postal passport services, along with the latest updates to USPS policies, procedures and forms.

Open season chat. Postal Service employees can participate in a live online chat to speak with experts about their health benefits on Nov. 30 from 1 to 9 p.m. Eastern.

Register at the Virtual Benefits Fair website or via the Open Season LiteBlue page.

Got news? Email your submissions to uspslink@usps.gov.