Postal Bulletin 22144 - December 23, 2004 - USPS.com

POSTAL BULLETIN 22144 (12-23-04)
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USPSNEWS@WORK
NAPS President Vincent Palladino dies:
Longtime NAPS officer was in his 13 th
year as president
National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS)
President Vincent Palladino died unexpectedly at his
Arlington, VA, home yesterday. He was 69. Palladino was
elected to his seventh consecutive two-year term as president
of NAPS at the organization’s 59th national convention
in Kansas City, MO, in August.
Calling Palladino a close friend and ardent advocate for
his membership and the Postal Service, PMG Jack Potter
said Palladino represented NAPS members well.
“I also knew that when I needed an informal opinion on
postal issues, I could always turn to Vince. I valued his experience,
perspectives and candor,” Potter said. “He was
devoted to his family, a mentor to many and a friend to all.”
“Vince Palladino’s passing is a loss not only to NAPS,
but to the entire postal community,” said NAPS Executive
Vice President Ted Keating, who assumes the NAPS presidency.
“Vince possessed a keen insight into the problems
facing the Postal Service and didn’t hesitate to voice his
opinion on how they might be addressed.”
Palladino represented more than 35,000 active and retired
postal supervisors, managers and postmasters. Before
being elected NAPS president in 1992, he served as
the organization’s executive vice president for six years. He
testified before the President’s Commission on the U.S.
Postal Service in 2003, suggesting new ways the Postal
Service could operate and still bring in money.
Palladino began his career as a letter carrier in Staten
Island, NY, in 1960. He was later promoted to foreman of
mails and then station manager in 1970. Prior to joining the
Postal Service, Palladino served in the U.S. Air Force for
four years.
FY ’04 a fiscal success: Surplus
revenues tempered by shifting mail
volumes
The Transformation Plan is working.
That’s the word from the Board of Governors year-end
meeting, where it was reported the Postal Service achieved
a surplus for the second consecutive fiscal year, with a net
income of $3.1 billion on revenues of $69 billion.
Postmaster General Potter said we’ve achieved USPS
business goals in 2004 to improve service, reduce costs
and continue to build our business.
The good news was tempered by comments that marketplace
forces are changing the character of the mail and
could threaten Postal Service financial viability in future
years with First-Class Mail pieces projected to fall below
Standard Mail pieces as the largest volume product. Chief
Financial Officer Richard Strasser said this shift in mail mix
to lower revenue-per-piece mail classes will result in shrinking
margins which are used to maintain universal service.
Strasser told the Board that total revenue reached $69
billion — an increase of $265 million over last year. First-
Class Mail service brought in revenue of $36.4 billion, Standard
Mail service, $18.1 billion and other products and
services, $14.5 billion.
Total mail volume rose nearly 4 billion pieces to 206 billion,
mostly in Standard Mail pieces. First-Class Mail pieces
declined by 1.1 billion pieces, for a third straight year of
decline.
Expenses were $900 million below plan and debt was
reduced to $1.8 billion, down from a high of $11 billion two
years ago. Productivity increased for the fifth consecutive
year, while workhours were reduced by 21 million.
Potter noted that USPS will continue to pursue its Transformation
Plan strategies, leveraging resources to build the
business.
“While these strategies have resulted in historic productivity
levels and cost savings over the last few years, we
must recognize that additional efforts to take costs out of
the system will require fundamental structural changes,”
Potter said.
The Transformation Plan will help USPS secure a future
for universal mail service at affordable rates and give it the
tools to protect regular mail and ensure a sound national
system well into the future. Take a look at the progress
we’re making in implementing the plan — go to
www.usps.com; click on About USPS & News; then Organization
Information, then Office of Strategic Planning, then
Transformation Plan, then Transformation Plan Progress
Report — November 2004.
USPS orders 300,000 scanners:
Scanning the horizon
The Postal Service will order more than 300,000 intelligent
mail devices from Motorola, under a three-year contract
awarded to the company recently. The devices will