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Parts & People
The Monthly Regional Publication
For Southern California
Automotive Specialists
Volume 6 / Number 2, February 2012
Publisher: Lance Buchner
Associate Publisher: Michael Anderson
Managing Editor: Rob Merwin
Contributors: Jerold B. Smith,
Dick DeLoach, John Yoswick,
Dan Buxbaum
Graphic Arts Director: Mario Waller
Printer: Tribune Publishing Co. Inc.
Parts & People is published monthly by
Automotive Counseling & Publishing
Company, Inc., a Colorado corporation.
ISSN 1083-771Z
Corporate Office
Automotive Counseling & Publishing Co., Inc.
PO Box 18731, Denver, Colorado 80218-7310
800-530-8557
President/Publisher: Lance Buchner
National Sales Director & Associate Publisher:
Michael Anderson
Director of Sales Development and Marketing: Art Wolfe
Founded by Lance Buchner and Dave Lucia.
www.partsandpeople.com
Office Manager: Amanda Buchner
Web and Production Manager: James Faust
Circulation: Tracy Buchner, tracy@partsandpeople.com
Subscriptions are free to all automotive-related Southern
California regional business owners and managers;
$36 per year, per edition to all others.
For mail renewals or change of address, please include
mailing label.
e-mail: tracy@partsandpeople.com
Reproduction of any of the contents of this publication
by any means is prohibited without specific written
permission of the publisher.
Copyright 2012, Automotive Counseling & Publishing
Company, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Publisher’s Statement
Benjamin Franklin’s Post Office
The U.S. Post Office (USPO) was created July 26, 1775, by
decree of the Second Continental Congress. Based on the Postal
Clause of Article One of the U.S. Constitution, empowering
Congress “to establish post offices and post roads,” it became the
U.S. Post Department in 1792.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency of
the U.S. government. One of the few government agencies
explicitly authorized by the U.S. Constitution, it is legally
obligated to provide postal services to all Americans, regardless
of geography, at uniform price and quality. Benjamin Franklin
was appointed the first postmaster general.
At the time, the USPO was the envy of literate Europeans and
the Euro manufacturing and merchant class born out of the
Industrial Revolution. The European model was a courier
service developed by, and for, nobility and aristocracy.
In America, the post office symbolized democratic ideals and
First Amendment rights, including freedom of speech. It
supported commerce and communication in the 13 Colonial
states and an ever-expanding frontier. To founders and citizens,
the post office was synonymous with independence and
democracy.
On December 5, 2011, the USPS announced it will close more
than half, or 252, of its mail processing centers, eliminate 28,000
jobs, and end overnight delivery of first-class mail. On Dec. 13,
2011, the USPS agreed to delay the closing of the processing
centers and 3,700 local post offices until mid-May 2012.
The USPS employs more than 574,000, resides in more than
30,000 buildings, and operates more than 218,000 vehicles, the
largest vehicle fleet in the world. It is the second largest civilian
employer in the U.S.
The USPS has not directly received taxpayer dollars since
1971, except for minor subsidies in the ’80s for costs associated
with disabled and overseas voters. As revenue dropped in the
2000s, the USPS has been hobbled in its efforts to stabilize. The
Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 obligates
the USPS to prefund 75 years worth of future health care benefit
payments to retirees, a requirement to which no other
government agency is subject.
Unlike the German postal system, which owns DHL in order
to compete with private delivery corporations, the USPS is
prohibited from doing so. Instead, DHL is blocked from the U.S.
market to protect domestic private delivery corporations.
Until July 1, 1967, the U.S. Postal Savings Program provided
limited banking services. An Act of Congress, June 25, 1910,
established the Postal Savings System. The purpose was to get
money out of hiding, attract the savings of immigrants, provide
safe depositories for those who had lost confidence in banks, and
provide convenient savings depositories for working people.
Unlike today’s usurious check cash locations or big box banking
services, Benjamin Franklin’s post office is not allowed to offer
these services.
There’s little doubt predatory, privatization parties and
purposes are at work dismantling America’s postal system. From
political propaganda to payments that craft legislation, with
“pork,” the postal service system is under attack.
Like so much created for the common good, not to mention
First Amendment rights, the postal obligation to serve all
Americans at a uniform price and quality could come to an end.
Rural Free Delivery (RFD) began in 1896. It, too, will end.
Small business owners and business associations should
support revitalization and continuation of the USPS before the
final postmaster dismantles it and assumes a board of directors’
position at a package delivery corporation.
What would Ben Franklin say? At the close of the
Constitutional Convention, Franklin was asked what type of
government emerged and he answered, “A republic, if you can
keep it.” n
EVERY TIME YOU ANSWER THE PHONE.
NAPA TRACS ® has set the standard in shop estimating
and management software since its introduction in 1989.
NAPA TRACS SmartCALL is the latest industry-leading
customer service tool that’s a low-cost “bolt on” for
NAPA TRACS.
This revolutionary new tool seamlessly combines your
phone system’s caller ID with the TRACS database
to immediately identify who’s calling and provides one
click access to customer information, repair orders and
history. Having instant access to information improves
service writer efficiency and takes personalized customer
service and customer satisfaction to the next level.
With SmartCALL, you can:
1AM
3AM
5AM
7AM
9AM
11 AM
1 PM
3 PM
5 PM
7 PM
9 PM
11 PM
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
SmartCALL also includes a
full suite of reporting capabilities
such as missed calls, call volume,
new callers and more that allow
you to analyze your incoming
and outgoing call volume.
customer records, history and
repair orders even before you answer
the phone.
customer information and
collect your thoughts before
responding to customers’ questions.
a higher level of
personalized customer service.
Friendlier, faster, and more accurate.
your shop efficiency
by decreasing your per-customer
phone time.
Visit www.napatracs.com, a call 1-800-659-37100
or remail
napatracs@napatracs.com.
acs@napatracs.com.
Page 4 February 2012 Parts & People www.partsandpeople.com