Holiday Schedule

Contract Post Office

No counter service will be available after 12:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 23, 2004 through Monday, January 3, 2005. The Contract Post Office will reopen on Monday, January 3, 2005 at 8:30 a.m.

Central Mail Services

The schedule for Central Mail Services for December 23, 2004 through January 2, 2005, is as follows: Campus mail carriers will provide all services according to normal schedule through noon on Thursday, December 23, 2004. Any department that needs to bring metered mail to CMS on December 23, 2004 should have it to us by 1:00 p.m. No pick ups or deliveries will be made from noon Thursday, December 23, 2004 through Friday December 31, 2004. Departments that need to pick up their mail or drop off campus mail (will not be delivered until January 3, 2005) or metered mail may do so between the hours of 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on December 27 though December 31 at Central Mail Services in the building north of Dykstra Hall. Authorized personnel may pick up all building mail (departmental campus mail and federal mail) at CMS. The responsibility and security of all mail released to authorized personnel rests on the department picking it up. We will resume normal delivery services on Monday January 3, 2005.

UPS Holiday Schedule

UPS GUARANTEES

Guarantees for all UPS air & international packages remain in effect throughout the holiday season. UPS Ground guarantees are waived between Dec. 12 and Dec 24.

The moral of the story is: SHIP EARLY!!!!

UPS Holidays:

Dec 25, 2004

Dec 31, 2004

Jan 01, 2005

QUESTIONS: Check UPSs handy holiday schedule at

http://www.ups.com/peakseason/index.html

UPS will have a rate increase in 2005. Watch for the press release at http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/index.jsx or contact Connie at 2-7751

Federal Express Shipping

Federal Express is closed Dec 25, 2004 and Jan 1st, 2005 and their money-back guarantee remains in effect throughout most of the Christmas holiday for all FedEx Express services but will be temporarily suspended from Dec 20 -24.

FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery’s money-back guarantee will be temporarily suspended on packages shipped Dec 11-24.

QUESTIONS: Check FedEx's handy holiday schedule at

http://fedex.com/us/holiday/holidayschedule.html?link=4 or call Connie at 2-7751.

FedEx rate changes, effective January 3, 2005

FedEx Express rates.

FedEx Express package and freight published rates will increase an average of 4.6% for U.S. domestic and export services.
We will reduce the overall fuel surcharge by 2%, resulting in a net average increase of 2.6% in express rates.
There will be an increase in FedEx Express U.S. to Puerto Rico rates.
FedEx International Premium^SM rates will also increase.

The following webpage link will take you to the USPS web page for their holiday schedule. The link also shows the Military and International mail deadlines for letters and parcels to reach it’s destination by December 25.

http://www.usps.com/holiday/mailingshippingguidelines.htm?from=holidaysiteshipholidaypackages&page=holidayshippingmailingdeadlines

14% rate hike possible without postal reform

Mailers may face a rate hike 14% or more in 2006 if Congress does not pass postal reform by Oct 1. The warning from Capitol Hill insiders comes as mailers are gathering data to set budgets for 2006. So far, their estimates for 2006 range from about 9% with reform, to over 16% if it fails.

Best advice: Keep your options open. Don't lock in material buys and volumes for 2006 if you can avoid it, or at least include the option to extend existing schedules and deals beyond 2005.

Without postal reform, or other legislated changes, USPS will be stiffed for billions of dollars in unfunded services, the unreleased Civil Service Retirement System escrow fund, and paying for retirement obligation for employees' military service. This will force USPS to include these costs in a rate hike filing expected by spring at the latest. The House and Senate are moving the bills needed forward, but time is running short.

Some say that a massive rate hike filing will move reluctant legislators when Congress returns in 2005 and that sudden funding will remediate the case after it's filed. However, others warn that mailers plan far in advance, and such a tragedy will cause them to lock in budgets based on the worst case scenario, and that will result in massive mailing cutbacks.

Source: Postal World, Sept 13, 2004

Safe delivery starts with careful preparation

When sending a package, there are several easy steps that make your package more secure and easier to ship.

The Box
Choose a box with enough room for cushioning material around the contents. If you are reusing a box, cover all previous labels and markings with heavy black marker or adhesive labels.

Cushioning
Place the cushioning all around your items. Close and shake the box to see whether you have enough cushioning. Add more newspaper, styrofoam, bubble wrap if you hear items shifting.

Sealing
Tape the opening of your box and reinforce all seams with 2” wide tape. Use clear or brown packaging tape, reinforced packing tape or paper tape. Do not use cord, string or twine because they get caught in mail processing equipment.

Correct Address
Using a complete and correct address is critical for efficient delivery. Use ZIP Code + 4 when possible. Locate a correct address for accurate mailing.

Drop Off
Packages may be handed to your carrier or taken to the Post Office. Packages may also be dropped into a blue collection box with the following restrictions:

Stamped packages should weigh less than one pound
Packages with postage printed using Click-N-Ship or another PC Postage provider may weigh more than one pound, but must fit in the collection box

Happy Holidays!!!

From the folks at Central Mail Services