US Postal Service

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>

Price of a Stamp Going Back Down

Court says last year's 3-cent increase can't be permanent

(Newser) - The price of a postage stamp will soon go back down from 49 cents, thanks to a US appeals court. The US Postal Service instituted a 3-cent increase —its biggest in 11 years—in January of last year in an emergency measure, arguing that it had lost billions in...

Postal Service Finally Retiring Old Trucks

Aging fleet a huge drain on resources

(Newser) - The US Postal Service is planning to finally replace a 163,000-strong fleet of delivery vehicles that have been in service since before Amazon.com sold its first book. The familiar Grumman LLVs now in service were built between 1987 and 1994. Upkeep for the aging vehicles has become a...

Feds: Postal Workers Swiped Pot Packages

8 charged with stealing, selling mailed drugs

(Newser) - Sharp-eyed workers at a Long Island mail processing center identified hundreds of packages containing marijuana and set up a drug distribution network of their own, according to federal prosecutors. Eight men arrested yesterday are accused of stealing 263 packages of the drug and sending them to be delivered to destinations...

Postal Service Gets First Female Chief

Megan Brennan is the new postmaster general

(Newser) - A woman who started out as a letter carrier in 1986 has risen to become the first female postmaster general, reports Time . Megan Brennan, currently chief operating officer for the US Postal Service, will take over in February. It's no big secret that she's inheriting a troubled agency,...

During Holidays, USPS Will Deliver on Sundays

In certain cities, at least

(Newser) - The US Postal Service will deliver packages on Sundays in major cities and high volume areas during the holiday season. Seven-day delivery will run from Nov. 17 through Christmas Day in response to anticipated growing demands. The agency expects a 12% growth in its package business this holiday season, or...

Feds Also Track Our Snail Mail

Postal Service audit cites limited oversight for 'mail covers' program

(Newser) - Domestic surveillance needn't be electronic. Last year alone, the US Postal Service OK'd almost 50,000 official requests to snoop on people's mail for investigative purposes, the New York Times reports. The numbers come from an audit conducted by the USPS inspector general, who pointed to a...

Mailman Saves Choking Baby



 Mailman Saves 
 Choking Baby 
Aug 20, 2014 9:27 AM CDT

Mailman Saves Choking Baby

Chris Brown in right place at right time

(Newser) - A letter carrier in South Carolina went far beyond the call of duty when he saved the life of an 11-month-old last week. When young Eli stuffed a plastic wrapper in his mouth, he began to choke, his mother, Stephanie Cooper, tells WYFF . "I turned around and started beating...

Why the USPS Has Lost $2.5B in Alaska

33-year-old earmark fuels operation

(Newser) - For the past three decades, the US Postal Service has subsidized deliveries to remote parts of Alaska. Law requires the agency to pay private air carriers above the market rate for shipments there, and the agency then charges retailers just half of the commercial shipping price. The results have hammered...

Hidden in Mail Carrier's Dead Mom's House: Mail

Kentucky man gets prison time

(Newser) - A Kentucky mail carrier felt he was a little too busy to deliver all his mail and will spend six months in prison as a result, reports the Courier-Journal . Authorities found about 45,000 pieces of mail set aside by William "Brent" Morse. "He wanted to speed up...

USPS Lost $180K on Office That Never Opened

Postal Service has had lease since June 2008

(Newser) - A post office near Scranton, Pa., has run up a $180,000 tab for the US Postal Service—without ever having opened for business. Since June 2008, USPS has been paying about $31,000 a year to lease a property in South Abington Township; it's at last due to...

Steve Jobs Is Getting a Stamp

We're totally iMessaging people to tell them to expect the letter

(Newser) - Steve Jobs loved keeping his products under wraps, so he'd probably be annoyed that word has leaked a year early that the US Postal Service plans to immortalize him on a stamp*. A document obtained by the Washington Post reveals the USPS' stamp plans through 2016. The list includes...

Cost of a Stamp Just Went Up 3 Cents

USPS gets rate hike; stamp will now cost 49 cents

(Newser) - The good old USPS got its three-cent rate hike approved today, in a move aimed at stemming the $5 billion that the post office says it lost in the last fiscal year. The change—which brings the cost of a first-class stamp to 49 cents—goes into effect on Jan....

Artist Sues USPS Over Lady Liberty Stamp Error

Image on stamp is from his sculpture in Vegas, not the original

(Newser) - The Postal Service just cannot catch a break these days. A sculptor has sued the USPS because it mistakenly used his version of the Statue of Liberty on a stamp instead of the original in New York Harbor, reports AP . The mistake itself is old news : The Postal Service created...

Longest Mail Route in the Country: 187 Miles, 9 Hours

Jim Ed Bull has been driving the route for 13 years

(Newser) - Jim Ed Bull has put nearly 300,000 miles on his red Ford Ranger, many of them from delivering the mail. For 13 years, the 72-year-old has been working for the US Postal Service, and at 187 miles, his mail route is the longest in the country, NBC News reports....

Maryland Letter Carrier Gunned Down on Duty

Was delivering mail after dark on street with few lights

(Newser) - Postal officials are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the murder of a Maryland letter carrier gunned down as he delivered the mail. Police say Tyson Barnette, 26, was shot multiple times while on duty Saturday evening in Landover, and they have yet to...

USPS Now Delivering on Sunday—for Amazon

New deal starts immediately in LA, NY

(Newser) - A historic change: The United States Postal Service will be making Sunday deliveries. But you won't be getting letters and bills that day; just Amazon packages. The USPS-Amazon deal, announced yesterday, starts immediately, and the struggling Postal Service is planning similar Sunday-delivery deals with other retailers. Unlike first-class mail...

USPS Wants to Charge You 3 More Cents to Mail Letter

That would make it 49 cents

(Newser) - We hope you've all been saving up for the lean times, because the US Postal Service today announced that it wants to raise the price of stamps by 3 cents. That means that mailing a letter first class will now cost 49 cents. The chairman of the postal Board...

Postal Service's New Pitch: Let's Deliver Booze

USPS wants to get into the beer, wine, and spirits industry

(Newser) - The postal service is so strapped for cash it's kicking around unpopular ideas like ending Saturday delivery , ending door-to-door delivery, and, of course, raising prices . But we're guessing the latest proposal floated by USPS chief Patrick Donahoe won't be unpopular at all: He wants to let mail...

Proposed USPS Fix: End Door-to-Door Service

We may end up getting our mail from neighborhood boxes

(Newser) - Rep. Darrell Issa says he has a potential solution to the Postal Service's money problem: Mail carriers could stop delivering your items right to your door. The House Oversight Committee is poised to vote on the proposal—potentially affecting 37 million homes and businesses—today. It could cut costs...

Feds Are Keeping an Eye on Your Snail Mail, Too

USPS has two main tools for law enforcement, says New York Times

(Newser) - Creeped out by all this talk of metadata and Big Brother and the fear that your emails aren't as private as you thought? Well, at least there's good old snail mail, right? Not so much, reports the New York Times . It looks at two programs the US Postal...

Stories 101 - 120 | << Prev   Next >>