Hawaiian Paper Uses AI To Create Newscasts (mediapost.com)

For the third quarter to date, more than 93 percent of First-Class Mail was delivered on-time each week. For the past fifteen weeks, more than 93 percent of Marketing Mail was delivered on-time. Through the first eleven weeks of the third quarter, the average time for the Postal Service to deliver a mailpiece or package across the nation was 2.4 days. Third quarter service performance scores covering April 1 through June 10 included: *First-Class Mail: 93.5 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 5.7 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter. *Marketing Mail: 94.8 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an increase of 2.6 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter. *Periodicals: 86.5 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 5.1 percentage points from the fiscal second quarter.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $15.67 billion for the retail month of November, the four weeks ended November 29, 2020, an increase of 15.1 percent from $13.62 billion last year. For the twelve-week first quarter ended November 22, 2020, the Company reported net sales of $42.35 billion, an increase of 16.9 percent from $36.24 billion last year. For the thirteen weeks ended November 29, 2020, the Company reported net sales of $46.33 billion, an increase of 16.0 percent from $39.95 billion during the similar period last year.

If you’re a commercial mailer of flats and periodicals, brace yourself. Customers are facing an unexpected and steep increase in USPS mailing rates sometime this summer — even while service standards remain miserably low. The first indication that something was seriously wrong with operations at the USPS came last July, when newly appointed PG Louis DeJoy changed trucking regulations. On-time mail deliveries plummeted. It was so bad that a Washington DC District Court judge ruled they must reverse the changes in October and file daily paperwork with their progress. Now, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) tells us to expect an additional rate increase this summer of anywhere between 5.5% for first-class and up to 7.5% for marketing flats and periodicals. (That’s on top of recent rate changes that went into effect last month.) More at source: https://freeportpress.com/serious-questions-around-the-usps-and-rates/