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☆ U.S. aims for over $7 billion in aid for 20-year Pacific islands compacts
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Under those pacts, first agreed in the 1980s, the United States retains responsibility for the islands' defense and exclusive access to huge swaths of the Pacific. Current COFA provisions expire in 2024 for Palau, and later in 2023 for the Marshall Islands and the FSM. That included $6.5 billion in direct economic assistance and $634 million for the unfunded costs of extending the U.S. Postal Service in the three island countries, she said. "Absent the new economic assistance provisions, we really leave the three countries open to predatory behavior, coercive behavior," she said, alluding to China's efforts to court Pacific island countries.

☆ FedEx warns it won't bail out UPS customers at the last minute if drivers strike
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Teamsters Union has threatened a UPS strike when its contract expires in July. UPS CEO Carol Tomé has repeatedly said that a "win-win-win" is "very achievable" for the Teamsters, UPS employees at large, and the company, despite the union's spicy rhetoric. But even the threat of a UPS strike this summer, which would be the first since 1997, is already driving some UPS customers to look for alternative shipping options. Carere also suggested that FedEx is not interested in serving as a temporary solution for UPS customers. FedEx customers were alerted to the March 31 in a letter distributed earlier this month.

☆ U.S. Postal Service Trucking Contractors Must Now Disclose Serious Traffic Accidents
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A truck operated by Tracie McCormick, a U.S. Postal Service contractor, was in a crash in Florida in 2020. Postal Service ordered its trucking contractors to immediately notify the agency of serious accidents, a reversal from past practices that will give officials there a new window into the safety records of those carrying its mail, an email reviewed by The Wall Street Journal shows. The email, which was sent Sunday, instructed trucking contractors to report details of accidents on their mail-hauling routes to the agency’s leadership, a change that follows a Journal article examining deficiencies in its safety practices.

☆ Slowdown in E-Commerce Hitting Logistics Companies’ Payrolls, Experts Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-11 | by ( Liz Young | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Postal Service employee sorts mail at the Los Angeles Processing and Distribution Center. Logistics operators slashed nearly 17,000 jobs last month as consumer spending shifts to services from goods, and e-commerce growth stalls. Trucking, warehousing and parcel-delivery companies cut a combined 16,900 jobs in February, following a drop of 2,200 jobs in January, according to seasonally adjusted preliminary employment figures released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

☆ Lawmaker Requests Investigation Into Unsafe Driving Record Among U.S. Postal Service Trucking Contractors
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D., Va.) wants a probe to determine how many people were killed in crashes with U.S. Postal Service trucking contractors between 2017 and 2022. A Virginia congressman this week requested that a government watchdog open an investigation of the U.S. Postal Service’s freight-shipping practices. The Wall Street Journal reported this month that the agency hires trucking contractors with unsafe driving records.

☆ Florida state lawmakers introduce bill that would ban abortion after six weeks
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The legislation, introduced in Florida's House and Senate, would make performing an abortion after six weeks a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison. Florida state lawmakers on Tuesday introduced legislation that would ban abortion after six weeks, when many women don't know they are pregnant, with limited exceptions for medical emergencies and cases of rape and incest. The governor did not mention the legislation during his address, but said "we are proud to be pro-life in the state of Florida." The legislation introduced Tuesday also requires the abortion pill, mifepristone, to be dispensed by a physician to the patient during an in-person appointment. The legislation bans abortion pills from being sent by mail in the state through the U.S.

☆ How We the People Built American English
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ilan Stavans | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Other ingredients are also required: a territory, a flag, a government, a currency, a postal service and so on. Of course, new languages don’t emerge from a vacuum. They evolve slowly from other languages, acquiring their own character only after a long process of decantation. George Bernard Shaw once purportedly said that England and the U.S. are separated by a common language. That separation is what American English has achieved, not without pain, over a period spanning more than four centuries.

DETROIT/WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co (F.N) on Friday said it was studying ways to boost output of gasoline-powered and hybrid F-150 trucks at a Michigan factory as part of a broader plan to boost production of several models. The automaker reiterated that it is still on track to triple F-150 Lightning EV production this year, targeting an annual production run rate of 150,000 by the end of 2023. The automaker was forced to halt production in early February after a battery fire, and plans to resume production on March 13. Ford's U.S. F-150 sales fell 9.9% in 2022 to about 654,000, including 15,617 F-150 EV trucks, as the company struggled with production and supply chain problems. Postal Service this week said it would buy 9,250 E-Transit delivery vehicles from Ford starting later this year.

☆ USPS Contracted Trucks Frequently Violate Safety Rules. Crashes Killed 79 People Since 2020.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Christopher Weaver | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

For years, the U.S. Postal Service has faced competition from the likes of United Parcel Service Inc. and FedEx Corp. To fight them off, it hired outside trucking companies at cut-rate prices, required them to meet aggressive schedules and then looked the other way when they ran afoul of highway safety rules, a Wall Street Journal investigation found. The result has been deadly. Postal contractors have been involved in at least 68 fatal crashes that killed 79 people in the past three years, according to police crash and inspection records.

☆ Say goodbye to the iconic mail truck — the postal service is electrifying its fleet, beginning with more than 9,000 new vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Aidan Pollard | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The USPS will put more than 9,000 electric mail trucks on the road, electrifying America's oldest vehicle fleet. The postal service plans to spend nearly $10 billion on its electrification plan. The postal service will also install 14,000 charging stations at USPS facilities. "Electrification of our vehicle fleet is now an important component of these initiatives." The postal service has not yet announced where the first electric vehicles will be deployed, noting in a press release that it is still weighing the best routes for the new vehicles.

☆ US Postal Service plans to buy 9,250 EV Ford delivery vehicles
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-28 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Postal Service (USPS) said Tuesday it plans to buy 9,250 Ford (F.N) E-Transit battery electric vehicles starting later this year and will also purchase an equal number of gasoline-powered models from Chrysler-parent Stellantis (STLAM.MI). Congress in August gave USPS $3 billion as part of a $430 billion climate bill to buy electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. USPS said it will also buy 9,250 2023 and 2024 model year Ram ProMaster vans from Chrysler-parent Stellantis "to fill the urgent need for vehicles." They are part of the 21,000 vehicles included in USPS December vehicle plan. Democratic Senator Gary Peters praised USPS for using funding to "quickly adopt more cost effective and energy efficient electric vehicles."

☆ Here's why your Target deliveries are about to get faster
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( Dominick Reuter | Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Target is making an additional $100 million investment in speeding up delivery. Adding at least six new "sortation centers" will position the retailer to deliver more online orders in one day. Next-day delivery would make Target faster than many Amazon orders in certain markets. This store-as-warehouse approach has helped Target orders reach customers across the US relatively quickly using the company's existing retail infrastructure. This year, the company expects to move 50 million packages through its sortation centers, doubling 2022's count.

☆ Dogs are attacking mail carriers at alarming rates, forcing the post office to avoid entire neighborhoods until things get better
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A Florida mail carrier died after she was attacked by five dogs when her truck broke down in August. Mail delivery stops and residents have to pick up their mail at the post office. Residents in subsections of Des Moines, Iowa, Cleveland, Ohio, Greenfield, Indiana, Roanoke, Virginia, all temporarily lost mail service in the last year because the neighborhood was deemed unsafe by mail carriers. Mail carriers also receive training on how to assess and approach dogs and they are required to carry dog repellant. California Texas Ohio Pennsylvania Michigan New York Illinois Florida Washington KentuckyAre you a mail carrier or delivery driver with a story?

☆ This package shipped from Mississippi to Michigan — via Puerto Rico. Here's why some shipments go on circuitous journeys.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

A small bubble wrap envelope of cosmetics shipped by the US Postal Service from Mississippi headed for Michigan — 750 miles away. When USPS analyzed the tracking for this package a spokesperson told Insider it was simply a mistake. One package's circuitous route from Mississippi to Michigan via Puerto Rico Emma Cosgrove/USPS"Each employee makes a concerted effort to process and deliver each piece of mail and unfortunately, on very rare occasions, instances of mail delivery issues may occur. Across the US package delivery industry, there are more than 59 million packages shipped every day, according to the latest figures from Pitney Bowes, an e-commerce shipping firm. The USPS spokesperson declined to give a misload rate for the postal service.

☆ More beauty brands are ditching plastic packaging — and consumers are buying in
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Korie Wilkins | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Some beauty companies are ditching plastics in favor of aluminum, glass, or plant-based materials. "Beauty products come in bottles and pots with pumps and lids, and we're noticing the first question a consumer asks is, 'Is this all recyclable?'" Purpose-driven beauty companies are ditching plastics in favor of aluminum, glass, or plant-based materials. If they use plastic, they're trying to ensure that it's designed to be recyclable (mindful of inks and coatings). As a result, shoppers, namely millennials and Gen Z, are skipping the store and ordering their beauty products online.

☆ A mailman, a NASA scientist and a park ranger: Some government employees shrug off TikTok bans
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( David Ingram | David Ingram Covers Tech For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

Jean-Pierre, who’s from Morristown, New Jersey, has attracted 215,500 followers on the video app where most days he posts from his mail truck during his lunch break. As of last month, all federal workers are banned from having TikTok on their work phones. In some places, using a personal device isn’t enough to get around TikTok restrictions. There’s no telling precisely how many federal workers use TikTok, but certain hashtags show the breadth of its popularity. The public relations staff at some federal agencies said they had no plans to interfere with what federal workers did on their own.

☆ Biden administration officials tout EVs at DC auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Jonathan ErnstWASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Two senior Biden administration officials got behind the wheel of new electric vehicles (EV) Wednesday at the Washington, D.C. auto show to urge Americans to consider buying a zero-emission model. They also highlighted that since President Joe Biden took office, companies have announced nearly $130 billion in U.S. EV investment including $56 billion in EV manufacturing and $72 billion in battery production. "It's electric vehicles, it's the guts to the electric vehicle, it's the guts to the battery - the whole supply chain now locating in the United States." Congress has approved billions of dollars in new incentives, low-cost loans and other funding for EV production and $5 billion for charging stations. Some consumers are still confused about whether they will qualify for EV credits.

☆ Factbox: The U.S. Treasury's tools to avoid breaching debt limit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here's a rundown of the Treasury's tools to keep borrowing under the limit. Slugs issues, which count against the debt limit, have recently averaged $6 billion per month, but monthly volumes vary. Savings bond sales increased the federal debt by just $5.7 billion since the start of the 2023 fiscal year last October. SWAP FEDERAL FINANCING BANK DEBTThe Federal Financing Bank can issue up to $15 billion in debt on behalf of other government agencies that is not subject to the debt limit. So the Treasury could exchange FFB debt for other debt to reduce the total amount subject to the limit.

☆ Treasury tells Congress it will suspend some federal retirement funding after debt limit breach
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The U.S. Treasury will suspend full funding of a federal retirement program, the latest in a string of actions it has taken to prevent default after the government hit its debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders Tuesday. The Treasury is taking so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying its bills after it breached its $31.4 trillion borrowing limit Thursday. Lawmakers are trying to strike a deal to lift the U.S. borrowing limit and prevent a first-ever default on U.S. debt. Some members of the new Republican House majority have pushed to tie spending cuts to an increase in the borrowing limit. Yellen on Tuesday said interest-bearing securities for the Government Securities Investment Fund, or the so-called "G Fund," will be underfunded until the debt limit is increased or suspended.

☆ The U.S. hit the debt ceiling — here's what that means for your money
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Ryan Ermey | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. hit the debt ceiling on Thursday, which forced the Treasury Department to begin taking so-called "extraordinary measures" to continue paying the government's bills. Read on for the answers to the most relevant questions about the debt ceiling, and why, as a long-term investor, you shouldn't be paying too much attention to the headlines. Remind me — what's the debt ceiling again? Where does the debt ceiling stand now? Aside from stock market volatility, you'd see ramifications across the economy.

☆ Yellen says Treasury is taking extraordinary measures to avoid default as U.S. hits debt limit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen holds a news conference in the Cash Room at the U.S. Treasury Department in Washington, U.S. July 28, 2022. The Treasury Department started taking so-called extraordinary measures to keep paying the federal government's bills as the U.S. hit its debt limit Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said. The Treasury secretary told lawmakers Friday that she believes the extraordinary steps could allow the government to pay its obligations until early June. The Treasury secretary warned last week that the U.S. government would hit the statutory debt ceiling on Thursday, after which extraordinary measures would be taken to keep the government from defaulting on its debt obligations. The U.S. government has not defaulted on its debt, but the debt ceiling has been raised 22 times from 1997 to 2022, according to the Government Accountability Office.

☆ How to decode a package shipping label, from the jumbled letters to the sea of barcodes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Emma Cosgrove | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Here's how to break down what's on most e-commerce package labels. What can a package label tell you? A package label can tell you a lot about where the package has been, how far it traveled, and even what's inside. The recipient and the destination address is in the middle, return address at the top left. Next to the return address is usually the weight of the package — a good thing to check on big items before lifting.

☆ U.S. Treasury launches debt limit cash management measures
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department on Thursday began using extraordinary cash management measures to continue borrowing under the federal debt limit, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told congressional leaders. She said she took similar measures for the Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund. "As I stated in my January 13 letter, the period of time that extraordinary measures may last is subject to considerable uncertainty, including the challenges of forecasting the payments and receipts of the U.S. Government months into the future. I respectfully urge Congress to act promptly to protect the full faith and credit of the United States." Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Chizu NomiyamaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Check out the exclusive pitch deck food waste startup Mill used to raise $100 million from Google Ventures and others
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-17 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The startup has already raised about $100 million from investors like Google Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon, and Prelude. "There's a lot of parallels to the story of Nest," Rogers said. However, because Mill handles the entire process from homes to farms, it faces many challenges not found in other food waste startups, Rogers said. And although the company's coffers are well-stocked in a tough market environment, Rogers told Insider that he's always open to conversations with investors. Here's an exclusive look at the 7-slide pitch deck Mill used to raise $100 million from Google Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, Lowercarbon, and Prelude:

☆ A former mail carrier and devout Christian who refused to deliver Amazon packages on Sundays is taking the US Postal Service to the Supreme Court for bias
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-14 | by ( Bethany Dawson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

The Supreme Court is to hear an appeal by a former mail carrier who is accusing the USPS of religious bias. Gerald Groff, an evangelical Christian, has said he was reprimanded for refusing to deliver parcels on Sundays. Groff's legal team appealed this ruling and has now succeeded in having it heard at the Supreme Court. When Groff joined the postal service in 2012, he did so with the understanding that it did not operate on Sundays. His attitude caused resentment among his co-workers, with one carrier leaving their station and another quitting the Postal Service.

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