Here comes UPS – Back Again
UPS has reached a tentative agreement with the U.S. Postal Service to provide last-mile parcel delivery for its low-cost Ground Saver shipping service, company officials disclosed on Tuesday, patching up a relationship that ruptured in late 2024 over rate hikes.
USPS releases EMA Charts effective January 10, 2026
On December 18, 2025, the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the November 2025 Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Based on the release, the Equipment Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for rural carriers will decrease 0.5¢ to 97.0¢ per mile. This EMA rate will be effective...
There’s a new Thrift Savings Plan benefit
The Thrift Savings Plan will allow participants to convert traditional funds to Roth funds within their TSP account beginning Wednesday, Jan. 28.
This is known as a Roth in-plan conversion.
Traditional retirement contributions are those that are taken from employee paychecks on a pretax basis, which can lower your taxable income...
Federal retirement inventory reaches another new high
The federal retirement inventory has reached yet another new high. The Office of Personnel Management now has over 50,000 applications still awaiting a finalized annuity.
The increase comes after more than 13,000 retirement applications entered OPM’s systems in December. It’s taking OPM about 67 days to process a...
Online Retirement Application (ORA) Effective January 1, 2026
Online Retirement Application (ORA) Effective January 1, 2026
The Office of Personnel Management has introduced a new system to process retirement applications. The Online Retirement Application (ORA) is a secure, fully digital system that replaces the paper-based process. USPS is now processing all optional retirement applications through ORA. (Disability applications...
Special Contract Edition of the National Rural Letter Carrier Containing 2024-2027 National Agreement Released
The Special Contract Issue of the NRLCA magazine containing the 2024-2027 National Agreement between the NRLCA and USPS is now available to download here. It will be mailed to all active members.
Use an FSA debit card? Keep all your documents
Postal Service employees with flexible spending account debit cards might be asked to provide documentation after using the card for out-of-pocket expenses.
Inspira Financial, the Postal Service’s flexible spending account administrator, must ensure that such purchases are eligible under Internal Revenue Service rules. If a request from Inspira is not...
