RURAL CARRIER NEWS

Over the past two years, the Postal Service has been quietly eliminating the evening collection of mail at thousands of post offices. Rather than going out the same day to a processing center, mail, packages, and Priority items sit overnight in the back of the office, waiting to be...

USPS-licensed toys, apparel, home décor and collectibles are available from the online Postal Store and other retailers this holiday season. Here’s an overview: Fun for little ones. There’s still time to send letters to the North Pole. The Dear Santa: Letter-Writing and Holiday Fun Kit for Kids ($24.95) is new this season and...

The Postal Service is reminding employees of federal ethics rules about group gifts and office gatherings. Here is some general guidance: • Group gift contributions. A group gift to a fellow employee — including a supervisor or higher-paid employee — is allowed for a special, infrequent occasion such as marriage, birth...

USPS Handbook EL-902, the 2024-2027 National Agreement between the NRLCA and USPS, is now available.

NASA and the United States Postal Service have stopped using electric vans made by now-bankrupt EV startup Canoo, despite the former CEO’s claim that he would provide support for the vehicles. NASA purchased three of Canoo’s EVs in 2023 with the intention of using the vans to shuttle astronauts to...

Flexible spending accounts, or FSAs, can help Postal Service employees reduce their taxable income and save on yearly health or dependent care costs like copays, prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and childcare costs. Inspira Financial is the organization’s FSA program administrator. The 2025 maximum carryover amount is $660. This means that if employees...

Did you know the Rural Carrier Benefit Plan (RCBP) is the only plan dedicated to rural letter carriers, annuitants, and their families? Membership is restricted to members of the NRLCA. The RCBP has been providing superior service to rural letter carriers nationwide for more than 60 years. With RCBP, you could save on your...

Postal Service employees who want to change their health coverage or enroll in a new plan must act now. Open season, the annual period when USPS employees can make benefits changes, ends Monday, Dec. 8. The deadline to enroll in the USPS Health Benefits Plan for eligible precareer employees, flexible spending...

The Postal Service’s $9.6 billion upgrade of its delivery fleet is proceeding apace. The organization plans to roll out 106,000 new vehicles by 2028, including 45,000 battery-electric next-generation delivery vehicles and 21,000 commercial-off-the-shelf battery-electric vehicles. Additionally, USPS is upgrading infrastructure at its facilities with the addition of charging stations for the...