21000, September 6, 1974,

be placed over one or more of the windows indicating: international mail service information available. There are several booklets available, including handbook RS-1, Guide to Selling Postal Products, which give good summaries of the international mail service highlights.

4. It may be desirable to increase service hours during the weekends of December 6 and December 13 and Saturday, December 21. Normal Sunday service may be provided December 22. Window and lockbox service for December 25, 1974, and January 1, 1975, will be provided in accordance with section Postal Service Manual.

113.222,

5. Two Christmas stamps will be distributed to post offices and placed on sale earlier than in past years. In addition to these two special issue stamps, a precancelled Christmas stamp with pressure-sensitive adhesive will be tested in quantity in one district of each region. To meet philatelic requirements, an automatic distribution of the precancelled stamp will be made in limited quantities to post offices throughout the country. The test cities will also be furnished with limited quantities of the two regular Christmas issues for the purpose of meeting the philatelic demand for these items.

6. A nation-wide advertising campaign is scheduled to support philatelic product sales during the Christmas season. The products being promoted for Christmas gift giving are the 1973 and 1974 Mint Sets of U.S. commemorative stamps, Stamp Collecting Kits, and Stamps & Stories, the popular all-color encyclopedia of U.S. postage stamps. Postmasters should act immediately to requisition quantities of these products, especially the 1973 Mint Set, from their Sectional Center Facilities or Accountable Paper Depositories as appropriate.

IV. DELIVERY, COLLECTION AND VEHICLE SERVICES

A. Maintaining normal levels of delivery and collection service is a minimum requirement. Supplementary services and hours are to be consistent with local customer needs and postal service benefits.

B. Special delivery service will be provided on a normal basis throughout the Christmas period. Be alert to

a possible heavy special delivery volume on Tuesday, December 24.

C. All vehicle service procedures currently in effect (methods handbooks, etc.) for securing, inspecting, operating, and maintaining vehicles are to be followed. Specific instructions will be issued by Regional Postmasters General for the Christmas period.

D. Christmas allowances for rural carriers under the provisions of the National Agreement are applicable between December 2 and 26, both dates inclusive.

V. EMPLOYEE AND LABOR RELATIONS

Employment practices and compensation for bargaining unit employees will be consistent with provisions of the National Agreement dated July 21, 1973.

VI. FINANCE

Payment procedures for Christmas casuals and rural carrier Christmas help will follow in a subsequent POSTAL BULLETIN.

VII. MAIL PROCESSING

A. Distribution

1. Special Instructions. Special instructions necessary for the makeup and labeling of mail will be issued to postmasters by the Regional Postmasters General by November 1.

2. Customer Separated Mail. Insure that customer separated mail is identified and kept separate from mixed mail.

3. Outgoing Mail. Distribution requirements, including the massing of mail on a destination office, will not be changed unless authorized by the destination region.

4. Incoming Mail. Priority shall be given to distribution of incoming

airmail and business mail where it can be identified.

5. LSM Operations. Have adequate trained LSM Operators to operate the machines during the high volume Christmas season. Establish quality control procedures to insure the accuracy and correctness of distribution, sweeping, and pouching of LSM mail.

6. Uncanceled Mail. Mail passing through the 010 process must be riffled and checked for full cancellation. Particular attention should be given to:

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a. Mark II rejects to insure they are canceled before distribution. b. Mail involved in jams on the Mark IIs to insure that mail does not slip through without cancellation.

c. Riffling of firm directs taken off LSMs to cancel those letters that might have slipped through without proper cancellation, and reminding clerks and carriers that they should daub or otherwise deface uncanceled stamps they receive for processing or delivery.

7. Mark II Rejects. The reject mail on a Mark II must be carefully handled to insure that it is canceled and promptly distributed.

8. Empty Equipment. Empty mail equipment must be processed and returned to appropriate supply or concentration points on a continuing, daily basis.

B. WLRS

The work load recording system must be maintained throughout the Christmas period. However, during the 3-week period, December 2-24, 1974, it will not be necessary to conduct WLRS volume audits.

C. Transportation

1. Air. Air Taxi Service. Extra

trips may be authorized to accommo

date Christmas mail in order to meet service standards. Airmail will have priority in loading.

2. Highway and Rail. Instructions will be issued by regional offices.

3. International. Offices authorized to distribute mail for foreign countries shall not mass that mail unworked to the foreign administration except under extreme emergency conditions. If this becomes necessary, a daily report will be furnished to the Logistics Department. In addition, a bulletin of verification will be sent with the dispatch explaining the reason for sending the unworked mail.

4. International Exchange Offices. The attention of all concerned is called to the fact that outgoing foreign operations at New Orleans and Miami have been transferred to the New York Bulk and Foreign Mail Center. Labels on outgoing foreign mail which are addressed to New Orleans and Miami should be discarded and proper, current labels directed to the New York Bulk and Foreign Mail Center substituted therefor.

21000, September 6, 1974,

D. Facilities

1. Real Estate. When additional space is needed, it should be obtained without charge. Where this is not possible, postmasters at offices of the first, second, and third class shall obtain competitive bids on Form 7414, Rental Agreement. Completed Form 7414 must be forwarded to the district manager for processing through the appropriate real estate function for acceptance by November 15.

2. Maintenance. No major maintenance or overhaul of mail processing equipment should be scheduled during December. Postmasters should ensure that persistent or recurring equipment failures are identified and corrected, and that all equipment is placed in good operating order before December 1. Fine tune procedures for the Mark II facer/ cancelers, direct feed units, and single position LSM's will be published by October 1. These procedures will enable increased throughput and reduced

error rates in these letter processing activities and should be incorporated into normal maintenance routines as soon as they are available, and no later than November 15.

3. Construction. No construction or modification projects should be initiated during December unless it is first determined that no adverse mpact on Christmas mail operations will result. If facility modification work is essential which is beyond the scope of in-house maintenance capabilities (e.g., emergencies), postmasters should contact their district managers for guidance.

VIII. SECURITY OF MAILS

A. General. The heavy volume of mail incident to the Christmas Season results in increased exposure of mail to theft or loss. Advance planning combined with alert observations can do much to prevent losses during this critical period.

B. Temporary Quarters. Managers required to utilize temporary quarters for distribution of mail will insure that doors and windows are secure and that exterior lighting is adequate.

C. Storage of Vehicles Containing Mail. Vehicles loaded with mail awaiting unloading or dispatch should be locked or sealed with a twisted wire seal and stored in the available space providing greatest protection from attack. Protection can be increased by parking vehicles back to back or against buildings to block doors.

D. Railroad Yards and Stations.

Frequent visits to ramping or deramping areas should be made to

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check vehicle seals to insure protection of vehicles loaded with mail. Close coordination with railroad and local police when possible will prove beneficial.

E. Star Routes. Increased volume of mail may require that contractors utilize extra vehicles and drivers.

Managers must insure that all con

tract vehicles utilized are lockable and will satisfactorily protect mail from theft or from damage adverse weather. They should also insure that credentials of drivers unfamiliar to them are checked. Close supervision of the Star Route Seal Program will prove beneficial.

F. Airport Security. Frequent attention at airports is required to insure that mail is not left exposed to theft or adverse weather. Mail that must be stored or worked on docks or outside AMFS or ATOs must not be left unattended. When mail messenger vehicle capacity is inadequate, post office vehicles should be used if necessary to avoid exposure of mail to theft while awaiting subsequent mail messenger trips.

IX. DAILY REPORTS

A daily Christmas mail condition report is sent by the regions to the Postmaster General during December, based upon input from post offices. We propose to send a copy of this to all points on the new TWX network. This will serve as an advisory of the status of conditions nationwide and as an alert for any particular problems that could be of

interest.