UNITED STIJTES
l!iifj POSTIJL SERVICE

November 9, 2018

MANAGERS, OPERATIONS SUPPORT  (AREA)

SUBJECT:   Operations Policy for the Thanksgiving Day Holiday, Thursday, November 22, 2018

This memorandum provides general operating policy and holiday planning guidance for the upcoming 2018 Thanksgiving Day Holiday. Service levels for this holiday are displayed in Exhibit
of the Postal Operations Manual (POM).

Delivery Operations

All offices should carefully review their staffing plans for this holiday and make adjustments as necessary to meet the needs of their communities.  For planning purposes, Post Offices should use recent mail volumes, and adjust for local circumstances .

Make arrangements for dispatch of packages received through lobby deposit points, including Self Service Kiosks (SSKs).

Wednesday, November 21: Normal (Wednesday) service levels will be provided in delivery and collection operations. All delivery units should take action prior to this date to assure that units are in a current status. Post-holiday scheduling should be reviewed to ensure delivery operations is prepared for peak holiday parcel volumes following Thanksgiving including but not limited to:

Review scheduling of static AM and PM parcel runs as needed.
Delivery territory is properly configured in PDTA.
Parcel Overflow Routes should be configured for Friday routes.
Supervisors have access, are trained and prepared to run dynamic/static software programs.
Newly hired CCA's, RCA's and ARC's understand proper scanning procedures.
Delivery Unit is prepared for holiday transportation including early parcel volumes including drop shipments and other package mailers.

Thanksgiving Day Holiday, "Widely Observed," Thursday, November 22: There will be no regular delivery service except for Holiday Premium/Priority Mail Express.

There will be Amazon Thanksgiving  Drops to approximately 7,300 DDU's. o	These will be between 4-8am.
These are drop sites only.
Delivery of Amazon and Priority volume is at the discretion of the District and Area leadership
There will be no Amazon Fresh delivery
There will be no Night Owl drops Wednesday night into Thursday morning. o	Regular Night Owl drops resume for Thursday into Friday morning

475 L'Enfant Plaza SW Washington , DC 20260

Friday, November 23: Delivery managers and supervisors should plan for additional mail volume and packages for delivery after the holiday.
Supervisors must monitor PVS/HCR/Drop Shipment arrival times and clerk productivities to ensure timely completion of distribution operations.
Parcel Overflow Routing must be in place for AM/PM parcel runs where volume necessitates.
Parcel routes must be ready upon carrier arrival to eliminate costly waiting time.
Supervisors must review carrier loading for efficiencies and provide guidance for craft personnel as needed.
Area and District LOC Operations should be staffed to cover your expected hours of delivery and be utilized to assist managers with performance and communication.

Retail Operations

Post Offices should use recent retail sales trend information and mail volumes, and adjust for local circumstances.

Please ensure that Self Service Kiosks (SSKs) are fully stocked and that mailing supplies (boxes, Priority Mail labels, etc.) are available for customers. Make arrangements for dispatch of packages received through lobby deposit points, including SSKs. Facilities with staffing on this holiday should accommodate requests for drop shipment appointments.

Offices should ensure that the current holiday closing "door cling" signage is properly displayed. Offices with glass doors should center the door cling inside the main customer entrance door at eye level. Offices with wooden doors should affix the door cling on the exterior. Additional door cling signage can be ordered by contacting the Point of Purchase Hotline at 1-800-332-0317.

Many Contract Postal Units (CPUs) may be open on the holiday. Post Offices should, therefore, advise customers (to the extent possible) of the locations and hours of operation for CPUs, and where retail services will be available.

Wednesday, November 21: Normal (Wednesday) service levels will be provided in retail operations.

Thanksgiving Day Holiday, "Widely Observed," Thursday, November 22: No retail service will be available, except from those facilities normally open on this holiday.

Friday, November 23:	Return to normal service levels. Retail managers and supervisors should use recent sales trend information and adjust for local circumstances.

Processing  Operations

This holiday presents an opportunity to consolidate and compress plant operations to generate savings while maintaining service performance levels. In order to take advantage of the savings opportunity, please adhere to the following guidelines:

Do Not Mix First Class with Priority
Use the variance tools and the Run Plan Generator (RPG) for staffing operations.
Advance as much Violet & Yellow Standard mail for Wednesday delivery as possible.
Sites cancelling on Thursday will be determined locally I by Area as well as decisions for Friday early collection plans.  (See below instructions relative to processing and dispatching  Commercial  Mailings).
Inhibit Delivery Point Sequence (DPS) sort program regeneration prior to the holiday and re-establish afterwards.

Recommend processing First Pass (918) on Wednesday afternoon/evening . Finalization will be Thursday prior to Second Pass (919).
Ensure only one DPS run on Friday morning (no double runs of DPS on Friday).
Utilize an RPG model for DPS processing on Wednesday and Thursday that ensures an early DPS dispatch for Friday delivery.
Ensure on-time or early clearance of FC SPRs on Wednesday to avoid surface volume rolling over to Thursday and Friday.
Evaluate the processing of Outgoing Priority on the day of the holiday to avoid late clearance on Friday. (Sites not processing Priority on the holiday must create an early collection plan to start outgoing operations earlier.)
Assign SWYB to avoid VAP issues to THS. Processing and Dispatch of Commercial Mailings Specific planning activities should include:
Coordination with Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) Managers.
Coordination with Detached Mail Units.
Coordination with Business Service Network Managers.
Notifying Commercial Mailers of BMEU holiday hours and assurance that mail which is entered will be processed and dispatched.
Adjusting Operating Plans and RPGs to include the anticipated Commercial Mail volumes.
Ensuring that all processed mail is dispatched on scheduled transportation on Thursday night and Friday morning.
Ensure communication to field of FedEx and Dispatch Plan

Plant managers must commit that Parcel Return Service (PRS-569xx) operations will be staffed and all returns sorted and available to PRS partners as agreed.

Plant managers must ensure that Integrated Operating Plans (IOPs) between the BMEUs and Operations are updated to ensure timely induction, processing and dispatch of mail presented to the BMEU prior to and on holidays.  BMEU managers must ensure that all staff at both the BMEUs and the Detached Mail Units are familiar with and execute their operations in accordance with the IOP. Local collection and cancellation plans must be coordinated with associate offices and must support achievement of 24-hour clock indicators. Managers and supervisors must plan for anticipated increased volumes after the holiday.  It is vital to ensure all mail is finalized, prepared for assignment, and dispatched on the appropriate transportation network.

Plants must make plans to assure that destinating two and three-day volumes are processed to meet service goals before and after the holiday. All missorted, missent, return-to-sender and Postal Automated Redirection System volumes must be identified, finalized, prepared for assignment and dispatched on the appropriate transportation network on Wednesday. The 24- hour clock indicators for the Managed Mail Program on hand will be useful in monitoring the success of this plan.

Reductions in FAST holiday constraints or facility closures will not be approved; every site must maintain appointment availability. Plants need to ensure timely acceptance of drop shipments. Please ensure that the local FAST facility coordinator contact number information is current. The FAST Help Desk will be authorized to contact local Plant Managers directly to resolve urgent acceptance issues.

Network Distribution Centers (NDCs) also have an opportunity to consolidate and compress operations to generate savings while maintaining service performance levels. NDCs must utilize the RPG tool to staff operations. Tier 2 NDCs must ensure that all outgoing volume from

Wednesday retail receipts are finalized and dispatched on the appropriate network transportation on the following day.

All NDCs must ensure destinating parcel volume received between 16:00 Wednesday and 16:00 Thursday is available for delivery Friday morning. NDCs must schedule drop shipment acceptance hours to ensure timely induction, processing and dispatch of mail.

If there is a need to deviate from this guidance, please work through the appropriate office for an exception.

International Service Center Operations

This widely-observed holiday presents an opportunity to consolidate and compress plant operations to generate savings as long as conditions are current.  If delays exist within the ISC, this is an opportunity to ensure staffing is scheduled to clear all delayed volumes and maintain service performance levels. Please adhere to the following guidelines:

Use the Run Plan Generator (RPG) for staffing operations.
Clear any delayed volumes and advance mail where possible.
Ensure coordination with Customs & Border Protection (CBP) to provide sufficient staffing to avoid backlogs.
Ensure Customs belts are staffed sufficiently to maximize efficiency.
Work with Area and District to ensure adequate offload plan for inbound ePacket volumes
Ensure on-time clearance of FC SPRs to avoid surface volume rolling over Saturday.
Ensure processing and dispatch of Priority to avoid exceeding lift.

Logistics Operations
Air Transportation Network FedEx
FedEx will operate a normal schedule on Wednesday  11/21/2018.  There will be no FedEx operations on Thursday,  11/22/2018.  FedEx will return to a normal schedule on Friday 11/23/2018.

Lives Acceptance FedEx Network:

The last day for Live animal shipments will be Tuesday day - Tuesday night 11/20/18. Live animal shipments will not be accepted Wednesday 11/21/18. Live animal shipments will resume back on Friday 11/23/18.

2018 FedEx Network Holiday Operations	
	
FedEx Hofidays Highlighted	

 	Holida	Da    of Week	Date 	

Da • before	'\Nednesda·  11f21l2018
Thursda •	11/2212018
Frida	11/23/2018	UPDATED: 1011'7 '18	
	Comments	

UPS
UPS will operate a special operating plan Wednesday 11/21/2018. There will be no UPS operations on Thursday, 11/22/2018. There will be no UPS operations on Friday, 11/23/2018.

2018 UPS Network Holiday Operations

UPDATED: 10116118

Holiday

Tender Day

Comments

Frida

CAIR
Commercial air will operate a normal schedule throughout the holiday period. The canine screening operation schedule for the holiday period will be issued via e-mail to each Area Manager, Distribution Networks.

Surface Transportation Network

The Surface Transfer Centers will operate on a holiday schedule as shown on the Network Operations "Surface Operations" website at:
http://blue . usps.gov/network    operations/stcs .htm

Dispatch Procedures

To avoid transportation delays, manage mail volume flow before, during, and after the holiday accordingly:

Maximize utilization of available surface, commercial air, and FedEx transportation during the holiday period. Dispatch all mail volume inducted on Sunday and Monday nights into the network on Tuesday to avoid overflow on Wednesday's network.

Prioritization values established for planned routes will ensure commercial air capacity is utilized ahead of FedEx.

Please disseminate these policies and procedures to the appropriate personnel in your area. Your immediate attention to these details and dispatch procedures is appreciated. Thank you for your assistance.

Robert Cintron Vice President
Network Operations

_1&	--------

evin L. McAdams Vice President Delivery Operations

cc: Ms. Brennan Mr. Williams
Vice Presidents, Area Operations
Managers, Delivery Programs Support (Area) Managers, In-Plant Support (Area)
Manager, Business Service Network