Announcements |

2019 Baja 1000

Baja1000 (3)

Racing through Mexico!

Given today’s headlines it might sound treacherous to drive to Mexico; but how much more so, to make it a thousand-mile road trip through the country. And let’s add a twist of only traveling on unpaved and primitive roads.

Well, Dennis our Technical Services Manager is doing just that this weekend. But because Dennis loves a good challenge, he’s making the trip in a Volkswagen bug.

Dennis is racing in the 2019 Baja 1000, a grueling 1000 mile non-stop road race on nearly impassible roads in a car that’s over 50 years old and has a fraction of the horsepower of any modern car.

There are two things you should know about Dennis. First, he can fix anything (which LetterStream really benefits from and I’m sure his race team does too) and second he has a heart the size of the entire Baja Peninsula. Dennis has joined up with another Dennis, Hollenbeck, and his team to race Class 11 car 1121 through a brutalizing 1000 miles of dust and boulders. But car 1121 isn’t just a race car, it is owned and operated as an extension and fundraising arm of Real Life Ministries an organization that serves the less fortunate ones in Mexico.

So not only does Dennis get the joys of fixing even more things this weekend, he also gets the greater joy of participating in a journey to uplift the downtrodden and help shed light on a ministry seeking to do the same thing.

Dennis, we’ll be watching and cheering as you pound the rocky terrain of Baja Mexico and seek to make the world a little better for those around you.

Check out the following related websites:

Real Life Ministries. https://reallifeministries.org/ “committed to serving the less fortunate, tending to the sick, and providing shelter for the homeless. 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.”

Class 11 Car 1121. http://www.teamh12one.com/ “We are about Running the Race as it describes in Hebrews 12:one , “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us … run with perseverance the race marked out for us”.”

Baja 1000. http://score-international.com/ November 22 – 23rd 2019. View the livestream of the event at http://score-international.com/livestream-52nd-annual-score-baja-1000

Baja1

Update: November 25, 2019:

The Baja team fought a brutal battle, enduring one of the most difficult courses in the 52 years of the Baja 1000 history. And congrats to the team, for taking First Place in the group of Class 11 cars. How amazing, to punish the car and driver for over 36 hours of non-stop CARnage and still drive across the finish line. Great job team!

Baja4 Baja3

LetterStream gives back with The 2019 Code Red Water Drive!

waterdrivepeople

A quick update on the water drive for Phoenix Rescue Mission.
Brown Community Management (https://www.brownmanagement.com/) invited us to participate with them again this year to help the Mission replenish their water supply of bottled water for needy and homeless individuals. And we gladly joined them again.
The Phoenix Rescue Mission is committed to reducing hunger and homelessness throughout Maricopa County. Their annual fall water drive replenishes their inventories as they work to prevent heat-related deaths in the valley. The water drive is called Code Red (https://phoenixrescue mission.org/codered) and we certainly encourage you to get your company involved in assisting in this event or finding others as a great way to give back.
We’d like to thank Brown Community Management for inviting us to participate. And a big thanks to OPACS (OPACS.com) who provided a box truck with a lift gate and a pallet of water to make this a record year for Brown and LetterStream in our contributions. But the biggest thanks goes to the LetterStream employees who grabbed a pallet, a case or just a bottle and dropped it off selflessly for the benefit of those less fortunate. Our LetterStream team donated 7,800 bottles of water.
Our next event is our annual Toys for Tots toy drive. If you are inclined, stop by and drop off an unwrapped toy if you are in the area. Or better yet, find a way to bring your organization together and share in the joys of giving through an event that you organize.

20% off Orange Paper and Postcards!

October Promotion

No tricks here, we are giving you a treat this Halloween season.
For the month of October, we will be offering 20% off all Orange 8 ½ X 11 paper and Orange Express Postcards.
You have a business to run and customers to keep happy, so we want to help you! For your festive holiday letters and notes look no further than LetterStream. For your fast mailing and printing needs, we’ll get the job done. Don’t wait until it’s too late and all the candy is gone, let us help you this Halloween season.

Welcome Ashlee, our New Customer Service Manager

Ashlee

Hold on, hold on, before you panic at this headline, Mike hasn’t left the LetterStream team. He is now our Director of Customer Experience. We figured that Mike could get a promotion if he could find someone just as awesome in customer service as he is. That said, we didn’t think Mike would ever get a promotion. Enter Ashlee. We aren’t sure how Mike did it, but he actually found someone who can bring help and joy to customers as well as he can. Ashlee has been with us a few months now, so some of you have already experienced her good nature, knowledge of our systems and overwhelming desire to help people out.

Ashlee has some 5-star training from Marriott hotels and resorts and has supported many different clients in an earlier payroll processing career. These experiences are quite helpful to her on the job, but nothing can compare to the enthusiasm that she has to be a part of our team and her tremendous desire to support all of our customers.

Next time you call in, be sure and say “Hello and Welcome” to Ashlee.

PROPOSED 2018 USPS Rate Increases

On October 6th, 2017, the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a price increase to take affect January 21st 2018.

The new price schedule increases the retail price of first class postage for letters and postcards by 1 cent each. Certified Mail with Electronic Return Receipt will see a 15-cent increase.

Keep in mind, the USPS “proposes” their new pricing, but the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) must approve the pricing before it can become official.

Historically the PRC has denied or adjusted price increases if the USPS attempts to raise prices too high compared with the current consumer price index (CPI). In this case the USPS is only raising rates by 1.9% which is believed to be accepted by the PRC.

Below is the primary list of rates that may impact LetterStream customers. Also keep in mind that LetterStream historically does not raise prices on any item beyond the actual USPS price changes. If you are working on a First-Class Mail project for the new year, we’d encourage you to schedule it before the new rates are implemented.

2018 UNOFFICIAL Postage Rates:

– First Class Stamps up from $.49 to $.50
– First Class Postcard Rate up from $.34 to $.35
– Extra Ounces staying at $.21
– International Rates staying at $1.15
– Certified Mail up from $3.35 to $3.45
– Return Receipt staying at $2.75
– Electronic Return Receipt up from $1.45 to $1.50
– Registered Mail up from $11.70 to $11.90
– Flats (.0001 – .999 oz) postage up from $.98 to $1.00
– Flats extra ounces staying at $.21

For more information review the USPS press release:

http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_062.htm

For all the gory details, see the USPS NOTICE OF MARKET DOMINANT PRICE ADJUSTMENT that was filed by the USPS with the PRC:
https://www.prc.gov/docs/102/102038/Notice%20and%20Attach%20ACD.pdf

Come Visit Us At The CACM Expo Today And Tomorrow!

Visit LetterStream at the CACM Expo

With testimonials like these, you can see why
our customers never want to go anywhere else.

Visit our Property Management page to learn more.

USPS to Cancel Saturday Mail Delivery

Just Announced on the AP this morning:

“Postal Service to cut Saturday mail to trim costs” (*see link to full article below)

According to the article, the United States Postal Service (USPS) plans to drop Saturday delivery of letters the week of August 5th, 2013 in an attempt to save the Postal Service $2 billion annually.

USPS mail truck

This change should have no impact on the way LetterStream prints and mails letters and correspondence for our customers. It should be noted that without Saturday delivery of mail, homeowner, consumers and recipients may receive their statements or other documents a day later than usual.

In the grand scheme of things we believe the impact will be minimal for the following reasons:

Most of the “time sensitivities” and legal regulations of mail relate to when the mail piece is actually mailed, not when it is received.
Most mail pieces that require a recipient to act in some way allow an appropriate number of days for the recipient to respond.
Most businesses don’t pick up their mail on Saturdays anyway.

However, to reduce any impact this announcement may have, we encourage you to load your jobs to the LetterStream website earlier in the work week and schedule your mailings with this information in mind.

For those not currently using LetterStream for printing and mailing, we believe our services can cut time out of your current mailing process, thus negating the impact of changes to mail delivery.

To keep informed of this and other USPS changes, consider subscribing to our blog by entering your email address in the form provided to the right.

The full AP story can be found here:

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/postal-service-cut-saturday-mail-trim-costs

Social Media Promotion Winners!

Thanks to all who participated in our social media promotion for $100 in Starbucks gift cards!

We had four winners, one for each platform that we launched:

Facebook: Justin A.
Twitter: Kayza H.
Google+: Christal W.
LinkedIn: Jessica I.

Thanks again to all who entered! Keep following us for more fun contests. And if you haven’t explored our website, please check us out… especially if you send First-Class or Certified Mail.

LetterStream Does What?

LetterStream is a printing and mailing company. Whether you need to send a single letter or one hundred thousand, LetterStream has a quick and easy solution.

Most of the time our customers create their entire mailing in less than 2 minutes on our website.

So, if you’re not a fan of licking your own envelopes or have had one too many all-night mail stuffing parties, you owe it to yourself to give us a call or explore our website to learn more. I’m sure we can help!

Want to give us a try? Use the following promotion code to get up to $20 off your first order. Hurry, the code is only good for 10 more days! (First order needs to be placed by Oct 31, 2012 or credit disappears)

*Promo code: 10daypromo

With testimonials like these, you can see why our customers never want to go anywhere else.

With testimonials like these, you can see why
our customers never want to go anywhere else.