USPS Issues "BOLO" for Missing Equipment

"BOLO" ... Or "Be on the Lookout" ... USPS is experiencing a critical national shortage of letter trays. Out of the 10 million letter trays USPS purchased last year, few remain in Mail Transport Equipment Service Centers (MTESCs), hurting the Postal Service’s ability to keep mailers and plants supplied. USPS is asking offices to search their areas for excess letter trays and immediately send them to their servicing MTESC for redistribution.

In South Florida, there's an "APB" ("All Points Bulletin") for missing General Purpose Mail Containers (GPMCs), sometimes called General Purpose Container, or "GPC" without the "M." Recently, 37 of those large, four-sided metal containers turned up in several delivery units. These empty GPCs were soaking up the sun on the platform or serving as makeshift tables for storage inside Post Offices. All were returned to their respective plants. No questions asked.

And if you see postal equipment being misused in the community, report it to 866-330-3404. USPS spends millions of dollars annually on mail transportation equipment (MTE). In 2009, U.S Postal Inspectors recovered $2.1 million worth of MTE that had either been stolen or was being misused.