ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, July 1, 1993                   TAG: 9307010080
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Journal of Commerce
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short


POSTAL OFFICE ACCUSED OF BULLYING

Federal Express Corp., in a filing made public this week, claimed the U.S. Postal Service has repeatedly misused its authority to inspect shipper records for violations of the First Class mail monopoly as a way to discourage shippers from patronizing competitors.

Federal Express said the Postal Inspection Service, the agency's police force, has periodically harassed and intimidated Federal Express customers with the goal of coercing them into turning over their business to the Postal Service. Nancy Sparks, a Federal Express attorney, said she's been aware of the alleged practices since she joined the company eight years ago.

The accusations were echoed by Robert G. Brazier, president of Airborne Express, which also competes with the Postal Service. Brazier said his company has been informed by customers that postal inspectors have visited their offices and tried to intimidate them into switching carriers.

Federal Express said postal inspectors have conducted "illegal searches of customer premises and records through coerced consent." Shippers who surrendered to these "bully tactics" were accused of violating postal regulations and intimidated into signing so-called back-postage agreements, which require shippers to pay postage to the Postal Service even though the letters are being shipped via Federal Express, according to the company.

The Postal Service strenuously denied the allegations. Officials at the Postal Inspection Service were not available for comment.



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