Postal News
USPS Posts Details on IMbTM Services
Mailers can use the new Intelligent Mail® barcode to request a host of services, including OneCode Confirm®, OneCode ACSTM and Full-Service ACSTM.
Each service or combination of services has a unique Service Type Identifier. Some require fees. Others are not available for all mail types. To help you understand all of your options—and what is required—the US Postal Service has posted a detailed presentation on their website. Implementing these Intelligent Mail® services can help you increase the value of your mail. More details!
Mail Processing Changes for Priority Mail
Priority Mail® pricing for 1 pound or less will be calculated by weight and zone effective January 4, 2010. This change, which applies to Retail, Commercial Base and Commercial Plus Pricing, may impact the way you process your Priority Mail® packages. More details!
2010 Postal Pricing Announced
Zero increase for market dominant products.
The US Postal Service announced that there will be no price increase in 2010 for market dominant products including First-Class Mail®, Standard Mail®, periodicals and single-piece Parcel Post®. Postal officials also confirmed that there will be no exigent price increase for these products.
For mailers, this news offers advance notice—providing time for organizations to plan their 2010 budgets and future mail investments with greater confidence.
According to postal officials, “this is the right decision at the right time for the right reason. Promoting the value of mail and encouraging its continued use is essential for jobs, the economy, and the future of both the Postal Service and the mailing industry.”
New prices for shipping services take effect in January, 2010.
On USPS competitive products, including Express Mail®, Priority Mail®, Parcel Return Service, new prices have been announced. These rates take effect January 4, 2010.
|
USPS Service |
Average Price Increase |
|
Express Mail® |
4.5% |
|
Priority Mail® |
3.3% |
|
Parcel Select® |
4.7% |
|
Parcel Return Services |
3.0% |
|
International Shipping Services |
3.3% |
Not all prices have increased. The retail price for Priority Mail Flat Rate Envelopes, for example, will be reduced from $4.95 to $4.90. Complete prices are available at pe.usps.com
The USPS also continues to offer commercial volume incentives and has added three new products to its Commercial Plus category:
- Commercial Plus Cubic Volume-Based Pricing
- Priority Mail Half-Pound Price
- Priority Mail Padded Envelopes (9.5” x 12.5”)
Postal expert Elizabeth Lombard provides more details on Commercial Base Pricing, including ways you can use Pitney Bowes solutions to save time and money.
For instructions on how to download CBP rates and the required inscription to your DM Series Mailing System, please visit www.pb.com/ratechange.
In comparing prices, shippers should ask whether carriers charge ancillary fees, such as fuel surcharges. Some shippers add extra fees for fuel, rural delivery, Saturday delivery and other items to a customer’s final bill. The Postal Service has no comparable surcharges.
First-Class Mail® Incentive Approved
Through the latest USPS incentive program, companies can earn a 20% postage rebate on presorted letter, flat and card volumes that exceed a predetermined threshold. This incentive runs October 1 through December 31 2009.
To be eligible, a company must have mailed 500,000 or more non-parcel First-Class Mail presort pieces between October 1 and December 31 in both 2007 and 2008. The rebate will be calculated s 20% of the average price per piece multiplied by the number of pieces mailed above the threshold.
Other restrictions and parameters apply. To learn more, or to register for this program, visit www.usps.com/firstclassmailincentive. The deadline for registration is November 1, 2009.
New ‘Move Update’ Penalties
A new approach to Move Update compliance and assessments is slated to take effect January 4, 2010.
Under the current rules, all commercial (discounted) First-ClassTM and Standard Mail® mailings must be processed through an approved Move Update method at least 95 days prior to a mail date in order to take advantage of presort discounts.
Today, samplings of mailings are verified by the MERLIN™ system, which verifies compliance to the Move Update regulation. Mailers can receive reports generated by MERLIN that will enable them to improve their Move Update processes and overall address quality. In January, those reports will be used to assess mailers that do not meet the required threshold. The MERLIN system will compare names and addresses in the mailing to known change-of-addresses (COA) and will calculate the compliance score as a tolerance percentage. A mailing with a score below 70% and a minimum of 5 missed COA updates will fail the verification. Failure will result in a seven-cent per piece penalty applied to the portion of the mailing that reflects the failure amount over 30%. For example, a 100,000 piece mailing with a failure rate of 40% will have a $.07 cent per-piece penalty applied for 10% of the pieces in the mailing. The 10% is the difference between the not-updated percentage (40%) and the tolerance (30%). For this mailing of 100,000 pieces, 10,000 of the pieces would be charged $0.07 per piece, adding $700 to the mailing costs.
