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Postal Rates Articles

USPS releases final address standards for commercial flat-sized mail

Ellen Keohane May 09, 2008

The USPS has published its final rule for new address standards for commercial flat-sized mail in the Federal Register.

The US Postal Service has published its changes to Shipping Service standards in the Federal Register. They will take effect May 12. Express Mail prices will be zone-based prices, taking into account weight and distance. Priority Mail retail prices are increasing by 6%, while Parcel Select prices are increasing by 5.7% on average.

PRC okays USPS' competitive products price increase

Ellen Keohane April 11, 2008

The Postal Regulatory Commission authorized the US Postal Service's planned price increases for its competitive products yesterday. "Based on the notice and supporting material... the commission finds no reason to conclude that the planned price adjustments for competitive products are not in compliance with applicable statuary provisions," wrote Steven W. Williams, the PRC's secretary, in the order.

USPS releases new address standards for flat-sized mail

Ellen Keohane April 09, 2008

The US Postal Service has released new address standards for flat-sized mail. These new standards are set to go into effect as of March 29, 2009. The new address standards will assist the USPS in its implementation of its new Flats Sequencing System (FSS), which will sort flat-sized mail into delivery sequence, thereby reducing carriers' time spent manually sorting mail.

Tough times breed ingenuity, creativity for Inserts

Eleanor Trickett April 07, 2008

With the confluence of postal increases, consumers' green advocacy and soaring paper costs, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that insert media is one of the print-rooted areas that are currently under attack.

USPS reducing Standard Mail barcode discount

Ellen Keohane March 27, 2008

In response to the Postal Regulatory Commission's review of the US Postal Service's proposed rate change for market-dominant products, the USPS said it will reduce the 1.4-cent discount for using a barcode on mixed automation area distribution center Standard Mail letters by 1.1 cents.

USPS offers data table file identifying vacant addresses

Ellen Keohane March 26, 2008

In order to help mailers identify vacant addresses, the US Postal Service has developed a new data table file to be used with commercial address matching software. "What the postal service is attempting to do is provide additional tools to help mailers identify mail that can become undeliverable-as-addressed," said Jim Wilson, manager of address technology for USPS.

PRC verifies USPS rate increases

Cara Wood March 19, 2008

The Postal Regulatory Commission has completed its first review of the US Postal Service's price adjustments under the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, finding that all rate increases announced February 11 and set to go into effect May 12 are within the required Consumer Price Index cap.

More pressure for do-not-mail

Ellen Keohane March 14, 2008

The rallying cry for do-not-mail bills in several states grew stronger last week. A do-not-mail campaign to "stop junk mail" launched on March 11 with the support of celebrities including actor Adrian Grenier from HBO's Entourage and Daryl Hannah, known for her roles in Splash and the Kill Bill series. The campaign is the product of a nonprofit organization called ForestEthics.

USPS to offer price incentives for competitive products starting in May

Ellen Keohane March 12, 2008

The US Postal Service plans to start offering pricing incentives, such as volume-related discounts, for its competitive mail products including Express Mail, Priority Mail and other shipping services as of May 12. "Just providing service at a great price is our goal," said Steve Kearney, VP of pricing and classification for the USPS.

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