The U.S. Postal Service filed a proposal with the Postal Rate Commission yesterday that would offer small-circulation periodicals an opportunity to receive work-sharing discounts common with larger, mass-circulation periodical mailers.
“We listened to customers and took advantage of what we can do under the existing laws by increasing the size of presorted flats bundles,” said John E. Potter, USPS Postmaster General.
Small-circulation periodicals are usually mailed in sacks as opposed to the pallets used by large-circulation mailers. Sacks are generally less expensive for the smaller mailers than palletization, but the USPS prefers palletization.
The filing says that the USPS will offer discounts to publishers, printers, and consolidators who combine different publications or print runs on pallets, so that Periodicals mail can be moved from sacks to pallets.
The discount levels are based on depth of sort: Area Distribution Center or Sectional Center Facility. The proposed discounts are 0.7 cents per piece for the former and 1 cent for the latter.
The case was filed as an experimental case, which means that it could be handled in a quicker fashion than other cases.
