Tag: North America

The U.S. Postal Service has proposed revisions to the Periodicals (magazine and newspaper) portion of its mailing standards that will accompany the new Periodicals pricing that will go into effect on July 15, 2007. Periodical mailers will have new incentives to use efficient containers and bundles, and copalletization (publishers/printers merging bundles from separate publications or titles on the same pallet) becomes a permanent offering to encourage more publishers to combine mailings. The Postal Service also is adding new prices for the editorial portion of a mailing to give mailers of high-editorial-content publications access to lower-destination-entry rates.

The proposed revised standards are published at www.usps.com/ratecase. This site also contains rate charts and other helpful information for mailers, including frequently asked questions and articles related to the pricing change.

While most Postal Service price changes and new mailing standards will go into effect on May 14, 2007 (including the 41-cent price for First-Class Mail stamps), the Postal Service Board of Governors delayed the implementation of new Periodical prices and mailing standards until July 15, 2007. The delay will give mailers and the Postal Service more time to prepare for the new pricing structure recommended by the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The upcoming rate case and what reform means to the mailing community were the two issues most on the minds of attendees, vendors and speakers at the 2007 National Postal Forum held last week.

Postmaster General John E. Potter stressed that dialogue between mailers and the U.S. Postal Service is key if the mailing industry is going to successfully navigate new roads that have barely been mapped.

“Roles…have changed. Rules [are] under development,” Mr. Potter said. “Today, communication with each other is more important than ever as we work to understand and shape this new world.”

Mr. Potter was referring to the new postal law that took effect on Dec. 20 that changes the role of the agency and the Postal Regulatory Commission.

Mr. Potter also discussed how mailers and the USPS have to work together to mitigate some of the larger rate increases that they face. Catalogers, for example, face 20 percent to 40 percent increases, although these rates are being reconsidered by the PRC. New rates go into effect May 14 for most mailers.

He also explained that boxed cards and boxed checks can easily move to a flat shape, which makes the mail pieces more efficient to process and deliver, and thus lower postage costs.

Some lighter, oversized envelopes and catalogs can be folded and mailed as letters, according to Mr. Potter.

Vendors on the trade show floor also offered tools to help mailers mitigate the increases.

Envelope vendors also said many of their customers and prospects are trying to find ways to switch from flats-shaped to letter-shaped envelopes. To do this, many are planning to fold their mailers to fit into a letter-sized envelope.