Tag: PRC

The U.S. Postal Service Governors decided that the current Standard Mail Flat prices will remain in effect and approved a pricing structure for Premium Stamped Stationery and Cards.

The Governors decided not to implement a temporary change to Standard Mail Regular and Nonprofit Flat prices recommended in the latest Postal Regulatory Commission’s (PRC) decision on reconsideration. The Governors asked the Commission to reconsider some of the prices originally recommended on February 26, 2007, and implemented on May 14, 2007.

The Governors also approved a PRC recommendation on the price structure for Premium Stamped Stationery and Premium Stamped Cards. The stationery (sold in pads consisting of 12 sheets of quality stock paper and imprinted with postage) can be priced between three and four times the First-Class Mail Letters first-ounce single-piece rate – currently 41 cents – times the number of sheets. The total price for the cards (sold in packets 10 to 20 and imprinted with postage and matching designs) can be priced between two and three times the First-Class Mail Cards Regular single-piece rate – currently 26 cents – times the number of cards.

The Postal Regulatory Commission May 25 offered interim rate relief for Standard Regular flats and catalog mailers in response to the U.S. Postal Service Governors’ request to reconsider the recommended rates in March.

The PRC’s decision grants a temporary rate reduction of 3 cents for all Standard Mail regular flats and 2 cents for Standard Regular nonprofit flats. The temporary transitional rate relief for Standard Regular flats mailers would end Sept. 29.

The agency said the Governors’ acceptance of this recommendation would require minimal administrative or transaction costs since the savings can be measured at the end of the transition period or at the time of mailing.

Also, additional computer hardware or software will not be needed to accommodate this temporary change. The PRC recommends mailers simply multiply the number of flats mailed by either 3 cents or 2 cents, depending on mail type.

Meanwhile, the Direct Marketing Association disagreed with the recommendation and issued a statement of disappointment in the PRC.

The chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission is asking mailers for their input as it begins developing and implementing a modern system of rate regulation now that the postal reform bill has been signed into law.
Dan G. Blair, the new PRC chairman, said the PRC issued an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in late February asking for written comments by April 6 and responses to those opinions by May 6. The comments are supposed to be published on the PRC’s Web site at www.prc.gov. However, Mr. Blair said that the PRC has not yet received any feedback.
“I hope our conversation today will generate innovative thinking on a system of rate regulation that will best serve the needs of the postal service, the mailing community and the entire nation,” he told delegates at a U.S. Postal Service/PRC summit called “Meeting Customer Needs in a Changing Regulatory Environment.”
Later this summer the USPS will consult the PRC to develop and establish new service standards for all classes of mail, Mr. Blair said. In preparation, the agency has invited the PRC to observe Mailer Technical Advisory Committee meetings at which customer service requirements are being explored.