Tag: Standard Mail

USPS releases final address standards for commercial flat-sized mail

Posted by | May 9, 2008 | |

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

The new standards, published May 7 and set to go into effect March 29, 2009, will require mailers to adopt new address placement and formatting requirements for periodicals, Standard Mail, bound printed matter, Media Mail and library mail flat-sized pieces sent at automation, presorted or carrier route prices, the USPS said. The standards also include similar revisions for automation and pre-sorted First-Class Mail flats.

According to the new standards, mailers will need to place delivery addresses within the top half of their mailpieces. Mailers will also need to address presorted, carrier route and automation flat-sized mail pieces using a minimum of eight-point type. Or, if the piece has a Postnet or Intelligent Mail barcode on it, a minimum of six-point type in all capital letters will be required.

In the notice, the USPS said it will publish a quick service guide and other additional materials to help mailers prepare for the change.

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.

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DX Group – Royal Mail VAT advantage stifles competition (UK)

Posted by | Apr 30, 2008 | |

The DX Group has reminded Postcomm that the VAT exemption applied to Royal Mail is, in their view, continuing to stifle competition.

In response to Postcomm’s Strategy Review, Michael MacClancy, Head of Regulation at DX said:

“Royal Mail’s VAT exemption will continue to tip the playing field against end to-end entrants for the foreseeable future. The VAT exemption extends to positive discrimination in favour of so-called access competition over end-to-end competition. If consolidators such as TNT and UK Mail use Royal Mail for final delivery then they can take advantage of the recently introduced agency agreements to minimise VAT liability for their customers. If they use another operator (such as DX) they must charge VAT.”

“The VAT exemption not only places entrants at a disadvantage in comparison with Royal Mail, it also gives TNT and UK Mail an advantage in comparison with other operators. Furthermore, as we have argued previously, access is a very limited form of competition with limited economic benefits. If Postcomm really does wish to create the right conditions to enable a further withdrawal of sector specific regulation it will have to find a way of promoting end-to-end competition that will apply pressure along the whole of Royal Mail’s value chain.”

“Postcomm should avoid further tilting of the market towards the access model. We note that there are substantial differences between the postal markets of the UK and USA, not least of which are the statutory monopoly over delivery enjoyed by USPS and a workshare pricing mechanism that appears to leave USPS with a considerably higher proportion of the revenue than the UK equivalent.”

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U.S. postal authorities report run on 'forever' stamps as rate increase looms

Posted by | Apr 28, 2008 | |

A looming increase in U.S. postal rates appears to be turning Americans into penny-pinchers.
Just ask U.S. postal authorities who say there has been a run on so-called Forever stamps in advance of next month’s planned rate increase. Officials say that with the postal rate increase just two weeks away, Americans are buying 30 million Forever stamps a day.
The cost of sending a first-class letter will rise a penny to 42 cents on May 12. But the Forever stamps – currently selling for 41 cents – will remain valid after the increase.
Forever stamps were introduced in the United States last year and since then more than six billion have been sold.
Unlike the Forever stamps, other 41-cent stamps will require additional postage when the new rates take effect. Postal officials say they have printed an additional 1.5 billion one-cent stamps in anticipation of the demand.
Also, for the first time the Postal Service has stamps available at the new rate before the change takes effect.
A set of five 42-cent stamps honouring pioneering journalists went on sale last week, as did a set of four stamps featuring the American flag flying at different times of day.
Postage rates last went up in May 2007, with a first-class stamp jumping 2 cents to the current 41-cent rate.
The first-class postal rate is the one that most people notice, but other prices will also rise.

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Deutsche Post faces competition from cooperative banks

Posted by | Apr 28, 2008 | |

German cooperative banking group Volksbanken and Raiffeisenbanken plan to enter the German mail market in cooperation with logistics company Paketeria, Financial Times Deutschland reported.

It said a Volksbank branch in Celle, near Hannover, will start a pilot project in May with Paketeria. The company will forward mail to parcel company GLS and letter-carriers TNT NV and Pin Group, it said.

TNT is the main rival of German mail incumbent Deutsche Post World Net AG.

‘We would like to fill the gap Deutsche Post has left with its branch closures,’ Alexander Ruckdaeschel, head of Paketeria’s supervisory board was quoted as saying.

The banks operate 14,000 retail outlets, which would compete with Deutsche Post’s 8,850 outlets, the report said.

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Strategic Review of Canada Post Announced

Posted by | Apr 22, 2008 | |

Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities, and Minister responsible for Canada Post, today announced that the Government of Canada will conduct a strategic review of the Canada Post Corporation that will be guided by established terms of reference. “We are conducting a strategic review of Canada Post to make sure this public institution has the right tools and means to fulfil its mandate in the future,” said Minister Cannon. “This review is being conducted with the full understanding that Canada Post will remain a Crown corporation. In the changing business context and with new challenges ahead, we want to act now to make sure it continues to fulfil its mandate: delivering essential, universal services every day to Canadians, while remaining financially self-sustaining.” The review will focus on four major areas: market and competition; public policy objectives and responsibilities; commercial activities; and financial and performance targets. A review of Canada Post has not been conducted since 1995. The review will be led by an external, independent advisory panel composed of three members. “I am very pleased that Dr. Robert Campbell has agreed to chair the panel and that Mrs. Nicole Beaudoin and Mr. Daniel H. Bader will support him as panel members on this important review,” said Minister Cannon. “I look forward to their report and recommendations, which are due to me in December 2008.”

The panel will be guided by the following four principles:
– Canada Post will not be privatized and will remain a Crown corporation;
– Canada Post must maintain a universal, effective and economically viable postal service;
– Canada Post will continue to act as an instrument of public policy through the provision of postal services to Canadians; and
– Canada Post will continue to operate in a commercial environment and is expected to attain a realistic rate of return on equity.

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