Knowledge of the ins and outs of mailing regulations and services available from the USPS can offer discounts to that ever-dwindling budget. When reviewing mailing projects, these are the items I keep in the forefront as Corporate Services Mailing Specialist for 杏吧原创.

The Onboarding Process

Every new mailing customer who comes to 杏吧原创 receives a personal onboarding call. We understand how vitally important it is to make sure we are handling each individual client with expertise, care and understanding.

We want our customers to know that we will be handling the mailing to their high standards. Knowledge of how a mailing has been handled previously is important. By obtaining a few items from mailers we can start researching a mailing prior to our call. Items that can aid in this research are:

1. A sample mail file.
2. A previous postal statement.
3. A sample of a previous mailing area.

However, these items are not the only items we use to get to the heart of how your mailing works. We have a series of questions structured to obtain every detail. Together we will talk through items like:

• Permit usage, payment of postage, nonprofit status, address block content details.
• Obtaining USPS assigned Mailer ID and Customer Registration ID numbers.
• How to use certified software, Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS), and National Change of Address (NCOA) to assist in making sure supplied addresses are standardized and deliverable.
• If we need to merge multiple lists together and/or remove duplicated addresses.
• How Address Correction Service (ACS) is handled and if there is a need for an Ancillary Endorsement.
• Last, but certainly not least, we discuss questions from the mail owner until there is a comfort level and understanding going both ways.

How to Save Money

Another one of the ways our personal onboarding procedure helps is by allowing me and our List Processing Team the opportunity to review mail data files. We review saturation, mail class and presort levels to see if we can guide mailers into participating in any of the postal saving discount procedures offered by 杏吧原创 and the USPS.

Now, mailers may already participate in these work share discounts, and we can continue to mail the same way matching those procedures. For those that don鈥檛, we review to see where we can make suggestions and share the pros and cons of any changes offered.

Drop Shipping or Plant Verified Drop Shipping

With drop shipping or PVDS, postal legal containers are reviewed to see if we can take advantage of work share 鈥渄elivery鈥� discounts. Basically, the USPS offers discounted postage if you help them deliver the mail. There are a couple of levels of delivery you can utilize depending on how deeply into the postal delivery stream is most beneficial. The discounts are found and the delivery freight pricing is examined to see if there are still benefits to the mailer.

Co-mail

Co-mail works on the principle that larger mailings allow for greater discounts. Presorts move mail pieces into more economical pricing structures like 5-digit and carrier route presort. Then adding in drop shipping discounts adds an extra level of savings. Co-mailing mailers 鈥減ool鈥� their mailings with other mail owners to make very large mailings of millions of pieces. Co-mail benefits seem to favor nationwide mailers that may not have the volume to reach these discounts on their own. If you are a mailer of 5,000 pieces or more, we can review participation in this program to see if it would be a good option. Co-mailing requires preplanning and flexibility but can often reap savings.

Weight

Some of the postal classes offer pricing structures that can reduce postage by reducing the weight of the mail piece. Taking a look at lesser-weight paper stocks or altering the size of a mailer can also offer savings. However, the USPS regulations can trip up even the best intentions. Our team can help by ensuring any new plan to decrease the weight of a mail piece will still be postal legal.

Worth It

Mailing can be complicated, but it can also be quite simple. Catalog mailing is an excellent opportunity to add a sensory touch point. If you gang that physical touch point by sending mail, and enhance it by incorporating the digital world, the sky鈥檚 the limit.

Research has shown again and again that people respond to physical items. Working with 杏吧原创 means we can help you get your catalog mailing in consumers鈥� hands in the most seamless way possible. Reach out to us today if you have any questions. We look forward to maximizing your mailing to work for you.

The post Making the Most from Your Catalog Mailing appeared first on 杏吧原创.

To see how other classes will compare to the 5.4% increase for First Class, here is a chart. It appears that Periodicals are getting hit a little harder this increase.

Table 4听

Price Change Percentages听

The proposed Mailing Services price changes include:

When reviewing percent changes, it appears periodicals will be affected more than other items.听

Below is the statement USPS sent out about the proposed changes.听

Though we are sharing this information today, please use this information with the understanding that it is all pending approval.听听

April 10, 2023

U.S. Postal Service Files Notice with PRC for New Mailing Services Pricing

• Actions taken to address continued elevated inflation and prior years defective pricing model

• New prices scheduled to take effect July 9, 2023
• Postal Service prices remain among the most affordable in the world

WASHINGTON, DC 鈥� Today, the United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of mailing services price changes to take effect July 9, 2023. The new rates include a three-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 63 cents to 66 cents.

If favorably reviewed by the Commission, the proposed increases will raise First-Class Mail prices approximately 5.4 percent to offset the rise in inflation. The price changes have been approved by the Governors of the U.S. Postal Service.

The price for 1-ounce metered mail will increase to 63 cents, and the price to send a domestic postcard will increase to 51 cents. A 1-ounce letter mailed to another country would increase to $1.50. There will be no change to the single-piece letter and flat additional-ounce price, which remains at 24 cents. The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, money order fees and the cost to purchase insurance when mailing an item.听听听

The proposed Mailing Services price changes include:听

As operating expenses fueled by inflation continue to rise and the effects of a previously defective pricing model are still being felt, these price adjustments are needed to provide the Postal Service with much needed revenue to achieve the financial stability sought by its Delivering for America 10-year plan. The prices of the U.S. Postal Service remain among the most affordable in the world.

The PRC will review the changes before they are scheduled to take effect. The complete Postal Service price filing, with prices for all products, can be found on the PRC website under the Daily Listings section at . The Mailing Services filing is Docket No. R2023-2. The price tables are also available on the Postal Service鈥檚 Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.

Want to learn more about 杏吧原创? Contact us today.

The post USPS Announces New Prices for Market Dominant Rate Classes appeared first on 杏吧原创.

The hardcopy notices the USPS are discontinuing are sent to mail owners who print ancillary endorsements on their mail pieces but are not enrolled in the USPS Address Correction Services (ACS).听These endorsements tell the USPS how to handle your mail pieces if they are undeliverable as addressed. 听听

The most common ancillary endorsements for this service are:

• Address Correction Service
• Change Service Requested
• Forwarding Service Requested

You would see these printed on your mailing area near where the permit, return address, or addressee are added to the cover.

In lieu of the hardcopy returns, the USPS notice is encouraging mailers to sign up for Address Correction Service to continue to receive their updates electronically. for enrollment in Full-Service ACS. It is important you share the details with us after you have set this up.听We will need Service Type ID information (STID) and we will need to make sure the Mailer ID (MID) that 杏吧原创 utilizes is set up.听The 杏吧原创 MID can be obtained from your Customer Service Representative.

Here is a link to the filing on the Federal Registers page where one can read more about this.

Here is the contact information for ACS:

ACS

Email: acs@usps.gov

Phone: 1.877.640.0724

Email sent out by USPS:

Have questions about how 杏吧原创 can best serve you? Contact us here.

The post USPS Notice: Discontinuing Hardcopy Address Correction appeared first on 杏吧原创.

The Postal Service is enacting new procedures for auditing compliance with circulation standards for Periodicals requester publications, as well as standardizing procedures across Postal Service publications. The Postal Service is also revising the applicable Customer Support Ruling and Postal Service customer handbooks to reflect this DMM revision. Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the DMM until Nov. 7, 2022, the standards are effective immediately.

Previous

8.1.3听Retention

The publisher must keep records for each issue of a publication for three years from its issue date, except for circulation records for general or requester publications for which USPS verification of circulation is done by a USPS- authorized audit bureau. A publisher whose records are verified by an authorized audit bureau is not required to keep source records of requests and subscriptions longer than required by the audit bureau.

Revised

8.1.3 Retention

The publisher must keep records for each issue of a publication for a minimum of three years from its issue date, except for circulation records for general or requester publications for which a USPS-authorized audit bureau verifies USPS circulation. In addition, the publisher must retain records for paid subscribers for a minimum of 12 months following the issue date. A publisher whose records are verified by an authorized audit bureau is not required to keep source records of requests and subscriptions longer than required by the audit bureau, provided that the authorized audit bureau retains records related to such requests and subscriptions for a minimum of three years following each issue date.

Previous

8.2.2听Authorized Verification

USPS employees or an authorized audit bureau may conduct verifications of circulation for an application for Periodicals mailing privileges, reentry application, or other required circulation verification of general or requester publications.

Revised

8.2.2 Authorized Verification

USPS employees or an authorized audit bureau may conduct circulation verifications for an application for Periodicals mailing privileges, reentry application, or other required circulation verification of general or requester publications, provided that the Postal Service will have the authority to review audit procedures upon request. In addition, the Postal Service reserves the right to verify each audit bureau鈥檚 compliance with Postal Service audit procedures. The Postal Service has the authority to revoke any audit bureau鈥檚 authorization to conduct verifications if it finds the audit bureau failed to follow approved audit procedures.

杏吧原创 continues to seek and share the latest postal updates and information to help our customers understand and navigate changes to mailing and shipping. When any policies, procedures or forms are updated, 杏吧原创 will be sure to share announcements.

The post Two New Updates from the USPS You Need to Know for Your Periodicals appeared first on 杏吧原创.

Postal rates just changed on July 10, and within a few days I was already fielding many questions like these. I don鈥檛 have a solid answer for any of these questions, but I do have a couple hints.

On July 14, just days after the last USPS postal increase, the USPS released an Industry Alert about a January 2023 Release Overview. This Overview shares information on items the USPS is planning to change. And its planned effective date of January 8, 2023, hints at the date of our next postal increase.

At the most recent MTAC (Mailer Technical Advisory Committee) meeting, the Postmaster General announced the rate increase is being pushed a couple weeks from January 8, 2023 to January 22, 2023. This is, of course, subject to approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), but it will allow software vendors a couple more weeks to update after the new pricing is announced.

Now that we have a clue about when to expect the next rate increase, let’s look at how much it may affect us. Working in the industry, I hear a lot of rumors. Lately, I have been hearing mentions of a four to six percent increase, but I have not seen anything concrete to support this rumor with any confidence. For reference, the last couple of price increases each landed at around six to nine percent.

A factor that may cause the next rate increase to be higher than expected is the new numbers produced on July 13 in the Consumer Price Index summary. The CPI measures the average change over time in prices paid by consumers for goods and services. The pricing at the USPS is basically tied to the CPI, and the updated data supplied by the shows that the CPI increased by 1.3% in June alone, compared to the total of a 9.1% rise in the CPI over the last 12 months. This high rate of a monthly increase may impact the pricing at the USPS as they plan for the next fiscal year.

Transportation and fuel pricing continues to influence everything. Challenges in these areas will drive the pricing of all aspects of delivery for all consumables, and I expect mail and in-home delivery to be no different.

The Overview has quite a few topics of interest with the disclaimer that this document is pre-decisional and open to changes by the Board of Governors and the PRC. Here are a couple of items I found interesting…

• Postal network redesign and classification updates
• 2023 Mailing Promotions
• First Class and Priority Mail Changes
• Zone Moderations and Removal or Eliminations of several services.

I don鈥檛 want to go into any of these too deeply since these are early discussion points, but if you want to have a look for yourself, please seek out the .

For methods to manage rising prices in your marketing mail, read my last blog, 4 Ways to Deal with USPS鈥� New Postage Rate Increases.

杏吧原创 continues to seek and share the latest and greatest postal information to help our customers navigate this turbulent postal landscape. When any plans become concrete, 杏吧原创 will be sure to share announcements.

The post What We Can Predict About the Next USPS Pricing Increase appeared first on 杏吧原创.

Using the following granted authorities, USPS determines how large a price hike they can implement:

• Matching the Consumer Price Index (CPI) Cap at the time of the filing: 5.135%
• Adding unused price cap percentages from the prior years. This currently ranges from 0.002% to 0.037%
• A density rate authority available to the USPS: 0.583%
• A retirement-based rate authority: 0.785%
• Lastly, a 2% rate authority granted to the USPS when a class of mail is 鈥渦nder water鈥� or not paying for itself. For this rate class, Flats, Parcels and Carrier-Route will see this 2% authority.

Using the above authorities, the USPS determines what amount of the allowed percentage they want to use by class and then by product within each class. They bank any unused price cap for the next increase.

Below is the percentage the USPS is planning to raise each class, and the formal announcement by the USPS. This pricing still needs to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).

Class Pricing Increases:

• First-Class Mail: 6.506%
• USPS Marketing Mail: 6.5%
• Periodicals: 8.54%
• Package Services: 8.511%
• Special Services: 6.442%

Periodicals will see a price hike to Outside-County rates of 8.581% and Within-County rates of 7.751%. There was also an announcement of an increase to Editorial Pound Pricing, a decrease in the price of tubs versus sacks in mail prep, an increase in savings between basic Carrier Route and Machinable Automation 5 Digit Flats and a fluctuation of pricing for work sharing. Periodical mailers of the Science and Agriculture approved status will also see a lowering of pound pricing for zones 3 through 9.

Marketing Mail, although mentioned at an average of 6.5%, will see a higher increase dependent on the size of the mail pieces. Those starred below also have that 2% rate authority attached.

• Letters: 6.151%
• Flats: 8.543%*
• Parcels: 9.785%*
• High Density/Saturated Letters: 9.785%*
• High Density/Saturated Flats and Parcels: 4.769*
• Carrier Route: 8.657%*
• EDDM Retail: (-6.5%)

I have always been one to promote the USPS and its services, but along with many in the industry, I am wondering why we have not seen a leveling out of the pricing increases. I hope to see some of the legislation and the 10-year plan the USPS has put in place benefit mailers at some point. We also need to keep in mind there are outside contributors to consider such as the nation鈥檚 unprecedented decline in transportation availability and high fuel costs.

With that said, let鈥檚 take a look at some of the variables we can control.

1. Make sure your mailing list is up to date and designed to allow for maximum address updates and duplication elimination.
2. Consider targeted mailings to those who purchase the most or have taken a liking to your seasonal promotions.
3. Take a look at your mail piece size, design and paper type. I know paper availability has been an issue, and there may have been instances when you had to choose a paper you don鈥檛 usually use. Make sure you are not breeching a pricing threshold with your change. Hint: we can help with this!
4. Look into CoMailing procedures to reduce postage cost. A warning here though; these services are not meant to improve delivery. Often, preplanning is required to continue to see the delivery strategies you have made with your mailings.

The USPS filing can be found at .

Please reach out to your 杏吧原创 salesperson or a member of our mailing crew and talk about possibilities to make this pill easier to swallow. Together, we can focus on mailing strategies within our control.

The post 4 Ways to Deal with USPS鈥� New Postage Rate Increases appeared first on 杏吧原创.

This increase is the option current postal leadership feels will best help the USPS recover from the loss of revenue they are seeing. There are stirrings of lawsuits to slow or delay the increase, but I鈥檓 not encouraged that these efforts will do much more than prolong the inevitable.

听As you know, mail continues to be one of the foremost ways to put tangible products into consumers鈥� hands. The sensory and brand marketing that can be accomplished with mail is still unchallenged. With the USPS Informed Delivery campaigns, the U.S. Postal Service has introduced a way to meld print with digital. Also, there are strategic marketing plans that move to incorporate timely follow-up email campaigns.

听As we move down the yellow brick road together, we are going to need to proceed wisely. Make sure your mailing database fits your needs. Are you collecting data that can assist you with adding personalization to your mail piece? Are you able to target certain portions of your clients by researching their previous purchases or likes? Have you been maintaining your database by utilizing supplied CASS and National Change of Address updates? Do you check your list for duplicates or limit your delivery to one per household? Have you invested time to look into savings options or design options that can optimize your postage?听听听

听So many questions, and unfortunately, dousing this increase in water won鈥檛 make it melt. Reach out to your sales representative, and let鈥檚 talk about how we can make sure we are looking at your needs to move forward through this increase.

The post Lions and Tigers and Postal Increases? OH MY! appeared first on 杏吧原创.

Recently, the United States Postal Service released their 10-year plan.听The plan aims to achieve financial stability and improve service. The best kept secret in regard to the latter is how that鈥檚 actually going to happen, especially given the fact that the former involves cost-cutting measures.

Here are some of the highlights:

• Maintaining a six-day delivery for standard mail and seven days for parcels.
• Adjusting First Class Mail delivery service standards (this will affect some Periodical Mail).
• Reducing dependence on air freight and increasing the usage of surface transportation.
• Simplifying the transportation network and altering the facilities to better handle parcels.
• Bolstering retail operations and altering organization structures to encourage longevity, reduce turnover and strengthen advancement opportunities for USPS employees.
• Revisiting mandates to alter prefunded retiree health benefits and prefunded retirement plans.
• Investing in optimizing delivery units and updating fleet vehicles.
• Implementing new pricing authorities that allow the Postmaster General to raise rates

I have joined several webinars over the last week that sought to understand how these changes are going to affect mailers. I鈥檓 at a loss.听There seems to be a lack of information on how and when this plan is going to be laid out.听The industry is chomping at the bit to both know more and become more involved in the process.

What concerned me the most is how the Postmaster, Mr. DeJoy, seemed proud that they did not use any consultants to produce this plan. The postal service is not utilizing one of the best avenues it has to make the mailing experience better: their own Mailers鈥� Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC).听MTAC is how the USPS shares technical information with mailers and receives advice and recommendations on how to move forward.听Members of this group stated there was no communication and continues to be no communication on how this will move forward.

We are concerned about the lack of information coming out and how to answer questions.听How will this affect Standard Mailers? How will altering the facilities challenge drop shippers and coproduction mailers? Is the post office going to continue to promote the value of mail while being so very concentrated on parcels?听Are they looking at other avenues of pricing failures?听The Office of the Inspector General for the USPS just released a new white paper that looks at the revenue and costs of the retail network.听Lastly, can the industry handle another pricing increase?听Postmaster DeJoy stated that a price hike is imminent, and it could be yet this year.听I鈥檝e heard anywhere between 1.5% to 8.5%. Are they prepared to counteract a possible drop in mail volume?

I鈥檓 optimistic, but I hope to be able to put answers to these questions soon.听The mailing industry always seems to find a way to make these changes less painful.听Hopefully, these changes will improve the delivery issues we have all seen over the last several months and we can look forward to meeting service levels.

You can see the USPS 10-year plan for yourself and . Here is the on Retail Cost.

The post Uncertainty Surrounds the USPS鈥� 10 Year Plan appeared first on 杏吧原创.

There are a number of happenings which have hurt the post office.听COVID-19 took a heavy toll on the post office and trucking industry:听the post office is struggling to keep workers safe, and quarantines are reducing their labor forces. Similarly, the transportation industry is experiencing a driver shortage and truck availability is low, driving up costs and making the delivery of mail staggeringly slow.

On top of this, the post office was hit hard with election mail and an extraordinarily heavy holiday season.听Election mail pushed new limits with higher volumes of mail-in and absentee voting. USPS estimated they delivered 800 million packages between Thanksgiving and New Year鈥檚 Day, all with a depleted staff and transportation issues. Holiday volume was up about 50 million pieces from 2019, and 130 million from 2018.听I鈥檓 sure you heard people upset when their packages didn鈥檛 arrive for Christmas.

The final straw: postage rates are on the rise.听Some Flat Marketing Mailers (Standard Mailers) are being hit especially hard by this increase.听The postal service is trying to make sure each class of mail pays for itself, and flat mailers are not carrying their share of the load.

This supercell storm is also hurting customers.听For many mailers, the importance of delivery is key, and the slow delivery frustrations I hear about are gut wrenching. In my 30 years of working closely with mail, it has never been like this.听I am seeing mailings that are听days, even weeks late, and there is nothing the sender can do about it.听Conventional wisdom says that this would go away after Christmas, but we still see mail facilities with 24 to 48 hours in off-loading delays.

What does this mean for us? If you are a mailer, you are frustrated, and I don鈥檛 blame you. But take a step back.听Just like at the end of most storms, there鈥檚 a silver lining. Look at the value of mail service.听Mail allows a physical extension of your business to touch your client.听That touch is invaluable.听The postal service rolled out programs in the last several years to increase the value of mail, not only as a physical touch point, but as a digital one as well.听The use of QR codes and Informed Delivery service, to name two, can escort your customer from your physical mail piece directly to your internet presence.

Weathering storms teaches us to be more resilient and to make the most of today. We need to leverage every touchpoint, every resource spent in service to that connection.听Preplanning can also help us look at ways to discount postal pricing.听Response devices like QR codes can improve interaction. List hygiene, such as household consolidation, removal of duplicates and better targeting can improve your reach. Leveraging services, from co-mailing to improved class rates, can lower costs. Reach out to one of our team members for ideas; we can weather the storm together.

Let鈥檚 chat about your next print project and what 杏吧原创 can do for you.听Contact us today!

The post Weathering the storm of compounded challenges at the USPS appeared first on 杏吧原创.

A couple of meetings back, we had an awesome presentation from the American Transportation Research Institute. ATRI is a nonprofit organization that does research on transportation and pushes out yearly reports and analyses of how changes in the trucking industry are going to affect the nation鈥檚 transportation needs, and in turn, how it could affect mail delivery. USPS does not have their own fleet of trucking, and works with the same resources we do to move mail. If the trucking industry is facing obstacles, then mail and freight delivery become more challenging.

We are currently seeing drastic changes in the industry. Late deliveries, higher prices and difficulty getting loads covered are just a few of the struggles we are experiencing.听UPS recently at some major U.S. retailers. President and COO Rebecca Brewster shared the causality behind what is happening to the transportation industry with us.听She did a wonderful job of allowing the mailing industry to gain a view into the daily life of a truck driver, how difficult it is to find parking, and the dangers involved to the drivers. The overall feeling from everyone there was one of sympathy and concern.听She also shared the trials we are going to continue experiencing if this industry keeps losing its most vital resource: drivers.

Since her presentation, I have discovered that their findings really do play a key role in delivery.听It is important to keep an eye on this industry as it really affects every aspect of mailing and shipping. At the end of October, they made available the 鈥淐ritical Issues in the Trucking Industry 鈥� 2020鈥� report.听I was not surprised to see that the number one issue is driver shortage, as it has been the number one issue since 2017.听Trucking is not an industry to which workers are flocking.听Thus, a critical question is why people are not attracted to careers in this industry.听The report also shares some of the other related issues such as driver compensation, truck parking, insurance, delays and hours of service.

What I really like about their study is that they have proposals for improving the issues they identify.听For the driver shortage, they have the genius idea of developing an apprenticeship program.听With 27.4% of the workforce being over 55, the valuable knowledge of older drivers may help get younger drivers interested and help retain them as they learn the tricks of the trade.

With the help of this organization, I really hope that we start to see some relief. This problem is only going to grow if we do not find a way to improve and maintain this valuable workforce. If you would like to take a look at these issues and review ATRI鈥檚 studies, you can visit their website and download the studies at听, and you can also sign up for their emails听.

The post Why Your Mail or Packages Could Be Delayed appeared first on 杏吧原创.