After the House Subcommittee on Government Operations heard from the Postal Regulatory Commission on June 4, and the Senate Homeland and Governmental Affairs reviewed two nominees to be governors of the Postal Service on June 17, the postal trifecta was completed when Postmaster General David Steiner appeared before the Senate committee on June 24. Statements Neither the PMG’s opening remarks…
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In recent years, the process for commercial mail acceptance, payment, and entry has become entirely automated by a complex web of interrelated Postal Service data systems. Generally, the mail producer uploads data describing the content, preparation, and postage payment for a mailing and the Postal Service processes this to confirm payment and authorize entry of the mail. Meanwhile, the mail…
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After last week’s Congressional hearing, anyone reading the statements and hearing the comments by the Postal Regulatory Commission’s four commissioners has a thorough summary of the PRC’s perspectives about the Postal Service. Collectively, their observations about USPS finances, operations, and service were not positive, and generally traced the source of their concerns to the 10-Year Plan initiated five years ago…
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On June 4, the four current members of the Postal Regulatory Commission testified before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations. Though the hearing was captioned simply as a hearing with the commissioners, its primary purpose was to learn their perspective on the state of the Postal Service and related issues. In both their written testimony and responses to questions from…
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In a 288-page order issued May 27, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved as filed the prices for market-dominant products that were proposed by the Postal Service on April 9. The commission also approved all proposed incentives and promotions and related classification changes as filed, except for the proposed new NCOA+ service. Charts reflecting the approved rates are at the end…
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As an organization established to serve commercial mail producers, we’re sometimes asked why we’re concerned about the Postal Service’s Regional Transportation Optimization program, which primarily impacts retail customers. Our answer is simple: RTO violates the fundamental principle of universal service. By arbitrarily differentiating between those customers within a certain distance from a regional processing and distribution center and those farther…
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The issue of extended producer responsibility is a growing concern for commercial mail producers, so our legal advisors from Brann & Issacson have offered our subscribers some guidance on the matter. California’s Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility Program: Why Commercial Printers and Mailers AreOfficially in the Conversation For years, environmental compliance lived comfortably upstream – brand owners worried about it, packaging…
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Watching PMG David Steiner testify before the House Subcommittee on Government Operations last week made some impressions, good and bad, and perpetuated concerns over conditions not being addressed. The hearing was in a large room with the subcommittee leadership sitting on the top row, above many other empty rows, looking at the witnesses some distance below. The more unusual element…
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The practice of regime change – one way or another – has gained a certain popularity of late. Usually the initial change is replacement of the person at the top, followed by a winnowing of those in subordinate positions until holdovers from the prior regime have left – one way or another. Fortunately, the US had an orderly process for…
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On March 2, the White House sent to the US Senate three nominations to fill vacant positions on the Postal Service’s Board of Governors. No details about the nominees’ education, professional experience, or qualifications were included with the nominations, so any such information had to be gleaned from internet searches. The recent nominees join a fourth whose name was originally…
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