On Tuesday, April 9, 2024, the USPS filed its Notice of Market-Dominant Price Change with the PRC. As predicted in the March 25 issue of Mailers Hub News (login required), the Postal Service is seeking the maximum possible increase the rate authority will allow. As stated in the filing, “The Postal Service has available approximately 7.8 percentage points of pricing…
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As Postmaster General Louis DeJoy presses on with his Plan to transform the Postal Service’s collection, processing, transportation, and delivery networks, an audit of the first regional processing and distribution center opened under his Plan found a wide variety of problems. The OIG summarized the transition of operations into the new RPDC: “In July 2023, the Postal Service completed the…
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Working for decades as an industry consultant, I’ve navigated the consolidation of numerous industry associations, including GATF, PIA, NAPL, MFSA, AMSP, and more. One key lesson emerged: Regardless of the products or services you offer, be it prepress, wide format, print, or mail, the fundamental rule of business success remains – listening and responding to your customers is essential. Neglecting…
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Direct marketers know the offer you choose to send is extremely important. Sending the right direct mail offer to the right person drives direct mail ROI. When you start planning your direct mail offer, your design and target list should correspond to it. When there is a mismatch between them, your ROI is significantly reduced. To create the best offers…
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On March 22, the Postal Regulatory Commission approved a Postal Service proposal, filed November 22, 2023, to add a new Zone 10 to the prices for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, and USPS Ground Advantage. The USPS had stated in its filing that, if approved, the new Zone 10 prices would be effective at a future date, but no sooner…
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The “Three Point Revolution” completely changed basketball. The size of the court effectively doubled with no more players to cover it. And every playbook became obsolete. The same thing has happened to the environment in which your organization operates. And far too many playbooks haven’t changed at all. Introduction I coach senior executives. Those coaching sessions always address significant challenges…
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As the Postal Service was accelerating its repurposing and consolidation of mail processing operations, it became known that one facility that would be affected was the Missoula (MT) P&DC. Under the network realignment plan, it would be downgraded to a Local Processing Center, handling only mail destinating in its service area. Outgoing volume would be trucked nearly 200 miles over…
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Under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, and in conformance with his 10-Year Plan, the Postal Service has obsessively pursued measures to fill trucks and reduce transportation, all in the name of “efficiency.” Initially called “Optimized Collections,” but since renamed the “Local Transportation Optimization,” the initiative’s objective is the same: run only one trip from the processing facility to local post offices…
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Every year in its annual report, the Postal Regulatory Commission provides its estimate of the value of the Postal Service’s monopolies over the delivery of some hard-copy mail and access to the mailbox. At the same time, the PRC estimates the cost to the USPS for its Universal Service Obligation. Both figures are for the prior full fiscal year. On…
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Usually, when the Postal Regulatory Commission allows the Postal Service to conduct a test of a potential new product or service, there’s a finite arc of related events, such as a proposal by the USPS, review by the PRC, and establishment of a test with reporting requirements and specific start and end dates. Over the test period, results are reported…
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