October 26, 2011
Postal Service Proposes New Rate Hike
On October 18, 2011, the USPS filed for a general rate increase with the Postal Regulatory Commission. If approved by the PRC as meeting the statutory requirements, the increase would go into effect on January 22, 2012.
As always, there is bad news and good news with this proposed increase. Briefly:
- The overall increase for First-Class Mail will be 2.133%.
- The price of a First-Class (first ounce) single stamp will go up to 45 cents. However, the First-Class Forever stamps will still be worth 44 cents.
- For commercial First-Class Mail, of most interest to marketers, the first-ounce price increase will range from $0.006 (1.6%) to $0.014 (3.6%), depending on the presort level. The price difference between five-digit and three-digit presort levels will close to $0.024.
- In a move designed to encourage mailers to continue to mail, the commercial rate price for a two-ounce piece will be the same as for a one-ounce piece – thus allowing the mailer to mail that second ounce for “free.” But beyond this, the three-ounce piece will be charged the first-ounce rate plus the rate for two additional ounces.
- The overall increase for Standard Mail will be 2.124%.
- Nonprofit letter size mail will receive an across the board $0.002 per piece reduction in postage.
- Carrier route rates for all processing categories will go up 2.425%.
- Prices for other presorted prices will go up an average of 1.867% for letters and 2.209% for flats.
As soon as we know whether the PRC accepts these proposed rate changes, we’ll pass that information on to you. So stay tuned. . .
EU Services will have an updated Proposed Postage Rate Chart ready for release very soon.Be sure to download EU Services’ free Postage Rate Chart for 2012 today! If you have any questions after reviewing the rate changes, just contact Dave Loudon, VP of Mail Processing, at dloudon@euservices.com.
