Federal Register Notice
Rate Comparison Chart
Standard Pcl-NFM Comparison

In addition to the rate changes announced on Tuesday, DMA is also working to respond to proposed revisions to current mail preparation requirements. Along with the attached Federal Register notice, I’ve included rate comparison charts and a repeat of my initial observations included below. Every mailer is different. Please use the tools we’ve provided to evaluate the impact of these changes on your business

Mail Preparation Requirements:

On January 29, 2009, the Postal Service issued an advisory and published a notice in the Federal Register outlining a number of proposed revisions to current mail preparation requirements some of which would be effective in May of this year and others to be effective in 2010. Attached please find the Federal Register notice. The notice was republished with several changes on February 6th. The remaining proposed changes, premised on improving the Service’s operational efficiency, touch all classes and shapes of mail. They range from physical changing characteristics to uniform thickness requirements to new flexibility standards to polywrap selvage limits and restrictions on inserts. If adopted, the proposed changes could prove costly to mailers to make necessary changes and in terms of eligibility for worksharing discounts.

It is important that mailers and service providers review the proposals in the February 6th notice and let us know how the proposed changes would impact their operations, whether the various effective dates of proposed changes can be met and, if so, at what cost in terms of dollars and mail volume.

DMA will be filing comments with the Postal Service by the March 9th deadline. Your concerns would be helpful in formulating those comments. Please email your comment to Ed Gleiman at the DMA at egleiman@the-dma.org by Monday, February 23, 2009. Please put in the subject line “Mailing Standards.”

In addition to sharing your concerns with us, we urge you to comment directly to the Postal Service. Comments may be filed by email addressed to http://www.futuremagnet.com/nemoa.org/MailingStandards@usps.gov with the subject line of “Price-related Proposal Comments.”

USPS Rate Update:

The USPS has announced their planned rate increases to be implemented by May 2009. Attached please find a rate comparison chart where you can see how these changes impact you specifically. Please pay close attention to rates for carrier route qualified flats as well as for CR flats that fall into the pound rate. It appears that the increases here are higher than the overall 3.8% CPI average. DMA is continuing to review the details of this rate case and would encourage all of you to verify your individual rates and not be misled by the averages. In order to draw the best conclusion please follow this link our dedicated postal page on The-DMA.org. http://www.the-dma.org/postal/

Postal Seminar:

DMA will host a virtual seminar on Feb. 24, from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m., featuring experts from the Postal Service. The virtual seminar is jointly sponsored by DMA, the Association for Postal Commerce, the Mailing and Fulfillment Service Association, and the Parcel Shippers Association. Featured speakers will be David Schoenfeld, USPS VP for Mailing Services and Jim Cochran, USPS VP for Package Services. There will be time for audience questions. Don’t miss this opportunity to have the new rates explained, and the chance to ask questions. The cost of the virtual seminar is just $15.

http://www.the-dma.org/government/rates09/

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