USPS - Highlights of the New Prices

[Eric]

http://www.usps.com/ratecase/highlights.htm

Shape Differentiation—Our current prices do not distinguish between some letters, flats, and parcels. For example, in First-Class Mail, our current price is 63 cents to mail a 2-ounce letter, a 2-ounce flat, and a 2-ounce parcel. Our proposed prices recognize that each of these shapes has substantially different processing costs and should have different prices. We expect our new pricing to encourage efficiency. For example, if the contents of a flat are folded and placed into a letter-size envelope, the mailer can save as much as 20 cents. If a parcel is reconfigured as a flat, the mailer can save up to 38 cents.

Additional Ounce Rate—As we emphasize shape in our pricing, we propose to reduce the additional ounce rate. As mailpieces become heavier, the proposed price increase declines. For letters over one ounce, the new prices are actually lower than today’s.

Priority Mail Flat Rate Box—We are making this experiment a permanent offering with a lower-than-average price increase. The new price for the flat-rate box, regardless of weight, contents, or distance traveled, would be $8.80.

Express Mail—We add a new one-pound price. The current offering includes one-half pound and two-pound pricing in the light-weight area.

Automation Letter-Size Pieces—Our pricing encourages letters to be entered at the facility that places the items in delivery point sequencing and sorted to five digit ZIP Codes, eliminating unproductive transportation and sorting.

Standard Mail Parcels—We expand work-sharing options, including a new destination delivery unit incentive. Parcels sorted to 5 digits or 5-digit schemes and entered at the DDU would be able to mitigate the increase.

Periodicals—Our pricing encourages mailers to use pallets rather than sacks, or to fill sacks with more mail. We also enhance drop-ship incentives, particularly for publishers of high editorial content publications.

Parcel Select—To enhance efficiency, we are building the barcode discount into the base price for Parcel Select-DBMC parcels and requiring that all parcels be barcoded, which will allow us to easily verify proper postage. And we propose to increase drop-ship discounts for Parcel Select.

Address Change Service (ACS)—To encourage addressing quality and efficiency, we are reducing ACS fees, and proposing a new, lower-priced OneCode ACS using the four-state barcode. The lowest fees are available for First-Class Mail letters using OneCode ACS, with the first two records for an address at no charge. We will also provide a low-cost solution for