IN THE wake of postal reform, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) started a new practice last year: annual rate increases. Last May, this May, and potentially every May in the foreseeable future, prices will change for most forms of mail and USPS services—usually upward.
Leo Raymond
BABY BOOMERS may remember the poster (also used in IBM ads) that preached “plan ahead,” but illustrated the result of doing the opposite. As 2008 moves along, looking at the changes ahead facing the mailing industry, the advice again may be to “plan ahead,” but do better than shown in the poster. Mailers can expect several significant events over the next year, stretching into early 2009: • A rate case, or “price adjustment” as they’re now called, this month; • Implementation of tighter “Move Update” standards in November; • Phase-out of more postage meter models by the end of 2008; and • Implementation of
FOR THOSE of us who work in the postal world every day, a rate case is an interesting but not overwhelming event. Most of us generally understand where it comes from, how it’s litigated and what it all means in the end. But for many professionals—such as printers—who may be less directly involved in the production of mail, the arcana of postal matters gets even murkier when there’s a rate case. So, as the current case is drawing to a close, it might be useful to step back, consider what it’s all about and draw some general conclusions. First, don’t get confused by the
