WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Postal Service today filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of mailing services price changes to take effect on July 12. The new rates include a 4-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents.
Click for USPS Rate Filing With PRC
The proposed adjustments, approved by the governors of the Postal Service, would raise mailing services product prices approximately 4.8 percent. If favorably reviewed by the Commission, the price changes would include:
The additional-ounce price for single-piece letters will remain at 29 cents. The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for other First-Class Mail products, Periodicals, USPS Marketing Mail, Package Services and selected Special Services products.
In the midst of the severe financial crisis facing the Postal Service and continued rising operational costs, the Postal Service is using all available tools, including available regulatory pricing authority, to ensure we can continue to fulfill our universal service obligation and serve the American public. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.
The PRC will review the changes before they are scheduled to take effect. The complete Postal Service price filing, with prices for all products, can be found on the commission’s website under the Daily Listings section. The Mailing Services filing is Docket No. R2026-1. The price tables are also available on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.
According to the filing, the Postal Service will allow mailers to combine Presorted Letters and Postcards to satisfy the 500-piece minimum volume requirement. Currently, in order to mail presorted letters and postcards, there is a separate 500-piece minimum for each.
Other changes include:
— The Postal Service will be adding a fee of $0.25 for Marketing Mail parcels that do not meet certain preparation standards. The fee will be assessed when a mailpiece does not meet the requirements for using Intelligent Mail package barcodes (IMpb). Specifically, mailers will have to ensure the address, manifest, and barcode passes critical validation criteria.
— The Postal Service is eliminating mail preparation of bundles in tubs of Marketing Mail flats and will be requiring a 50-piece minimum for the tubs to ensure efficient utilization of containers. This change mirrors the improvement the Postal Service implemented for First-Class Mail Flats in last year’s rate case.
— The Postal Service is increasing the Marriage Mail incentive discount from 10 to 20 percent. All other terms for eligibility and
administration of the incentive will remain unchanged. The Marriage Mail 2 oz. Incentive is available to any mailer at any time and does not benefit only a single mailer.
— New Workshare Discounts: This rate case introduces 14 new workshare discounts—for convenience when describing them we have broken them into one set of six and another of eight. In terms of cost avoidances and methodologies for Heavy Printed Matter (HPM), the Postal Service is utilizing existing cost avoidances and methodologies currently on the record for Bound Printed Matter Parcels, with the exception of three containerization discounts. With the introduction of Heavy Printed Matter prices for Marketing Mail parcels, the Postal Service is introducing six new workshare discounts.
— The Postal Service is introducing a set of new discounts for dropshipped Marketing Mail parcel-shaped pieces. Specifically, to allow prices and dropship passthrough percentages to more closely reflect associated cost avoidances, the Postal Service is separately deriving discounts and passthrough percentages for parcel-shaped pieces up to the 3.3 oz. breakpoint and prices for parcel-shaped pieces above the 3.3 oz. breakpoint.
The USPS also unveiled the proposed promotions calendar:
To read the complete PRC rate filing click here.