On July 6th, 2010 the USPS filed proposed price changes with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail, Package Services and Special Services.
You can find the FRN at http://pe.usps.gov/FRN/Domestic_Jan_2011_Exigent_proposed.pdf and excel sheet with proposed prices at http://pe.usps.gov/prices/Prices_Jan2011.xls
Here's a summary of the proposed changes (if approved)
- Reply Rides Free First-Class Mail Incentive Program
- New standards to the eligibility sections for Saturation and High Density
- Separate price structure for Standard heavy non-auto letters, these prices will be called nonmachinable letters (instead of letter paid as flats). Please note "letter paid as flats still applies for all for First-Class letter-size pieces over 3.5 ounces.
- Proposal to eliminate the current option for rigid flats to be eligible for automation prices if they pass a Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC)-administered testing process
- A separate price category for commercial single-piece First-Class Mail® (FCM) parcels with prices lower than those for retail FCM parcels.
- Standard Mail parcels would be separated into two price categories, Marketing parcels and Fulfillment parcels. Each of the two price categories would have additional pricing separations for nonprofit pieces.
- End the NFM category as of January 2011
- Parcel Post® packages will be zone priced for each pound increment including packages weighing up to 1 pound.
- Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter (BPM), Media Mail®, and Library Mail singlepiece parcel weights will be rounded off to two decimal places, instead of the current four decimal places.
The Mail.dat workgroup is meeting weekly to incorporate all these changes for 11-1 spec and planning to finalize it by end of July 2010. Any changes approved after the PRC review will be handled through errata.
