Complete Story
05/12/2022
Mailers Hub
GMA has partnered with Mailers Hub to offer our members fast access to answers and resources to help them understand and comply with USPS regulations, to improve their operations so they may better serve their customers and improve profitability, and to facilitate collaboration with industry peers and partners. From postal regulations to production floor layout – Mailers Hub was created to be a comprehensive resource AND community for those in the commercial mailing industry.
The May Edition of the Mailers Hub Newsletter includes:
• Associations Respond to USPS Opposition to Rate Setting Changes: In separate filings on April 11, two groups of industry associations petitioned the Postal Regulatory Commission to reconsider the additional rate authorities it granted the Postal Service in a final rule issued November 30, 2020. Their request followed by less than a week the enactment of the Postal Reform Act of 2022 which significantly reduced the debt and future costs of the Postal Service that had driven the PRC’s rulemaking and its conclusion.
• USPS Releases Second Quarter Results: On May 5, the Postal Service released its Form 10-Q for the second quarter of fiscal 2022 (January 1 – March 31). The period covers the post-holiday mailing season and usually has lower volume and revenue than the preceding quarter.
• PRC Opens Rulemaking on USPS Service Performance: The Postal Service notified the Postal Regulatory Commission in an April 22 filing that it intends to revise elements of the service performance measurement process. Those changes would initiate measurement of reply mail, implement rule changes regarding the “long haul” exception, and standardize critical entry times for Periodicals.
• Postal Service Sued Over NGDV Purchase: As reported by The Washington Post on April 28, the Postal Service has been sued in US District Court for the Northern District of California by a coalition of attorneys general from sixteen states, the District of Columbia, New York City and Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Earthjustice, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The suit “alleges the agency conducted its analysis to retro-actively justify its procurement decision.” The group hopes to block the agency’s potential purchase of 148,000 conventionally-powered Next Generation Delivery Vehicles over the next decade.
• USPS Announces Changes for Competitive Products: In a May 6 filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Postal Service announced planned changes to competitive products that, if favorably reviewed by the PRC, would take effect on July 10, 2022. Unlike most such filings, this one has virtually no changes to prices; as stated by the USPS in the Governors’ Decision authorizing the filing.
• Office of Inspector General (OIG) Evaluates USPS Overtime Administration: An April 29 audit report by the USPS Office of Inspector General, Overtime Administration System, illustrated another example of management failing to us a tool the agency provided, and the consequences.
• US to Co-chair UPU Taskforce: At a meeting of the US State Department’s Federal Advisory Committee on International Postal and Delivery Services (IPODS), the Department asked for comments from the private sector on the potential structural reform of the Universal Postal Union (UPU), including allowing broader participation of private-sector organizations at the UPU.
• OIG Examines Delivery Trends: In a white paper released April 19, Trends in New Delivery Points, the USPS Office of Inspector General “reviewed Postal Service policies related to setting up new delivery points, the type of delivery available at new addresses, and the removal of delivery points.”
• OIG Examines Plant Consolidations: In an audit report released May 4, Transfer of Mail Processing Operations from Selected Facilities, the USPS Office of Inspector General examined the decade-old but unfinished process of consolidating mail processing operations into fewer facilities.
• Post Master General Comments Send Messages - Analysis: The formal statements made for public (and media) consumption during the open session of a USPS Board of Governor meeting seldom provides much insight, but the remarks of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy during the Board’s May 5 open session were more informative than average.
• USPS Seeks Reconsideration of PRC Order for BPM Parcels: In an April 28 filing, the Postal Service asked the Postal Regulatory Commission to reconsider a directive in the FY 2021 Annual Compliance Determination about the prices for bound printed matter parcels. The commission had ordered the USPS “to increase BPM Parcels’ prices by at least 2 per-centage points above the class average in each Market Dominant rate adjustment affecting the Package Services class through the issuance of the FY 2022 ACD.”
• March Financials: Improved by Workers Comp: The Postal Service’s March revenue and volume figures were mixed, but higher employee costs again assured the bottom line numbers were in red ink. Market-dominant mail edged last March for both volume and revenue, with revenue helped by higher prices. Meanwhile, competitive product volume again slipped lower, continuing a downward trend.
• All the Official Stuff
• Calendar
• USPS Alerts and Notices Related to COVID-19
GMA has partnered with Mailers Hub to offer our members fast access to answers and resources to help them understand and comply with USPS regulations, to improve their operations so they may better serve their customers and improve profitability, and to facilitate collaboration with industry peers and partners. From postal regulations to production floor layout – Mailers Hub was created to be a comprehensive resource AND community for those in the commercial mailing industry. In addition to discounted direct membership, members of GMA will receive free access to the following items:
• Webinars
• Expert Hotline
• Monthly Newsletter
• Community Forum
• Representation at MTAC
Contact your BDD for more information.
