Associated Mail & Parcel Centers Blog

This morning the Postal Service announced its proposed prices for Mailing Services products which include First-Class Mail parcels, Standard Mail parcels and NFMs, BPM, and Media. The AVERAGE prices are shown in this presentation. The actual proposed prices are shown in this chart.  Additional information is available from USPS at http://shipp.in/g/1cc.

A shocking surprise is the 23.3% average increase proposed for Standard parcels and NFMs, which the Postal Service claims is necessary to make these products “profitable.” Postal spokespersons also said they expect to ask the Postal Regulatory Commission, in the very near future, to move these products and perhaps First-Class parcels to the Shipping Services side of the business where they could be priced and treated (e.g., contract rates, etc.) like Parcel Select, Priority Mail and other “competitive products.”

This afternoon the USPS will file the proposed prices with the PRC, which by law has 90 days (until October 4) to review them and issue a final decision on whether “extraordinary and exceptional circumstances” exist to justify this effort, and whether the prices are “reasonable and equitable and necessary.”

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