USPS Summer Sale Is On

Unanimous approval comes from PRC on rates proposal.

By Bill Mickey
Thursday, June 4, 2009

The U.S. Postal Service has just gotten a chance to ease some of the economic pain it has been feeling lately. The Postal Regulatory Commission unanimously approved its "Summer Sale" rates proposal today. The Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program is set to run from July 1 through September 30, 2009.

It appears that the proposal has been largely kept intact, with criteria and thresholds remaining in place. The program will provide a 30 percent rebate to large volume mailers. To qualify, mailers had to send a minimum of one million pieces of standard mail letters and flats between October 1, 2007 and March 31, 2008.

"These thresholds are designed to limit administrative costs while incenting increased volume sufficient to cover those costs, and make use of excess capacity in the mail system," said the PRC in a statement.

Discounts will be given in the form of rebates after the summer sale ends. At that point, the USPS has 15 days to turn over cost and revenue results to the PRC.

The PRC is leaving open the possibility of expanding the program depending on performance data gleaned during the sale period. Update: According to the blog Dead Tree Edition, the PRC is predicting a "positive contribution" from the program. More behind-the-scenes details here.

April 2009: A Tough Month for the USPS