USPS rate increase still in limbo

September 12 2013

At the end of August, we spoke about the possibility of a sudden increase of many different postal rates by the United Stated Postal Service. As reported, several mailing industry leaders have come out against the move that would become a financial burden to any company that relied on bulk mailing services.

According to a recent article in The Hill, the decision to raise rates was scheduled to be made at a secret meeting of the USPS Board of Governors on September 5. The piece reports that no agreement was struck that night, but the possibility of an increase is not dead.

In a statement from the USPS, the organization confirmed that the board did meet to discuss the possibility of raising prices. It also said that they have listened to stakeholders and are postponing their decision until the next scheduled meeting on September 24 and 25.

Mary Berner, the head of the Association of Magazine Media, told the news source that she is encouraged by this move.

"This action affords us additional time to work with them and detail the devastating impact a rate increase would have on the mailing industry and the 8.4 million jobs that depend on it," Berner said. "It also gives us, the Postal Service, and the entire mailing industry additional time to continue working in concert to convince Congress that the solution to the Postal Service's problems lies not in rate increases, but in meaningful postal reform legislation."

If these rates change, every business that uses physical mail will need to re-evaluate how they ship. This mean local courier services could become the most effective way to send critical business parcels.