Distribution Directions Vol 9 No 5 Postage Rate Info, USPS Requirements, Pension Overfunding and Suppliers

Recognizing ongoing concerns about mailers’ readiness for broader adoption of the Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb), the USPS has decided that automation discounts for mail with POSTNET barcodes will continue to be offered beyond May 2011. The announcement, made following consultation with key industry leaders, means that mailers also may continue to use the POSTNET barcode for reply mail (such as Business Reply Mail (BRM), QBRM and Permit Reply Mail) and PLANET Code for Confirm Service. The relaxing of requirements beyond the planned May POSTNET retirement timeframe allows for an easier transition to the full use of the IMb while continuing to receive automation discounts.

Source: DMM Advisory

Unions Urge President To Fix USPS Pension Overfunding

The APWU and other postal unions and management associations have asked President Barack Obama to take “immediate action to save almost 100,000 good, middle-class jobs and stabilize the financial condition” of the Postal Service. “A healthy postal system is critical for a healthy U.S. economy,” the organizations wrote [PDF] on Jan. 12. “The financial problems facing the Postal Service were made significantly worse by a Bush-era mandate that the agency pre-fund nearly 80 percent of its future retiree health care obligations by 2016 at a crushing cost of $5.5 billion per year…No other agency or company in America is required to pre-fund such obligations at all, much less on such an accelerated schedule,” the organizations wrote. Had it not been for these payments, the Postal Service would have experienced a $611 million profit over the past four years — despite the recent recession and competition from the Internet, the letter notes. The USPS experienced a deficit of $8.505 billion in Fiscal Year 2010, and anticipates a deficit of $6.4 billion in Fiscal Year 2011.

Source: APWU

Top USPS Suppliers

Husch Blackwell's Postal Service Contracting practice group released a list of the top 150 U.S. Postal Service suppliers for fiscal year 2010. Overall, more postal contractors saw revenue declines than increases. However, the sharp decline in postal spending over the past several years has finally stabilized. Postal Service spending in FY 2010 totaled $12 billion, just a 1 percent decrease from FY 2009. By comparison, postal spending in FY 2009 declined by over 19 percent from FY 2008. Just over half of all outside spending ($6.32 billion) went to transportation. And about half of that figure ($3.2 billion) went to highway transportation.

Source: Husch Blackwell

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