USPS Won't Raise Rates in January
No rate increases are planned for January, says U.S Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer.
Partenheimer tells Target Marketing on Wednesday that current prices will remain in place and the exigent postage rate increase of 4.3 percent is still slated to expire in the second half of 2015, after it brings in $3.2 billion for the USPS.
"The Governors of the U.S. Postal Service have decided not to seek a price change for mail and shipping products and services in January," he says, "in part, because of the uncertainty regarding the exigent price increase. This means that the current pricing of postal products and services will remain in effect through the holiday season and early part of 2015. The Board will continue to evaluate pricing strategies and will communicate about any potential price change filings in early 2015. As always, the postal service will provide customers advance notice of any price changes."
Partenheimer says USPS continues to fight the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) ruling that the exigent rate increase will be cut off at $3.2 billion.
"Among other things, the postal service’s position is that the PRC improperly and artificially truncated the amount of relief to which the postal service was entitled as a result of the Great Recession," he tells Target Marketing.
Partenheimer says he doesn't know when the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will rule on the postal service's appeal of the PRC's order.
On Wednesday, the GrayHair Newsletter from GrayHair Software announces that March 2015 is the earliest an increase could happen, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe. Donahoe was speaking at Wednesday's Association for Postal Commerce meeting.
In the meantime, FedEx is raising rates on package delivery in 2015 by 4.9 percent on Jan. 5. On Dec. 29, UPS will use "dimensional weight … to calculate the billable weight of all UPS Ground packages." USPS hasn't yet disclosed if it will increase prices on package delivery for FedEx and UPS.
Heather Fletcher is senior content editor with Target Marketing.
