2020 Postal Rate Changes – What to Expect
In October, the USPS® announced their proposed changes to postal rates for 2020 which would raise Mailing Service product prices by approximately 1.9 percent. However, on November 13th the Postal Regulatory Committee (PRC) remanded the price changes to First-Class Mail® due to the USPS incorrectly calculating the “percentage change in rates for First-Class Mail.” In their official report they state, “As currently proposed, prices for First-Class Mail do not comply with certain statutory and regulatory requirements and are therefore remanded to the Postal Service for further action . . . the Postal Service incorrectly calculates the percentage change in rates for First-Class Mail to be 1.926 percent.” It is now up to the USPS to revise their pricing proposal, which is anticipated to happen very soon. With price changes scheduled to take effect on January 26th, 2020, the USPS must release the finalized price changes 45 days prior to the deadline – time is of the essence!
Currently, the PRC has approved the proposed price changes for Competitive Products, which include Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express. Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express will increase by 4.1% and 3.5% respectively, but those increases vary by Retail vs. Commercial, zone, and weight. In addition, on November 22nd, the PRC approved Market Dominant pricing for all classes except First-Class Mail. This includes Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Package Services, and Special Services.
At BCC Software, we are actively engaged in updating our software to comply with the new rate case and are working on getting the update to you as soon as possible. We hope to deliver the updated rate case changes at least two weeks ahead of the January 26th deadline, and are eager for the USPS to finalize the pricing changes.
Resources:
USPS Rate Case Announcement: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2019/1009-usps-announces-new-prices-for-2020.htm
PRC Order to Remand: https://www.prc.gov/docs/111/111013/Order%20No.%205302.pdf
