Latest News and Highlights

National Association of Postal Supervisors (NAPS) Chat Podcast

On August 11, Mike Plunkett, PostCom President and CEO was invited to join NAPS Chat Host Bob Levie to talk about the role that PostCom plays in the postal space, and the current state of postal finances and operations.

PRC Approves NSA. On November 22, the PRC has approved the Publishers Clearing House (PCH) Negotiated Service Agreement (NSA), the first Market Dominant NSA in years, creating an important precedent for encouraging prospecting mail. Congratulations to the Postal Service and PCH!

PRC Approves January Market Dominant Rate Increase On November 22, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) approved the January increase in Market Dominant rates. However, in doing so, the PRC indicated that it will be accelerating the required "5-year" review of its regulations indicating that "the Commission intends in the near term to initiate an appropriate proceeding pursuant to 39 U.S.C. § 3622(d)(3)" to explore issues raised by PostCom and others.

U.S. Postal Service Announces New Competitive Prices for 2024 The U.S. Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on November 15 of price changes for Shipping Services to take effect Jan. 21, 2024. USPS Ground Advantage prices would increase by 5.4 percent, Priority Mail service prices would increase by 5.7 percent, and Priority Mail Express service prices would increase by 5.9 percent. The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including Post Office Box rental fees and some international mail services that includes Registered Mail and International Mail insurance. The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect.

U.S. Postal Service Reports Fiscal Year 2023 Results On November 14, the United States Postal Service announced its financial results for the 2023 fiscal year ended September 30. The net loss totaled $6.5 billion, compared to net income of $56.0 billion for the prior year. The net income last year was due primarily to the one-time non-cash impact of the Postal Service Reform Act (PSRA) in April 2022 and the results this year were significantly affected by the impact of inflation on operating expenses. Total operating revenue was $78.2 billion for the year, a decrease of $321 million, or 0.4 percent, compared to the same period last year, as package revenue increases were offset by mail revenue declines. Revenue for the overall Shipping and Packages category increased $324 million, or 1.0 percent, on a volume decline of 175 million pieces, or 2.4 percent, compared to the same period last year. Total operating expenses were $85.4 billion for the year, an increase of $5.8 billion, or 7.3 percent, compared to the same period last year.

USPS Proposes Price Increase for January 2024 On October 6th, the United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of mailing services price changes to take effect Jan. 21, 2024. The new rates include a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp, from 66 cents to 68 cents. The proposed adjustments, approved by the governors of the Postal Service, would raise mailing servicesproduct prices approximately 2 percent. The Postal Service is also seeking price adjustments for Special Services products including Certified Mail, Post Office Box rental fees, money order fees and the cost to purchase insurance when mailing an item.

PRC Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Justification On September 6, the Postal Regulatory Commission released its Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Justification to the Postal Service Board of Governors. Last week, the Commission submitted a revised budget request of $22.613 million for FY 2024 to the Postal Service Governors. The Commission submitted this revised request in response to correspondence and discussions with the Governors regarding the initial budget request of $23.399 million. The initial request sought to fund increases to fixed costs, including inflationary adjustments to wages and benefits, lease payments, and the addition of 5 full-time equivalent employees. The revised request only covers increases to the Commission’s fixed costs for FY 2024 and does not fund increased capacity in FY 2024.

PRC Analyzes USPS FY 2022 Performance Report and FY 2023 Performance Plan On June 28, the Postal Regulatory Commission issued its analysis of the United States Postal Service Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Annual Performance Report and FY 2023 Performance Plan. Overall, the Commission’s report provides an in-depth analysis and several recommendations regarding each of the Postal Service’s four performance goals. The Commission finds that: the Postal Service partially met the High-Quality Service performance goal and in FY 2022, the Postal Service failed to meet its target for Single-Piece First-Class Mail, 3-5-Day; partially met the Excellent Customer Experience performance goal; partially met the Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce performance goal and met the Financial Health performance goal because the FY 2022 Controllable Income (Loss) result was better than the target.