Every year in its annual report, the Postal Regulatory Commission provides its estimate of the value of the Postal Service’s monopolies over the delivery of some hard-copy mail and access to the mailbox. At the same time, the PRC estimates the cost to the USPS for its Universal Service Obligation. Both figures are for the prior full fiscal year. On…
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“Pilot Test” Continues Adrift
Usually, when the Postal Regulatory Commission allows the Postal Service to conduct a test of a potential new product or service, there’s a finite arc of related events, such as a proposal by the USPS, review by the PRC, and establishment of a test with reporting requirements and specific start and end dates. Over the test period, results are reported…
Read MoreFinger-pointing Follows Withdrawal of PCH NSA
As the saying goes, “Success has many parents while failure is an orphan.” To a degree, this may apply to the stillborn negotiated service agreement with Publishers Clearing House that the Postal Service had filed last August 11. That filing was different from other NSAs in that it was for market-dominant mail, not competitive products. As the USPS stated in…
Read MoreUSPS to PRC: MYOB
It’s understandable that there should be a natural tension between a regulator and the regulated, and that’s always been the case between the Postal Regulatory Commission and the Postal Service. Even so, there would be periodic briefings and discussions, and the relationship was civil. However, under Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, that relationship, at least from the Postal Service’s side, has…
Read MoreGCA, USPS, Differ Over Information Request
In an August 14 filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission, the Greeting Card Association moved for the issuance of an official information request as part of the Public Inquiry on Changes Associated with the Delivering For America Plan (Docket No. PI2023-4). Motion and opposition The GCA explained the reasons for its motion: “The DfA plan depends pervasively on certain projections.…
Read MoreUSPS Files for Market-Dominant NSA
This article and more can be found in the August 28, 2023 issue of Mailers Hub News Late on Friday, August 11, the Postal Service submitted a request to the Postal Regulatory Commission seeking approval for a negotiated service agreement with Publishers Clearing House. Though the USPS files NSA requests many times a week, the August 11 filing was different…
Read MoreTHE USPS Rate Case
Join us as industry expert Leo Raymond and USPS VP, Pricing and Costing, Sharon Owens walk us through the proposed rate changes presented to the PRC. This marks the sixth Rate Case since 2021 – no longer are the rates themselves the only issue, but the issues arising from trying to implement the changes industry-wide in half the time. There…
Read MoreHouse Vote on Agency Authority Could Impact PRC Decisions
As reported on June 15 by Government Executive, a bill passed by the House of Representatives could reverse precedent and restrict a government agency’s latitude in interpreting and applying the statutes it’s charged with implementing. As stated in the article, “The Separation of Powers Restoration Act (HR 288) would allow federal courts to review all aspects of a law’s implementation…
Read MorePRC Reopens 2021 Docket on USPS Service Performance, Seeks New Comments
On June 12, the Postal Regulatory Commission reopened a docket initiated in 2021 but later suspended while a related matter was being reviewed in federal court. Docket RM2021-2, opened January 15, 2021, was to consider a “PerformanceIncentive Mechanism” to motivate improved Postal Service performance. As stated in the original Advance Notice Of Proposed Rulemaking, the PRC sought “… input from…
Read MoreWhite Paper Urges PRC Reform
In a paper released May 22, three individuals experienced in the regulatory environment urged reforms be undertaken to revitalize the Postal Regulatory Commission.Authored by Tom Davis, who served in Congress from 1995 through 2008 and was chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, David Williams, formerly USPS Inspector General and a Postal Service governor, and Michael Kubayanda, the…
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