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Greater Cleveland PCC April 24, 2009. Pricing and Classification Service Center - PCSC. PCSC - created November 27, 2004 Consolidated 5 RCSC’s San Francisco RCSC closed on December 30, 2004 Northern Virginia and Memphis RCSC’s closed on January 8 and 22 Chicago RCSC closed January 28, 2005.
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Greater Cleveland PCC April 24, 2009
Pricing and Classification Service Center - PCSC • PCSC - created November 27, 2004 • Consolidated 5 RCSC’s • San Francisco RCSC closed on December 30, 2004 • Northern Virginia and Memphis RCSC’s closed on January 8 and 22 • Chicago RCSC closed January 28, 2005
PCSC • One location to serve the entire country • Provided customers with consistency of rulings and interpretation of DMM standards • New National Customer Rulings Program • Provides pre-production rulings for mailer’s who mail in multiple locations
The PCSC Role • Periodicals Authorizations • Nonprofit Authorizations • Customer Appeals / Refund Requests • Approvals for Exceptions to Mailing Standards • National Customer Rulings • Resolve Mail Classification Issues
New Mailing Services Prices May 11, 2009
First-Class Mail Standard Mail Periodicals Package Services Special Services Mailing Services 89% total revenue First-Class Mail: 58% Standard Mail: 31% Periodicals: 4% Special Services: 4% Package Services: 3%
Consumer Price Index (CPI) cap Annual, predictable price changes Announce in February and implement in May Mailing Services
CPI Cap (12 month moving average) 2009 Cap 2008 Cap 3.8% 2.9%
Average +3.78% First-Class Mail
Letters: 44¢ (+2¢) Flats: 88¢ (+5¢) Parcels: $1.22 (+5¢) Postcards: 28¢ (+1¢) Unchanged: Additional ounce Nonmachinable surcharge First-Class Mail – Single-Piece
Align auto and machinable letter characteristics Provide choices Optional 5-digit, 3-digit, and AADC preparation for auto letters Maintain 2.2¢ incentive for 5-digit No change in the additional-ounce prices for automation/presort letters, flats, and parcels First-Class Mail – Commercial
Auto flats Must use delivery point POSTNET barcode or Intelligent Mail barcode with delivery point routing code First-Class Mail – Commercial
Separate prices for Canada and Mexico Canada:75¢ (+3¢) Mexico: 79¢ (+7¢) All other countries: 98¢ (+4¢) No change to country groups First-Class Mail International
Average +3.78% Standard Mail
Align auto and machinable letter characteristics Provide choices Optional 5-digit, 3-digit, and AADC preparation for auto letters Optional AADC preparation for machinable letters Move Update compliance (January 4, 2010) Standard Mail
Irregular parcels/NFMs (less than 6 ounces) 3-digit changes to SCF ADC and MADC changes to BMC and MBMC Origin entry BMC prices limited to pallets MBMC prices for other preparation Drop ship entry 5-digit, SCF, and BMC prices Standard Mail – Packages
Machinable parcels/NFMs(6 ounces and over) Origin entry BMC prices limited to pallets MBMC prices for other preparation Drop ship entry 5-digit and BMC prices Standard Mail – Packages
Lower-than-average price increase: +2.9% Lowered some pound rates to encourage more content Standard Mail – Catalogs
Encourage volume growth Additional pieces Frequency Incentives for new volume 4.0¢ flats 3.7¢ letters One-year program Enrollment through June 11, 2009 Standard Mail – Saturation Mail
Average +3.97% Periodicals • No preparation changes • Free address correction service with full-service Intelligent Mail option
Average +3.80% Package Services • Simplify Parcel Post • Remove BMC designations, Local Zone, and nonmachinable surcharge
Average +3.84% Certified Mail: $2.80 (+10¢) Return Receipt: $2.30 (+10¢) Annual Mailing Fees: $185 (+$5) Confirm Service New Bronze tier Special Services
Immediate benefits in May Free Address Correction Service Start-the-clock information Full-service prices(November 29) 0.3¢ less for First-Class Mail 0.1¢ less for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Bound Printed Matter flats Long-term benefits Actionable information Operations, marketing, and finance Paperless documentation Full-Service Intelligent Mail
Changes to Original Proposals • Move Update noncompliance charge of 7 cents per piece for Standard Mail delayed until January 2010 • First-Class Mail must have used an authorized Move Update method for discount prices • Noncompliant Standard Mail – Mailers must still comply with Move Update but we will work with mailers to bring into compliance – do not assess additional postage • Merlin (PBV PostalOne!) verification process will not be used until January 2010
Changes to Original Proposals • Mandatory First-Class Mail flats tray base requirement – not implemented (Current standards apply) • New tabbing/sealing requirements for booklet-type mailpieces at auto letter prices delayed – Not implemented at this time. Final rule will be implemented in September 2009 • Current standards will apply for folded self-mailers; recommendations will be implemented in September 2009 • Retain current minimum thickness standards for automation letters
Eligibility For Flats That Are Not Flexible - (Effective May 2009) • For Mailpieces that do not meet the flexibility criteria, but are able to demonstrate compatibility with Postal processing equipment. • Only after pieces have been tested and given PCSC approval.
Polywrap Standards (effective May 2009) • Current standards applicable to automation flats will be extended to all flat-size mail • Includes saturation carrier route flats.
Redefine Dimensions for Flat-Size Mailpiece(Effective May 2009) • Polywrap selvage will be included when measuring maximum length and height of a mailpiece • Polywrap selvage will not be included when measuring minimum length and height of a mailpiece
Deflection Standards (Effective May 2009) • Extend the deflection standards currently applicable to automation flat-size mail to all flat-size mailpieces except saturation carrier route prices. • All flats tested with the length placed perpendicular. • One inch less vertical droop
Flat-size Mail Preparation(Effective May 2009) Flat-size Mail Preparation (Effective May 2009) • Eliminate bundling requirements for First-Class Mail commercial flats. • New tray based preparation. • Prices based on sort level of the tray. • Minimum pieces per tray changed from 90 to 50
Proposals For May 2010 • Merge standards for nonautomation and automation flats. • Foldable to a height no greater than 5” • Loose inserts less than 75% of the size of the host, limited to single ply unfolded card. • New Irregular Flats category • Eliminate NFM category
New address standards for flats (went into effect March 2009) specify: Address location Address format New Address Placement Standards
Prior – Manual Current – FSS New Address Placement Standards
The new address location standards apply to these presorted, automation, and carrier route flats: Periodicals Standard Mail Package Services — Media Mail, Library Mail, and Bound Printed Matter New Address Placement Standards
Address location: Address must be in top half of mailpiece. When the address is on an insert polywrapped with the host piece, the address must remain within the top half throughout processing and delivery. New Address Placement Standards
New Address Placement Standards TopHalf John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345 TopHalf John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345 John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345 Can be left or right justified, or centered Can face left or right Bound edge on right John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345 Cannot read upside down Bound edge on right
The top is: Either of the shorter edges on enveloped or polywrapped pieces. The upper edge when the spine is placed on the right-hand side of an unenclosed piece. Either of the shorter edges on CR or ECR saturation pieces. New Address Placement Standards
“Vertical” address may cross midpoint if it begins or ends within 1 inch of top edge. New Address Placement Standards Important for digests and other small flats. John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345 Small flat
On a horizontal envelope (a “landscape” mailpiece), the “top” is the left or right edge. New Address Placement Standards TopHalf Sender 123 Main Street Anytown US 12345 John Doe 123 Main St Anywhere, USA 12345
Flat Address Change Addressing In Bundles *DMM 707.19.2, 335.2, 365.2 Arranging Pieces in a Bundle ("Facing") “…all pieces in a bundle must be "faced" (arranged with the addresses in the same read direction), with an address visible on the top of the piece.” *This will be changed to allow the address to read any way as long as the address on the piece is the same top half in bundle.
Address format: All commercial flats must be addressed using at least 8-point type (each letter or figure must be at least 0.080 inch high). Flats using POSTNET or Intelligent Mail barcode with a delivery point routing code may use 6-point type (each letter or figure must be at least 0.065 inch high) if the address is printed in all capital letters. New Address Format Standards
Address format: Sans-serif font preferred (Arial, Helvetica). All capital letters preferred. New Address Format Standards
Additional standards for automation pieces: Address characters cannot overlap. Address lines cannot touch or overlap (0.028-inch clearance preferred). Address elements may be separated by no more than five blank spaces. New Address Format Standards
Resources • USPS.com/prices • New Price List • Downloadable price files • Federal Register notices • Postal Explorer(pe.usps.com) • DMM Advisory(dmmadvisory@usps.com) • PCC Insider(pccinsider@usps.com) • MailPro(usps.com/mailpro)