Hello. My name is Elizabeth Lombard and I am the National Postal-Carrier Manager for Pitney Bowes. In my role, I assist businesses, agencies and organizations of all sizes in not only making sense of, but also leveraging, all the USPS® regulations and changes to improve their mailstream processes.

The key word these days seems to be “changes”, so if I were to title this commentary, I would call it “May 2009 Price Change, and then some!”

As you know, new pricing for USPS® Mailing Services (also called Market Dominant products) which includes First-Class Mail®, Standard Mail®, Periodicals, Extra Services and some International mail takes effect on May 11th. And while the USPS®, under the relatively new Postal Law, can essentially increase prices no higher than the rate of inflation or Consumer Price Index (which was 3.8% in December 2008), savvy mailers need to look deeper into the price changes to determine how their postage budget will be impacted. That is because there can be significant increases, and even some decreases in pricing within the unique price cells of each class or service – as long as the overall increase by class doesn’t exceed the allowable “rate adjustment authority.” Upon understanding these prices changes, you should take the necessary steps to mitigate increases while maximizing opportunities.

But the “changes” don’t stop at Mailing Services pricing. Recall that in January 2009, pricing changed for USPS® Shipping Services (also called Competitive products) which includes Priority Mail® and Express Mail®. To the delight of many mailers and shippers, the USPS® introduced Commercial Plus pricing for those two mail classes.

Just last November, the Move Update standard for commercial First-Class Mail® was changed from a 185 day timeframe to a 95-day timeframe. And with that change, Standard Mail® was included in the Move Update regulation. Mailers have been busy implementing solutions and processes to meet the regulation, as assessment fees clearly impact postage spend.

In March of this year, new regulations relative to address format and placement took effect for commercial flat-size mailings. Failure to meet the regulations means higher postage.

We also get to look forward, and prepare accordingly, to the new sealing/tabbing requirements for letter-size booklets. Those new regulations take effect in September. Booklets that aren’t prepared according to the regulations may pay nonmachinable prices.

Finally, mailers need to prepare for the Intelligent Mail® Barcode. While there are some wonderful benefits to mailers who implement the full service option of the Intelligent Mail® Barcode, it still takes a lot of thought, planning and capital.

By employing the right mix of strategies and solutions, mailers can help improve their overall operational efficiency, address quality and reduce postage costs.

I welcome your thoughts and encourage you to share how your business or organization has met, or plans to meet the changes.

Kind regards,

Elizabeth