The Postal Service recently announced a “proposed” rate increase effective 1/2/11. These “proposed” rates will be under a Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) review process for 90 days. That period will end on October 4th. At that time “final” rates will be announced which may or may not differ from those proposed.

It should be noted that this is a very controversial rate increase request based on the Postal Service’s claim that they are entitled under the law to exceed the CPI cap that limits allowable postage increases. Their claim hinges on the severe recession constituting an emergency situation. This will be vigorously opposed by the mailing community, but mailers should be prepared to adjust to the rates as proposed.

The increase varies not only by mail class, but also by the multitude of individual rate cells within a class. Consequently, various mailers within a rate class will experience different increases depending on the make-up and other characteristics of their mailings. In some cases, the average increase as announced by the Postal Service varies significantly from the actual increase when applying the new rates to past mailings.

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