Postage Rate Increase
Two months after a postal rate increase that averaged 5.4 percent across the board, direct mail quantities have not declined and, in some cases, they're even on the rise, according to several mailing services companies. The U.S. Postal Service, however, says Standard mail volume is growing but is weaker than officials expected. From Oct. 1 to Jan. 31, the USPS planned for a Standard mail increase of 4.7 percent, but the actual increase was 1.5 percent. There have been no significant changes to the state-by-state circulation strategies, according to the February issue of Libey Economic Outlook by Donald R. Libey. Intermediate-term and long-term outlooks remain positive, Libey said. Mailers cited several reasons why the increase has had so little effect, including the relatively low level of the increase compared with previous double-digit raises. However, they aren't as optimistic about the next one. However, mailers are turning their attention to the next rate case, which likely will be filed this spring. Because rate cases can take as long as 10 months to be decided, any ruling based on the next case probably would take effect next year. USPS board chairman James C. Miller has said to anticipate a mid-single-digit increase in 2007.
Mail Delivery Outcry: Bulk-Rate Items Arrive Too Late
Delays in El Paso's standard-class mail delivery service that are affecting some merchants have drawn scrutiny from the office of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes and prompted the U.S. Postal Service to hire temporary workers.
Though Postal Service officials say a nationwide spike in service has yielded a backlog of only bulk-rate mail in El Paso, several employees of the city's main post office said the delays are due to a startling shortage of staff and are also affecting some second-class mail service.
"We've had mail piled up to the rafters," postal worker Frank Chavez said about the backlogs of mail service at the Postal Service main distribution plant at 8401 Boeing. "They're trying to catch up, but that means that they are working these people to death."
Chavez said he has found stacks of advertising mail sitting up to 12 days to be processed.
He and other workers at the main distribution plant said the Postal Service has done little to fill the vacancies that employment attrition has created in El Paso. Further, they said, the impact of the vacancies has been magnified by an increase in the Las Cruces mail being processed.
