USPS Seeks Comment on Proposed Price Adjustments and Other Changes

by Shannon Allen

The United State Postal Service (“USPS”) filed a notice of price adjustments with the Postal Regulatory Commission (“PRC”) on September 26, 2013, proposing revisions that would be effective January 2014.  Even though the USPS is exempt from the notice and comment obligations of the Administrative Procedure Act concerning proposed rulemaking by 39 U.S. C. 410(a), the USPS is seeking public comments on proposed revisions to the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (“DMM”).  If the proposed changes are adopted, the USPS will publish an appropriate amendment to the Code of Federal Regulations.

The proposed changes include “new pricing eligibility for retail and commercial nonpresorted First-Class Mail® letters, several mail classification changes, and some condensing of current standards for Periodicals publications.”

Proposed changes include:

• Adding a new single-piece commercial nonpresorted First-Class Mail letter price category to be called Metered Mail price and changing the current price structure for residual First-Class Mail letters;
• Disallowing the use of detached address labels (DALs) with all Standard Mail flats mailed with simplified addresses (EDDM®), thus, all EDDM flats would have to bear simplified addresses directly on the flats;
• Adding a restriction on all tray and sack labels to formalize a restriction (that all tray and sack labels be non-adhesive) in order to enable quicker turnaround of empty sacks and trays for customer use;
• Requiring all shipments containing mailable live animals to be assessed a Live Animal Transportation Fee;
• Removing the current option for senders of nursery stock shipped Collect on Delivery (COD) to include special instructions for undeliverable shipments to be auctioned off to the highest bidder and the proceeds remitted to the sender;
• Expanding the standards for COD mail to allow Hold for Pick Up service to be added when COD mail is sent as Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, or Parcel Select Nonpresort; and
• Clarifying that the use of a hand stamp is not exclusive to the Form 3849.

Interested parties should submit comments, referencing Docket No. R2013-10, by November 25, 2013 by the following method:

• Mail or deliver written comments to: The Manager, Product Classification, U.S. Postal Service®, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW., Room 4446, Washington, DC, 20260-5015.
• NOTE: Faxed comments will not be accepted.