February 4, 2016

USPS to provide post-exigent prices tomorrow, February 5

• Date for removal of 4.3 percent surcharge not yet set

We received the following notification from Erv Drewek, industry chair of the Postmaster General’s Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC):

TO:  MTAC Association Executives & Representatives

Yesterday evening I was informed the new U.S. Postal Service Vice President of Pricing and Costing, Sharon Owens and Steve Monteith, Manager of Pricing, made an announcement earlier in the day at a committee meeting of IDEAlliance, a MTAC association, that the USPS intends to publish adjusted fallback exigent rate charts, along with a pending Notice 123, this Friday, February 5, 2016.  It was expressed the USPS is releasing this information to the mailing industry prior to filing the new rates with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).

According to one of the meeting attendees, these published rate charts will show the price reduction with the exigency rollback that is slated to happen in April 2016.   The USPS wasn’t committal on an official date for the rates to change because the exigency rolls off based on the daily revenue the USPS is bringing.  Once determined, the USPS will provide the mailing industry with a 45-day notice.  Many of the software vendors attending this meeting expressed concern that the potential implementation date could fall during the work week instead of the typical midnight Sunday schedule.  The USPS will be submitting their next exigency surcharge report on February 16, 2016.

With the release of this information on Friday it appears the exigency will be rolled off in April, but Sharon and Steve cautiously stated congressional activity or a possible ruling by the federal courts could impact the final implementation.

We will send additional information as it becomes available to the MTAC Executive Committee.

Erv Drewek, Industry Chair (2016-2017)

MTAC – Mailers Technical Advisory Committee