EXCLUSIVE NEWS FLASH: Postal Rate Recommendation Could be Catastrophic for Catalogers

Perhaps most alarming, Crofoot says is the ECR rate for mail that’s entered into postal sectional center facilities (SCFs). The current rate is $0.171; in its original rate filing, the USPS had proposed a 16.4 percent increase to $0.199. But although the PRC actually recommended a lower overall average increase of 14.7 percent, part and parcel of that are its recommendations for flats vs. letters: Although the PRC wants to see the ECR to SCF rate for letters increase just 7.6 percent to $0.184, its flat rate recommendation is for $0.207, a whopping 21 percent hike, Crofoot points out.