Understanding Postal: USPS Faces Unprecedented Economic Stress

Some Good News
On the positive side, mail volume loss, particularly for flats, is leading the USPS to consider new ideas more aggressively — namely some new products, services and discounts designed to retain and generate mail volume.

One example is the new saturation mail initiative to be included in the May 2009 annual pricing change. For the first time, the USPS will include a significant price discount for growth in total mailed saturation volume or growth in market coverage within a defined market. The volume growth must be documented from the prior year to qualify for a significant per-piece price credit for the incremental volume over the one-year program period.