United States Postal Service

The United States Postal Service (USPS) wants to raise prices for its Priority Mail service when purchased at the post office, while lowering rates for those who print Priority Mail labels online. The service is extremely popular among lower- and medium-volume online sellers, and last year, consumers and businesses shipped 871 million pieces via Priority Mail. The USPS filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission on Tuesday to change Priority Mail rates to take effect in September — right before the holiday shopping season gears up.

The long road to getting a bill passed in Washington is rarely smooth. The efforts of the last few years to pass a postal reform bill, whose primary purpose is to efficiently downsize the USPS in light of its diminished use in today's society, has been no exception. During the 112th Congress, the Senate passed a postal reform bill, but the House was unable to counter with one of its own. So far, a year-and-a-quarter into the 113th Congress, a similar pattern has ensued. Here's a recap of where things stood as of press time

A new collaboration between the U.S. Postal Service and fashion startup Poshmark could mark a significant milestone for e-commerce brands, large and small. The latter has introduced a scheme dubbed "PoshPost," a new USPS shipping label designated specifically for retail. The model follows a similar pricing plan already set up for books, DVDs and whatnot, all shipping at

A proposed rescue plan for the financially strapped U.S. Postal Service took a step forward Thursday when a Senate committee passed a bill that would end Saturday delivery and make permanent a recent, temporary increase in the cost of stamps. The bipartisan bill would also restructure the Postal Service's health insurance program and a $5.5 billion annual payment the agency must make toward health costs of future retirees, two shifts that would cut significant costs. Commercial mailers, meanwhile, oppose a provision to allow higher postal rates that's designed to bring the mail agency billions of dollars in new revenue.

The Direct Marketing Association joined with partners in the mailing community in filing an appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, seeking relief from the recent Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) decision to allow an exigent postal increase set to take effect on Jan. 26. In December, the PRC announced it would grant the USPS request for an exigent postage increase of 4.3 percent. The 4.3 percent exigent rate is scheduled to be implemented simultaneously with an inflation-based rate adjustment of 1.7 percent approved earlier by the PRC. Thus, mailers are facing a total price increase averaging 6 percent.

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) today announced that the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has granted the United States Postal Service's request for an exigent postal increase. "They are the Grinch this Christmas," said Jerry Cerasale, DMA's senior vice president of government affairs.  "At least, they state that this outrageous postage increase will be phased out.  Sadly, the

In a keynote presentation yesterday at the NEMOA directXchange Fall Conference in Providence, R.I., Nagisa Manabe, chief marketing and sales officer of the U.S. Postal Service, addressed attendees about updates to the USPS’ five-year plan and the urgency of action needed among business mailers.

Google FedEx SmartPost or UPS SurePost and plenty of hits show up in the search results. Some reviews are positive, extolling benefits that include cost effectiveness and fewer surcharges over air/ground alternatives, end-to-end package visibility, free Saturday delivery, and more. However, your search results will include complaints ranging from transit times that were too lengthy to crushed/damaged packages. One thing is for sure: With the meteoric growth of e-commerce and consumers’ demand for free or low cost shipping, these services are here to stay.

UPS announced 6.5 percent air increases partially offset by a 2 percent fuel surcharge reduction, and 5.9 percent average ground increase offset by a 1 percent fuel surcharge reduction. Rate increases will take effect Dec. 31, 2012. Similarly, FedEx announced average rate increases of 5.9 percent for express and international services, offset by a 2 percent reduction in fuel surcharges. FedEx hasn't yet announced 2013 increases for FedEx Ground, FedEx Home Delivery or FedEx SmartPost, although it's expected to match the UPS ground increases highlighted above. FedEx's rate increases take effect Jan. 6, 2013. For most shippers the impact is much higher than the "average" increases announced by the carriers, however

UPS has announced 6.9 percent air increases, partially offset by a 2 percent fuel surcharge reduction. It's also announced a 5.9 percent average ground increase, offset somewhat by a 1 percent fuel surcharge reduction. Net increases for both UPS Air and UPS Ground are 4.9 percent effective Jan. 2, 2012.