U.S. Postal Service

The USPS is anticipating launching a 2010 version of the “Summer Sale.” The latest news is that a USPS filing with the Postal Regulatory Commission for this incentive is expected at the end of this month or early next month. This coming incentive is very similar to the prior one.

Momentum is building at the USPS for a “Winter Sale” event to follow on the heals of the Summer Sale incentive for Standard Mailers. This latest incentive round would have some similar features, but also notable differences, from the previously announced Summer Sale incentive.

The two-year-old American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) trudges along like a little engine that could. But can it? Despite its newness and relatively tiny membership, this organization has delivered an effective wake-up call to both the USPS and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the plight of catalog mailers, helping foster the recent postal “summer sale.”

The two-year-old American Catalog Mailers Association (ACMA) trudges along like a little engine that could. But can it? Despite its newness and relatively tiny membership, this organization has delivered an effective wake-up call to both the USPS and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on the plight of catalog mailers, helping foster the recent postal “summer sale.”

In a decision to save hundreds of millions of dollars in labor-related costs, the U.S. Postal Service negotiated an agreement with two of its employee unions to offer select employees a financial incentive to retire or resign before the end of the fiscal year.

Mailers looking to take advantage of the USPS’ Standard Mail Volume Incentive Program, also known as the “summer sale,” may need to add to their volumes to qualify for the postage discounts. And with 30 percent postage rebates available to qualified mailers on incremental mail volume from July 1 to Sept. 30 of this year, some may consider cranking out postcards or letters to draw traffic to their Web sites.

The U.S. Postal Service ended its second quarter (Jan 1 – March 31) with a net loss of $1.9 billion, as the economic recession and longer-term financial pressures, such as the diversion of letter mail to electronic alternatives, continued to reduce mail volume and revenue. Despite aggressive actions to reduce costs and grow revenue, the Postal Service will likely face a cash shortfall of over $1.5 billion at the end of the fiscal year.