Tag Archives: USPS

Slow Delivery in Houston Continues

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Houston Standard Mail DeliveryThe new USPS delivery standards for First Class and Standard Mail that take effect on July 1, 2015 have been published.  However, we have continued to experience slow delivery both local and regional, especially with standard mail.  We encourage our clients, especially those mailing to promote scheduled events, to drop your mail an extra 7 days earlier to ensure timely delivery of your marketing mail!  We will continue to keep you apprised of delivery in the coming months as we prepare for the upcoming back to school and holiday seasons.

 

New Delivery Standards for Standard Mail

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New delivery standards for Standard Mail will take effect on July 1, 2015.  See below for details:

USPS Standard mail delivery standardsWe have experienced slower than normal standard mail delivery locally and regionally.  See details on what Houston mailers are experiencing and read our recommendations for the coming back to school and holiday seasons.  Read More…

Slower Mail Delivery

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BEB Business Extension Bureau USPS Slower DeliveryThe US Postal Service Has Slowed Mail Delivery

No, you’re not imagining it. It does, in fact, take longer for letters to get to their destination via snail mail. Since January, letters that used to be delivered overnight are now taking an extra day or two to reach their destination.

The slowdown is the result of far less volume (people are sending fewer things by USPS) and processing plant closures. The Postal Service closed 150 plants to save $865 million and another 82 starting in January to save an additional $750 million.

The USPS has had billion-dollar budget shortfalls in recent years, prompting the agency to ask Congress for help. It wanted to cut Saturday service all together, but an outcry prevented that measure.

Former postmaster general Patrick Donahoe argued, just before he retired earlier this year, that the longer delivery times only affect between 2.5 percent and four percent of the mail anyway. “So you can’t hold an entire system hostage and continue to run up debt and continue to avoid making investments over 2 percent to 4 percent of the mail,” he told the National Press Club.

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USPS Halts Closures

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POSTAL POOCH CHANGESUSPS halts plan to consolidate and close processing facilities

The Postal Service has suspended its plans to consolidate or close processing facilities in 2015.

According to documents on the USPS website, the closures and consolidations dates of all plants were changed from 2015 to “to be determined,” with the exception of three plants in Asheville, N.C., Houston, Texas and Queens, N.Y.

The USPS planned to close up to 82 mail processing facilities this year and expected to save about $750 million a year by closing those facilities – money that it desperately needs after the agency recorded losses in 21 of the last 23 quarters.

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USPS Rate Hike Approved

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Postal Rate Hike Approved by BEB Business Extension BureauAfter three tries, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) finally approved the proposed prices and classifications for Standard Mail, Periodicals, and Package Services yesterday.

The new pricing and classification changes for all market-dominant mail classes and competitive products take effect on May 31, 2015.   Below are the new rates:

2015-05-31 POSTAL RATES Standard & First Class 2015-05-31 POSTAL RATES NON PROFITWould you like a 2015 BEB POSTAL RATE CARD?  These cards are double sided with nonprofit rates on one side, and for profit Standard & First-Class rates on the other.  They also include handy dimension minimums/maximums and other mailing requirements.  Printed on sturdy card stock and measuring at 9″ high X 8″ wide, these cards are excellent reference material and they are FREE!  If you would like one mailed to you, click here.

Summer Classes Scheduled

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MAILING #1 - Introducting the SeriesWe are excited to announce that the 2015 Marketing for Small Business Summer Seminars have been scheduled!

Our Basics class is an update of the wildly successful series we presented last year.  The seminars cover Blogging (7/16/2015), Social Media (7/23/15), Two Mails: Direct Mail & Email (7/30/15), and Search Engine Optimization (8/6/15).

Kathy Norris HallGuest lecturer Kathy Norris-Hall of the USPS, will conduct the Direct Mail portion of the Two Mails class.  Kathy will review some new tools the postal service is using to help businesses determine the return using cross-channel marketing in conjunction with your direct mail campaigns.  She’ll also review list options, a wide scope of vehicles to mail, tracking response rates, and how to use your direct mail to drive customers to your website.

Jeremiah Mohr and John Horrell of SiteboxproBack by popular demand, our guest lecturers, Jeremiah Mohr and John Horrell of Siteboxpro will conduct the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) class.  Siteboxpro is a leader in SEO and web marketing and will teach about the process of organically improving the visibility of your website in search engine results.  They will review a breakdown of a search and show you ways to take advantage of local searches using free services such as Yelp or Google maps.

Angel Wiener of Business Extension BureauOur Angel Wiener is teaching the new and updated social media class.  Angel will review the demographics of the most popular social media platforms to help you determine which is best suited for prospecting new business.  She’ll review the basics of how to converse within each platform and how to identify results.

Also returning for another season is our Joy Zehrbach.  Joy Z is Joy Zehrbach of Business Extension Bureauconducting the Blogging and e-mail classes.  She’ll review reasons why a company should blog and how blogging keeps your website content fresh.  We discuss topics for content, where to find content and how to use back links to help your SEO.

The email classes review the minefields surrounding blasts and privacy regulations and how to study and maximize your email list.

Fall and Spring classes sold out, so if you’re interested in attending, register soon!  See what previous attendees said about our classes.

 

Houston & N Houston Permits update

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Power icons

 We published a blog with detailed information earlier about the USPS merging Downtown Houston Permit numbers into the North Houston Permit number system back in February.

STOP!  DON’T DO ANYTHING! 

The USPS is in a holding pattern as it has determined that it may be easier to merge the smaller North Houston Permit numbers into the Downtown Houston Permit number system.  As soon as a decision is made, our BEB Mail Pooch will notify you immediately.  Stay Tuned!.

PRC Approves Rate Hike effective Apr 26

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April 26th Rate HikeThe Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) has issued orders approving some of the price changes proposed earlier by the Postal Service. After its review of the USPS filing, discussion of the input from commenters, and its own analysis, the PRC found that “the planned” prices for First-Class Mail do not violate the price cap.

The PRC has also approved the price increase for competitive products (proposed on January 26), except for some rates associated with products whose transfer from “market dominant” to “competitive” remain under review.

Rate increases will take effect on April 26, 2015. You can view the new rates by clicking below:

STANDARD NONPROFIT LETTERS AND FLATS

STANDARD LETTERS AND FLAT | FIRST CLASS LETTERS & POSTCARDS

USPS Files Market Dominant Price Change

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Blog with BEB 2015-01-15 USPS Postal Rate Increase RequestToday the U.S. Postal Service filed a request with the PRC (Postal Regulatory Commission) for a rate adjustment (1.966%) based on the CPI (Consumer Price Index). The request for increase applies to only “market-dominant products”, which includes Standard Mail, the primary postage used by marketers.
The USPS has requested that the increase take effect on April 26 and estimates that it will generate an additional $900 million on an annualized basis. The USPS estimates that an additional $400 million will be contributed to the fiscal year 2015, if the PRC agrees to meet the proposed implementation date.
The case also includes a separate pricing structure for Standard Mail run through the FSS (Flats Sequencing System). The request removes FSS pricing for carrier route, high density, or high density plus categories. Instead, a five-digit carrier route pallet rate will be created. An estimated 2.465% rate increase is predicted for Standard Flats.
Forever stamps will remain unchanged (49 cents), International letters will increase to $1.20 (a 5 cent increase), and postcard rates increase to 35 cents (a 1 cent rate hike).
We will keep you abreast of the outcome of this filing as it becomes available.