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An active direct mail program is more than the oer, the printed
piece and the mailing list. It is also the United States Postal
Service (USPS) delivering the mail piece to the intended target.
We admit that it can sometimes be hard to understand and follow
the rules set down by the USPS to qualify for postage discounts;
but we also recognize that without the USPS, direct mail
campaigns would be more expensive and possibly less eective.
It is likely that some of the frustration with the USPS results from
misunderstanding its business model. For instance:
• It has been almost 50 years since the postal service was supported
with tax dollars. The USPS remained a government-funded
department of the Executive Branch until 1970 when the
Postal Reorganization Act was passed by Congress. The
reorganization established the USPS as an independent
government corporation—organized like a business yet subject
to Congressional oversight. Since 1971, the USPS has been
funded entirely by the sale of postage, products and services.
• The USPS cannot freely raise prices. Any change in postage rates
must be approved by the USPS Board of Governors who act
upon recommendation by the Postal Regulatory Commission
(PRC). The USPS submits a rate case—essentially the
justification to raise rates—to the PRC which reviews the case,
invites public comments, and either rejects, accepts or asks the
USPS to make modifications. The rate case must meet legal
requirements for proposed rate changes. There is a cap on the
amount of a rate increase for market-dominant products (i.e.
those where the USPS has been granted a monopoly, like first
class letter mail). Generally speaking, it takes about a year to
institute a price increase.
• Congress sets some of the business requirements for the USPS.
Even though the USPS receives no tax support, Congress still
regulates some of its business functions, including whether it can
expand into new service areas in response to the shift in market
preference away from first class letter mail, or requiring the USPS
to charge below-cost postage rates for non-profit mailers and
some publishers of periodicals. Individual Congressmen are also
likely to intervene if the USPS wants to close an underused or
outdated facility in the Congressman’s district.
The importance of the USPS
What we now know as the USPS began even before the
United States was established. Because the free flow of
information was thought to be essential to a healthy republic,
the Continental Congress appointed Benjamin Franklin as the
first Postmaster General in 1775. A post office department was
written into both the Articles of Confederation (1783) and the
United States Constitution (1789).
Beginning with the earliest days of the republic and continuing
until World War I, the post oce constantly improved the
transportation and delivery of mail. Benjamin Franklin established
post roads and ecient routes between cities. Mail delivery
evolved from foot to horseback, stagecoach, steamboat, railroad,
automobile and airplane with mail contracts funding the cost of
developing transportation technologies.
In the mid-1950s, the Post Oce Department began mechanizing
mail processing. Mail contracts supported the development of
machines to sort, cancel stamps, read addresses and convey mail
within postal handling facilities. The introduction of ZIP (Zone
Improvement Plan) codes in 1978 and its expansion by four
digits (ZIP+4) in 1984 set the stage for today’s automated mail
processing. The delivery point bar code (1991) enabled further
automation, including automatic updates of addresses for which
individuals or businesses have filed Change-of-Address orders. The
Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) (2008) enables mailers to track mail
during processing and transport within the USPS network.
The USPS is the largest postal system in the world, delivering
nearly 40% of the entire world’s mail volume. In the United
States, it delivers to 152 million residences, businesses and post
oce boxes. The USPS operates almost 32,000 retail locations,
10,000 of which provide 89% of USPS retail revenue.
6 Providing you an edge in print communications. www.visionsfirst.com
Partnering with the USPS for Direct Mail Success