Postmaster: Postal Rates Will Continue to Rise Until Postal Reform is Enacted

Speaking this week at ABM's Spring Meeting about a proposed postal rate hike that would raise rates some 11.7 percent, an unapologetic U.S. Postmaster General John E. Potter said the postal service will continue to raise rates until Congress enacts reform. "I know many have high hopes for postal reform," he said of stalled federal legislation expected to alleviate the burden rising postal rates have placed on the publishing industry. "But I'd like to be realistic and looking at the bills coming out of the House and Senate, I'm optimistic that they will provide some relief on our escrow account and on our military and retirement payments."

Last week, the postal service announced it was in need of another rate increase (May 4, Postal Rate Hike an 'Enormous Negative Impact'). The request, which comes on the heels of January's 5.4 percent increase, will be examined by the Postal Rate Commission for the next 10 months.

But even with reform, Potter, who received the Tom Tully Award from ABM Tuesday in Scottsdale, Arizona, said it's a long road ahead for the postal service, which delivers 212 billion pieces of mail each year. He said every time gas prices go up a penny, the postal service's gas costs increase by $8 million. The postal service expects to lose upwards of $2 billion this year, he said.

Still, Potter says he is committed to working with publishers to educate them on how they can save money in the immediate future. Potter said shipping mail in pallets, rather than sacks, would save money. He also said, if sacks are the preferred method of shipping, publishers can save money by increasing the amount of mail they pack into each sack.