Welcome to another postal action-packed report from the “Deets with Doug” blog! American Litho has been making great strides to ensure that both Litho and our customers are being properly represented and heard at the industry gatherings. In that vein, American Litho has added seasoned postal industry veteran David Stover to the mix. David hails from the postal & direct marketing “mail owner” space of the financial and healthcare verticals. You’ll be sure to hear more about David in our upcoming communications!

With the winter coats draped on the backs of chairs, this meeting marks the first instance of a “Members Only MTAC” with the eyes and ears of the general public nowhere to be found. Whether or not this was ultimately the decision of the Postmaster General, his name was nowhere to be found on the two-day agenda until a late change on the 2nd day of meetings saw him take the podium.

The USPS has incentivized early retirement to two of it’s major unions, the Mail Handlers and the American Postal Workers Union. In a nutshell they’ll enjoy a $15,000 incentive if they meet the service years requirement. This could be a great way for the USPS to shed some personnel expenditures in a landscape of declining mail volumes. We’re certainly seeing more delivery points on the map, but more automation has been a great assist to help employ this initiative.
Will a reduction in headcount make a dent in the billion-dollar losses?…not necessarily, but the employees that qualify for the package are likely the highest paid and this wouldn’t be the first time people have seen the “cheaper to backfill with new” technique at a company.
Am I surprised the USPS is putting this incentive into place before the Delivering For America 2 plan rolls out completely?…absolutely. They may have experienced natural personnel attrition with new roles and responsibilities being bestowed upon existing employees in their revamped facilities. Regardless, this may serve as a friendly nudge.
MTAC members were once again the audience for Eric Dolloff, Senior Director of Plant & Process Modernization. Eric stressed that the USPS is in the midst of addressing years of deferred maintenance, spending around $1.2bn plus an additional $300mm going to capital expenditures in FY24. I’d summarize this presentation with “We can’t process mail when the roofs are leaking into 5 gallon buckets.”
- So far the USPS has activated 83 S&DCs which reach more than 13.3mm customers. 353 more are scheduled to be activated in 2025.

Sharon Owens, USPS VP of Pricing & Costing, is looking to simplify the current rate structure. The USPS wants to eliminate Bound Printed Matter (BPM) flats and parcels, increase the weight limit for marketing mail flats to 24oz, and create a heavy printed matter category for up to 15lbs in the marketing mail parcels arena.

Steve Dearing, USPS VP / Chief Data & Analytics Officer, has informed us that the USPS has proposed to it’s regulatory commissions they’d like to add 1 day for single piece first class mail that is greater than 50 miles from a regional processing facility. The claim is that this only affects 6% while 11% will see an improvement in service.
My thoughts:
As with anything, if your mail is part of this 5%, you won’t be sporting the USPS jersey any time soon. It’s certainly not your fault that your address may see a deer walk across the driveway from time to time. We are however talking about 1st class single piece mail, and water bill payment or the holiday card will still get to the right person, only 1 day later.

Pritha Mehra, CIO & EVP, announced the dire need for shippers to leave the Electronic Verification system (EVA) and more to the new package platform: USPS Ship, no later than February 1st. She also spoke to the new business portal that the USPS is developing for shippers. The USPS is stressing it’s user friendly & self service capabilities, enhanced automation, and a number of data feeds.
- Interesting note: The amount of package payment fraud experienced by the USPS is in the $600mm/yr ballpark.
- An August ’24 “proof of payment” implementation has since seen 1/2mm pieces that did not have the proper payment documentation.
Promotions
The USPS has seen great success with the mail incentive promotion and they are hoping to run this incentive again in the coming year. It is not determined or documented as to how they will calculate the baseline period, but it’s my hope that it will not be in the same manner as the initial baseline.
Example: If you mailed 1mm pieces as your baseline, then mailed 1.2mm pieces with 200m qualifying for the incentive…I’d be disappointed if the USPS made 1.2mm pieces your new baseline while at the same time raising rates 2x/yr. Perhaps meet the mail owners in the middle?
Snapshot of the promo participations:

- As of right now, the 2026 promotions are slated to be the same as the 2025, with some tweaks to possibly occur to the newest 2025 promos. (I’m looking at you, Continuous Contact…you’re a yarn-ball of confusion).
The latest and greatest postal increase projections:

Note: Do not bank on the 7.2% this July. The USPS is said to have an additional 2% of cap space and they could pull the trigger on that if necessary.
USPS Privatization?
Unlikely, but never say never. It’s certainly not as simple as most of us think it is. One common sentiment is we’d all see higher prices for mail and packages and decreased service. Emphasizing revenue over service with fewer delivery days, longer delivery timelines, less USPS access for rural areas. With Republicans typically inhabiting a large portion of those rural areas, it’s hard to believe a Republican President would consider it a smart move.
A Dejoy Replacement?
The Postmaster General (PMG) is selected by the United States Postal Service Board of Governors, which currently has 4 out of 9 seats vacant. Last year, the Senate failed to vote on the 4 nominees, 2 of whom had been pending since August. These vacancies must be filled for the Board to take action on the PMG’s position. At present, a sitting President does not have the authority to directly remove the PMG.
- Three names have been whispered: Robert Taub (Postal Regulatory Commission vice-chair), Tom Day (commission member and 30 yr USPS veteran), and Jim Cochrane (Former USPS executive leader and current chair of the Package Shippers Association).
The next MTAC meeting occurs mid March of ’25. American Litho will also be attending the DTAC (Delivery Technology Advocacy Council) meeting the week prior.
In the meantime, If you’re not looking at these promotion add-ons (Informed Delivery & Sustainability) as the low hanging fruit for savings, you’re marketing strategy would certainly benefit from a conversation with the experts here at American Litho. The promo calendar is more than just a fancy chart and your organization needs to span as much of the calendar as possible. Coupled with the latest and greatest optimization strategies and a Midwest distribution model, American Litho is here to make 2025 the year your marketing budget gets the volumes and returns that it deserves!
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