MailPro
News for Mailing Professionals

More than 1.2 million customers visit usps.com every day to print postage-paid shipping labels, schedule a free package pickup, buy stamps and order supplies online, change their address and put mail on hold while saving time and fuel in the process.

NEW SERVICE STANDARDS RAISE THE BAR

National on-time performance scores for the delivery of First-Class Mail reached 96 percent, and 93 percent of customers surveyed gave the Postal Service high satisfaction marks, in the first quarter of FY 2009.

During the period, USPS launched expanded service performance measurement that for the first time includes delivery performance for International mail.

“The target is still the same, to measure our successes with on-time mail delivery so we meet the needs of our customers,” said Vice President and Consumer Advocate Delores Killette. “We’ve set some ambitious goals and we will strive to meet those goals as we continue to improve the measurement system.”

The Postal Service contracts with outside entities to independently and objectively measure First-Class Mail service performance and customer satisfaction.

Here are the performance scores for the first quarter of FY 2009:

• Customer satisfaction is 93 percent.
• Overnight delivery is 96 percent.
• Two-day delivery service is 92 percent.
• Three-day delivery service is 86 percent.
• International First-Class Mail is 86 percent.

Mailing Services Prices to Change Monday , May 11

On Feb. 10, the Governors of the Postal Service announced new prices and product features for mailing services to be effective Monday, May 11. This also includes the full service Intelligent Mail services option for First-Class Mail, Periodicals, and Standard Mail letters and flats, and Bound Printed Matter flats, effective Nov. 29, 2009.

New mailing standards to support the price changes are being implemented as well and will be detailed in next issue of MailPro.

The new prices include a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp to 44 cents. The average increase by class of mail is at or below the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index. Prices for mailing services will continue to be adjusted annually each May. For First-Class Mail, there will be no changes to the current prices for additional ounces.

Forever Stamp Will Get Your Letter Delivered

The Postal Service initially launched the Forever Stamp April 12, 2007, for consumers to ease the transition during price changes. The selling price of the Forever Stamp goes up to 44 cents on May 11. Customers can use the Forever Stamps purchased prior to May 11 to continue to mail letters after the price change. Forever Stamps are widely available through Post Offices, commercial retail outlets such as grocery stores, and online at usps.com.

The postage value of the Forever Stamp is always the First-Class Mail single-piece 1-ounce letter price in effect on the day of use. Forever Stamps purchased through May 10 will be worth 44 cents postage on May 11. Forever Stamps affixed to 1-ounce letters do not require additional postage. As always, customers will need additional postage for letters weighing over 1 ounce, letters subject to the nonmachinable surcharge and mailpieces that are larger than letter size.

Your Complete Resource

Current prices for all domestic and international products and services are available at usps.com/ prices. Once there, you’ll find your complete guide to all the May 11 domestic and international mailing services pricing information. This includes complete pricing tables, downloadable pricing files, links to Federal Register notices and more.