The U.S. Postal Service’s Mailers’ Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) met in October to discuss the Postal Service’s financial outlook, operational changes, pricing, and upcoming initiatives affecting commercial mailers. PGCA is represented at MTAC by Tom Carroll of Matrix Imaging Solutions, ensuring our members have a voice in discussions that shape postal policies and mailing services.

Here are the highlights most relevant to our members.

USPS Uphill Battle

The USPS continues to be in a cash crunch. The USPS is pushing a legislative agenda to get some relief from the pressures facing them.

• Seeking an increase to their Borrowing Authority.
  Current limit of $15 billion was set in 1992, the USPS is seeking an increase to $35 Billion.
• Re-establishing the Public Service Appropriation.
  Under the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, the USPS was granted the right to request up to $460 million annually to offset the cost of its Universal Service Obligation. In 1982, the USPS stopped requesting this money. However, if Congress insists on Universal Service and the 6 day delivery service, the inflation adjusted offset would help the USPS meet those obligations.
• Retirement Investment Diversification
  Due to the cash crunch, the USPS has been withholding contributions to the retirement funds. In order to catch that up more quickly, they would like the flexibility to invest in more than just Treasury Bills.

Election Peak

The USPS has recently completed extensive training with their staff at all postal facilities that handle election mail. From October 24^th through November 3^rd, the USPS “extraordinary measures” will be in place to ensure that mail in ballots get to their destination.

Seasonal Peak

The USPS started in January to plan for the fall peak season. They have locked in their final volume forecast and have instituted new systems including planned volume redirects from facilities with expected capacity challenges and installed new package sorting equipment to better handle the expected volume.

If you want to stay abreast on any peak season efforts, the USPS will again be holding Peak Season Network Update Webinars. These will start on Wednesday, November 10^th at 1 pm ET. To register, follow this link: https://usps.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_-qFnBT-GSBy8Pws13ZmB9A

USPS Network Changes

Year to date, the USPS has opened 9 Regional Processing and Distribution Centers (RPDC), there are potentially 5 more they could bring online, but they are pausing during peak. The USPS continues to bring 30-40 Sorting and Distribution (S&DC) facilities per year. Last year the USPS created Regional Transportation Hubs, but there continues to be no plans to allow mailers or consolidators to drop mail to those Hubs.

2027 Postage Rate Increase

Based on current CPI-U rates, the USPS is anticipating a 5.8% postage increase for July 2027. Early next year, the USPS will provide guidance on an additional component to pricing. In 2026, the USPS added 0.7% to First Class and 3.0% to Marketing Mail. Early indications is the First Class component will be smaller and the Marketing Mail will be larger, but that is as far as the USPS would go.

2027 Promotions

The 2027 USPS Promotion season kicked off on October 15^th, with Tactile, Sensory and Interactive enrollments open. Next will be the Integrated Technology promotion on November 15^th. The 2027 Promotion calendar and promotions guide can be found at https://postalpro.usps.com/promotions/2027guidebooks. The guidebook for Direct Mail Discovery will be available in the next few weeks.

PGCA’s Voice at MTAC

Many postal policies affecting commercial printers and mailers are discussed and refined through MTAC before implementation. Through PGCA’s representation, our Association is able to provide industry feedback and remain informed of developments that could impact member businesses.

We appreciate Tom Carroll of Matrix Imaging Solutions for representing PGCA at MTAC and helping keep our members informed of important postal developments.

Tom Carroll, MBA, PMP, EDP, MDA
PMO Director, Matrix Imaging Solutions
tcarroll@matriximaging.com
(716) 504-9700 x. 253