PRESIDING OFFICER'S

RULING NO. R2006-1/128

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20268-0001

Postal Rate and Fee Changes Docket No. R2006-1

PRESIDING OFFICER'S RULING

DENYING MOTION TO COMPEL RESPONSES TO

INTERROGATORIES OCA/USPS-100-108

(Issued December 19, 2006)

On December 11, 2006, OCA filed a motion to compel responses to
interrogatories OCA/USPS‑100-108.[^1] These interrogatories seek data
from the Delivery Operations Information System (DOIS) and related
explanatory materials. DOIS contains a variety of data on city carrier
operations.

OCA submitted its discovery request on November 15, 2006.[^2] In the
preamble to the discovery request OCA asserts that "\[t\]hese data will
give OCA and other participants the raw material to make informed
recommendations to the Commission in the upcoming informal rulemaking."
See Commission Order No. 1482 at 6.

OCA's Motion acknowledges the burden associated with developing the
comprehensive DOIS database as specified in OCA/USPS-100. To reduce the
burden, OCA now requests that the Postal Service provide any of the data
requested by OCA/USPS-100 that may already have been produced and that
can be expeditiously provided. Similarly, OCA is willing to accept a
response to OCA/USPS‑108 scaled down to information on Zip Code
reconfiguration that may be accessed without an excessive expenditure of
resources. OCA also does not object to receiving select responses under
confidential conditions to alleviate the Postal Service's privilege
concerns. With respect to the timing of these interrogatories, OCA notes
the difficulties participants face with obtaining these types of
information within the normal constraints of a proceeding.

The Postal Service objected to providing responses on November 27, 2006,
and a responsive answer to the Motion on December 12, 2006.[^3] The
Postal Service contends that these interrogatories are not timely
(noting that discovery against the Postal Service ended on July 14), are
not proper follow-up, and are intended to provide information for future
cases or rulemakings. It states that the burden to provide responses
would be monumental, estimating 1300 work hours, \$90,000 in outside
contractor costs, and 200 CDs worth of data for interrogatory 100 alone.
This does not include an estimate to convert the raw data into a format
useful for analysis. The Postal Service also raises privilege concerns
noting that the requested information includes disaggregate volume and
labor hour information on virtually every city delivery carrier route in
the country. The sensitivity concerns extend to contentious issues in
labor relations disputes, and protection of intellectual property.
Finally, the Postal Service expresses skepticism of the utility of
providing even greater amounts of DIOS information.

*Discussion:* Although the information from DIOS and the related
explanatory material has the potential of providing useful insight into
city carrier operations, the request to provide this information comes
very late in the proceeding. OCA's original assertion states it seeks
this information for future use. Thus, not providing the information
should not be prejudicial to any participant's position in this omnibus
rate case. The Commission is confident that the Postal Service will be
cooperative in providing information in future proceedings to allow all
participants to understand costs. The motion to compel is denied.

RULING

The Office of the Consumer Advocate Motion to Compel Responses to
Interrogatories OCA/USPS‑100‑108, filed December 11, 2006 (revised
December 13, 2006), is denied.

George Omas

Presiding Officer

[^1]: Office of the Consumer Advocate Motion to Compel Responses to
    Interrogatories OCA/USPS‑100‑108, filed December 11, 2006 (revised
    December 13, 2006) (Motion).

[^2]: Office of the Consumer Advocate Interrogatories to United States
    Postal Service: (OCA/USPS‑100‑111), November 15, 2006.

[^3]: Objection of the United States Postal Service to Interrogatories
    of the OCA (OCA/USPS‑100‑108), November 27, 2006; Opposition of the
    United States Postal Service to the OCA's Motion to Compel Responses
    to OCA/USPS‑100‑108, December 18, 2006.