[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 204 (Tuesday, October 22, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 84405-84406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-24398]


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POSTAL SERVICE


Addition of New Market Dominant Product: ``Connect Local Mail''

AGENCY: Postal Service<SUP>TM</SUP>.

ACTION: Notice of request to convert experimental product to a 
permanent offering.

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SUMMARY: The Postal Service gives notice its request to convert an 
experimental product to a permanent offering in accordance with 
statutory requirements.

DATES: October 22, 2024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Sean C. Robinson, 202-268-8405.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Postal Service hereby 
gives notice pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642(d)(1) that it plans to add a 
new product to the market dominant product list based on the 
experimental product ``Connect Local Mail'' on January 1, 2025. On 
October 3, 2024, the Postal Service filed with the Postal Regulatory 
Commission a request setting out the basis for the Postal Service's 
determination that the new product meets the criteria established under 
39 U.S.C. 3642(b), as discussed below. Documents are available at 
www.prc.gov, Docket No. MC2025-19.
    Connect Local Mail is properly classified as a market dominant 
price category under chapter 36 of title 39 of the United States Code 
and is consistent with the applicable criteria of the chapter. Firms 
offering products similar to Connect Local Mail are sufficiently 
distinguishable that the Postal Service believes Connect Local Mail 
operates largely in a distinct market unto itself. Moreover, Connect 
Local Mail is currently subject to the letter monopoly, and hence must 
be categorized as market dominant for that reason.
    Connect Local Mail is designed for the local delivery of documents, 
fitting into the definition of ``letter'' under 39 CFR 310.1 as a 
``message directed to a specific person or address and recorded in or 
on a tangible object.'' A private express established for the 
conveyance of such documents for compensation at the established price 
point would be prohibited under 18 U.S.C. 1696(a). Therefore, Connect 
Local Mail, like the other price categories under First-Class Mail, is 
covered by the postal monopoly reserved to the Postal Service under 18 
U.S.C. 1696.
    The Postal Service views potential substitutes for Connect Local 
Mail to be local couriers and messengers delivering documents, 
overnight and/or 2-day delivery services offered by large national 
competitors, and smaller companies that deliver documents on an 
expedited basis. Connect Local Mail will not create an unfair or 
inappropriate advantage for the Postal Service compared to other small 
businesses in this space, such as local courier services. Local courier 
services typically build in pick-up on demand services, which justify a 
higher price and differentiate their services from Connect Local Mail. 
Connect Local Mail

[[Page 84406]]

is in line-of-travel for pick-up and drop-off; there is no direct end-
to-end transport offered by Connect Local Mail, and it is therefore not 
as responsive or customizable as a local courier service. In many ways, 
Connect Local Mail also offers same-day delivery on a more limited 
basis than a local courier service. It is better suited to businesses 
who regularly schedule local deliveries (such as mailing bills to their 
customers), allowing them to plan to meet the requirements for Connect 
Local Mail (e.g., drop-off at a designated entry unit by the Critical 
Entry Time, mail prepared in time for carrier pick-up in their line-of-
travel). It is not as well suited to the type of ad hoc document 
delivery that courier services specialize in.

Sean C. Robinson,
Attorney, Corporate and Postal Business Law.
[FR Doc. 2024-24398 Filed 10-21-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710-12-P