This discount also can help reduce the impact of the rate increases. In Parcel Select, the rates for drop-shipped parcels are basically unchanged at the lower weight limits. Rates will increase slightly, though, as parcel weights increase. The PRC also agreed with the USPS to offer Delivery Confirmation. The Postal Service starts the process by filing a rate case for, as the PRC usually proves, more money than it needs in order to operate.
Customers react to the filing, and in the rate case at hand, they reacted vocally and negatively.
Competitors of the Postal Service react much differently. A 10-month litigation period also begins when the Postal Service submits its filing. After almost a year of arguments about issues and rates that can have a huge impact, the PRC renders its decision. Customers of the USPS feel like they've accomplished something by making their case in the proceedings, albeit while running up millions of dollars of fees for legal and econometric consultation services. Meanwhile, the USPS competitors continue to cry foul, and the Postal Service ends up getting enough money to cover its operating costs.