With reports of the Postal Service's plans to seek a fifteen percent postage increase from publishers circulating throughout the American Magazine Conference in Florida late last month, Postmaster General William Henderson stepped to the podium on the morning of October 30 to address the Conference's annual Government Affairs Breakfast. The case is expected to be filed with the PRC in January. Henderson insisted that his objective would be to reduce the size of the increase that is ultimately imposed on publishers. He stopped short, however, of making any guarantees that the Postal Service's request for periodicals would be close to the single-digit increase sought for other classes. But magazines drive the habit of the American public of going to the mailbox.
People still wait for the mail for the things they're used to getting.
MPA has continued a series of informal and formal dialogues with the Postmaster General and other senior postal officials in an effort to find methods of potentially reducing the amount of the rate hike request expected to be filed by the Postal Service in the next few months. With regard to the rapid growth in the measured costs of periodicals, Gleiman advised MPA to continue its examination of the adequacy of the Service's data measurement systems. In past cases, MPA has questioned the accuracy of the Service's periodicals cost estimates. The new rate is designed to increase advertising options for publishers as well as generate additional revenue for the Postal Service. As a result, they say, this would be new volume for the Postal Service with the ride-along complementing the host magazine content.