Opinion ID: 370472
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Attribution of Individual Load Time

Text: 111 The magazine publishers also attack the PRC's conclusion that individual load time varies entirely with volume and therefore is 100 percent attributable. Load time generally is the time spent depositing mail in delivery receptacles. 111 Load time is divided into batch load time and individual load time. Batch load time is the time spent at delivery points placing batched letter size mail in receptacles or otherwise delivering mail in batches. 112 Individual load time is the time spent at delivery points placing individual pieces of mail into receptacles or otherwise delivering individual pieces. 113 112 Since letter-size mail is batched, individually loaded mail consists primarily of second-class publications. Because, in theory, individual loading requires a separate step for each piece, the Commission has consistently found it 100 percent variable with volume, and has attributed individual load time costs, primarily to second-class. The magazines allege that this attribution is patently arbitrary because it proceeds from an assumption that a carrier at a delivery point will load batches and magazines in separate steps, rather than by first combining the magazine with the batch and placing them into the receptacle together. 113 There is some force to the magazines' position. The Commission concluded that load time includes all time involved handling mail at the receptacle. 114 Under this view, even if the magazines were correct in their point, load time would include the time spent combining the batches and the individual pieces. This does not entirely jibe with the definitions of load time, which seem to restrict that function to the act of placing mail in the receptacle. The problem appears to stem from a deficiency in accurate data as to the proportion of second-class regular rate mail that is loaded individually, 115 and uncertainty as to where in the cost model to account for the steps of combining the individual pieces and batches. 116 114 Despite some misgivings, we are not inclined to remand on this point alone, in view of its relative lack of consequence and the fact that the PRC has insisted upon improved data in future proceedings. Postal ratemaking continues to evolve and we cannot yet expect USPS and PRC to have gleaned every bit of data and developed every model to perfection. Considering the PRC's immense task in digesting huge quantities of data and meeting the requirements of the Act, we believe it a sound approach to forgive such minor transgressions.