IPMA Report: You’ve Got Mail… Updates!

The 2025 In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference in Spokane, Washington, brought together some of the best minds in the in-plant community — including more than 125 managers — to discuss the latest news and innovations impacting in-plant operations.

One session that was jam-packed with information was led by Leo Raymond, managing director at Mailers Hub, who spoke about recent U.S. Postal Service updates. Raymond dove into the rate-setting process. The current process was outlined in 2006, he said, and in 2016, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) determined the Postal Service was not stable. So, they set three adjustments to fix the problems: one to do with mail density, one to do with retirement, and one aimed at periodicals.

However, this has caused a self-perpetuating cycle of increasing rates and decreasing mail volumes. The PRC is now working on a remedy for that.

With a new round of postage increases set to take effect on July 13, Raymond pointed to some of the changes set to take effect:

• Elimination of the Marketing Mail Commercial and Nonprofit Automation Basic carrier route letter rates.
• Elimination of Bound Printed Matter (BPM) flats and parcels for its service offerings.
• Elimination of the presort rates for Media and Library Mail.

Leo Raymond, managing director at Mailers Hub, spoke about recent U.S. Postal Service updates. | Photo courtesy Sam Lauersdorf Photography

Raymond said that another one of the changes — the elimination of destination network distribution center (DNDC) discounts for Marketing Mail, Periodicals, and BPM — has been controversial since it implicitly disincentivizes people from bringing their mail to the DNDCs.

“There's been a lot of pushback on that because people who are large mailers are saying: ‘We're going to flood your local post office. Why do we want to drive to the DNDC for no discount? We'll just drop it right here at your doorstep,’” Raymond said. “At this point, the Postal Service doesn't really believe that's going to happen. So, July 14, we'll know what's going on.”

On the topic of operations, Raymond highlighted that there are several processing facility types that are being converted to other types (e.g., network distribution centers and some processing and distribution centers will become regional processing and distribution centers). This means that these facilities will operate in a different way than they used to.

He also added that “ad hoc” facilities like annexes and leased buildings will be eliminated.

Some concerns with the coming operational changes include delays in transportation, service efficiency, redirects and other temporary facility disruptions, and accuracy of USPS distribution lists and Mail Direction File.

On a more granular level, Raymond said there’s a new regulation for securing bundles of flats, effective July 1: Bundles must be secured with two or more cross-strapped bands or shrink-wrapped with one or more cross-strapped bands. This means twine and rubber bands are no longer permitted.

Looking forward, Raymond said he could see some parts of the Postal Service being privatized or contracted out. He also is interested to see what incoming Postmaster General David Steiner will do with the Service when he starts in July. Raymond is especially keen to see what Steiner does with the “Delivering for America” plan, which, five years in, is “not doing so good,” according to Raymond.

The IPMA 2025 conference was filled with useful sessions like this. We’ll bring you more session highlights in the days ahead. Here is some of our additional conference coverage:

• IPMA Report: Curing In-plant Labor Woes with Robots
• IPMA Report: Becoming a Better Leader
• IPMA Report: RFPs Can Unlock Better Tech, Lower Costs
• IPMA Report: Stickers and Samples Drive In-plant Marketing Success
• IPMA Conference Delivers Valuable Insights
• Ricoh Launches Light Production Printer at IPMA Conference