Just over one-quarter of mail center managers surveyed knew that the U.S. Postal Service will be implementing a rate increase, a study by mail management firm Pitney Bowes, Stamford, CT, revealed.
Among those that were aware of it, only 45% correctly identified January as its implementation date. And on average they indicated that the rate increase would result in a 3% impact on their budgets, as opposed to the 6.5% estimate released by the USPS.
They may be in for a rude awakening. Just under three in ten said that their postal budgets had an increase built in for next year, while only 10% anticipated investment in automated systems that could potentially offset some of the increases.
The survey also revealed that only 19% take advantage of barcoding or presorting discounts.
