The U.S. Postal Service’s Board of Governors, meeting in Philadelphia today, is expected to order a 13 cent reduction in the Bulk Parcel Return Service (BPRS) rate, currently set at $1.75 per piece.
The reduced rate of $1.62 per piece for returned undeliverable or unwanted machinable Standard A parcels weighing less than one pound was recommended last month by the Postal Rate Commission (PRC).
Last year the Continuity Shippers Association (CSA), representing hosiery, book, record, audio and videotape continuity mailers, challenged a USPS decision to replace a postage-plus 30-cent charge for returned undeliverable or unwanted parcels with a flat $1.75 fee.
Its claim that the fee, based on 1998 fiscal data, was too high was supported by the Direct Marketing Association and the Association for Postal Commerce, formerly the Advertising Mail Marketing Association.