ISSUE BRIEF: Good news for newspaper budgets ⁠— no increase in most common Within-County postage rates in January 2021

Tonda Rush

Oct 15, 2020

Publishers planning for 2021 postage budgets will see no increase in prices for carrier-route level sortations in Within County mailings.

Marketing mail, High-Density Plus and Saturation sortations will also see no price increase, while regular High Density will see increases roughly in the 2.8 to 4.2% range.

High Density and High Density Plus are sortations unique to Marketing Mail, which requires walk-sequenced mail preparation in a class formerly considered Bulk Mail or Third-Class mail.   High Density requires 125 pieces per carrier route. High-Density Plus requires 300 pieces per carrier route.

The proposed rates must be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission before they go into effect in January 2021, but NNA predicts the PRC will allow these rates without objection.

In addition to the flat rates for 2021 and the new flats trays discount previously announced, USPS is proposing a discount of $.002 per piece for newspapers using both Full-Service and Seamless Acceptance processes.

The November Publishers’ Auxiliary  Postal Tips by Max Heath will provide deeper analysis of all proposed rates for NNA members.