The USPS Wants (to Help) You

In November 2004, the U.S. Postal Service established the Pricing and Classification Service Center (PCSC) in New York. If you hadn’t heard about it, you’re not alone. But the USPS is trying to promote the services offered, which were designed to provide postal customers with decisions on mail preparation, mail piece designs, and rate eligibility. The PCSC will also issue classification decisions on the rates that will be charged on a customer’s proposed mailings.

“It is primarily about building a relationship with the Postal Service,” Steve Kearny, vice president of pricing and classification, said during a briefing earlier this week. “We are most interested in the types of mail customers use, what postal issues are important to them, and the ways to give them the best information available.”

The hope is that the autonomy of this center will provide customers with increased confidence in planning and budgeting for all future mailings. And according to Kearny, the PCSC will work with each individual customer to customize procedures to fit their particular needs.

“We have already received word from high-profile companies such as Reader’s Digest and Capital One that they are interested in being a part of the program,” Kearny said.

As the Postal Service looks to establish a single point of contact, essentially eliminating the need for customers to “shop” for the most cost-effective and efficient ways to plan mailings, it plans to open a new facility in lower Manhattan by August.