Common Sense Prevails for Flats Deflection - For Awhile
From the DMM Advisory:
Deflection UPDATE
The Federal Register final rule on deflection standards will be effective June 7, 2010 (see our DMM Advisory on February 17, 2010). However, the implementation of postage consequences will be deferred until October 3, 2010.
A revised Federal Register final rule notice will be available on Postal Explorer on Monday, February 22, 2010.
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Thank MTAC for helping get the attention needed on this issue. At this past week’s Mailer’s Technical Advisory Committee meetings at USPS HQ in Washington DC, we got to see the test that the USPS planned to use for checking to see if a piece met the deflection standards. The test was to take a flat ruler and a 5-lb weight, lay it across the magazine at a certain point on a table edge, and then measure the droop - how far the piece hung over the table. The key is, there are no provisions for a pre-test, or any pre-certification. Mailers could incur a huge unplanned expenditure if their piece failed, but they couldn’t get their piece tested for pass/fail until after it was already manufactured.
In addition, some flats mailers in the audience raised real challenges they would face in order to purchase equipment (another unplanned expense and cost-shift from he USPS to the mailers) in order to quarter-fold the pieces. This has been raised as an issue since the new standards were proposed.
So, this is a good thing. But I also have to wonder why it takes so long for the USPS to listen to the voice of their customers - and the voice of reason sometimes.
