Dear Industry Executive:
On May 28th, the USPS filed for postage rates to go up from 6.9% to 8.8%, with rates to become effective in late August. While ACMA has been pushing back on this is, USPS leadership is not interested in hearing that this will cause decreases in catalog and other mail volume. We have also taken our case to the Hill but too few companies are raising hell with Congress over this. Read the details and what to do about it in our full report.
Why Another 2021 Postal Rate Increase is Likely
At the most recent Mailers Technical Advisory Council (MTAC) meeting, and then again with the ACMA board last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy indicated that he plans a second rate filing in 2021. No amount has been specified, but in a recent unrelated filing to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), the USPS said to expect an “above inflation rate filing” on or before May 28, which implies a rate increase on or before August 20, 2021.
If all available rate authority is used, this midyear increase could be north of 7%, including the 2% underwater surcharge for Marketing Mail Flats and Carrier Route. The worst case for our underwater mail is ~8.5%, but this assumes all rate authority being used and will mean no significant authority left for the January 2022 increase. It would then be hard for the PMG to claim he was judicious. Postal products not underwater will see up to a 5.5% hit if the USPS choses to use the full authority. The agency can do what it wishes with package pricing, but we expect a second “surprise” increase is likely here too.
Related to USPS 10-Year Plan
(Click here to read a mailing industry letter, co-signed by ACMA, to PMG DeJoy about his 10-year plan, which acknowledged the likelihood of a rate increase. Click here to read the PMG’s response. Click here to read ACMA’s summary for members of the 10-year plan.)
ACMA Continues Aggressive Defense
As you should be aware, ACMA has been on overdrive for months (i) exhausting all avenues of appeal with the PRC, (ii) lobbying the Postal Service against an unbudgeted increase in the middle of a pandemic, (iii) litigating this in the Court of Appeals, (iv) lobbying Congress for curative reform legislation and (v) encouraging “Dear Colleague” type letters to the PMG and the USPS Board of Governors to let them know that a second 2021 rate hike will be highly self-destructive. We have been collaborating with other mail associations and our industry coalition, the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service.
Mounting an aggressive response takes extraordinary resources. You have previously received our war chest funding request. To date, we have had 15 companies step up with pledges and contributions toward our Postal Action Fund, some merchants pledging in the 6-figure range. As encouraging as that may seem, we have secured only $350,000 in pledges to date. We have not heard from many companies. One ACMA member company has been nice enough to indicate they will not be funding. No non-ACMA member company has contributed or responded to date.
Just so we are perfectly clear: ACMA is not doing everything we could be doing to fight this. We are doing everything possible with the resource base we have received.
We are also trying to get every company engaged with Congress and are having some wonderful results as a few companies have been doing yeoman’s work on the Hill. (Click here for related update on recent success stories.)
How We’re Using Your Donations
Recall that the money being raised by ACMA serves several purposes. It funds our litigation in the U.S. Court of Appeals. It also enables ACMA to hire some experienced political consultants who specialize in keeping bad things from happening to entire industries.
This is where our digital and media campaign comes in. We hope to create compelling content and a response mechanism, then use “guerrilla” marketing techniques to efficiently drive engagement with your employees, customers, suppliers and members of the public we know are sensitive to these issues (particularly rural and older Americans).
Time Is Running Short
The window of opportunity to impact this is quickly closing. The USPS currently will file for a second 2021 increase in six short weeks. Unless we step up our game, at this point, the most likely outcome is another 2021 increase and upwards from there for both mail and packages for the next five years. Our original projection of 30% to 50% higher rates by 2026 looks more and more likely.
Please contact us today with (i) your financial pledge and (ii) your commitment to leverage your constituent standing to help us beat back on what could be a crippling action aimed directly at this industry.
Hamilton Davison
President & Executive Director
ACMA
hdavison@catalogmailers.org
Price range: $100.00 through $250.00
You can assist with specific areas of ACMA’s program of work by providing much-needed resources dedicated to a particular issue. Our Industry Action Funds are segregated accounts held by ACMA, made available as a “war chest” to deploy on specific issues that impact direct and remote marketers and their suppliers — eliminating the time and effort needed to raise funds in the heat of battle.
Please note that your contributions to ACMA Action Funds will not be used for any general ACMA “corporate purposes” other than a 5% service fee on funds raised and administered. Non-ACMA members are always eligible to make one-off donations. Such contributions support our network of consultants on whom we depend to advocate for the interests of direct and remote marketers and their suppliers. These funds are only used to pay for out-of-pocket expenses of the specific issues outlined below. Large volume donors may be considered for Steering Committees of each Fund. Click here for more information on how the funds are distributed and used.
Restricted Status: Each Fund will be separately administered as restricted under the direction of the ACMA Board of Directors by the ACMA Treasurer and our association accountant. An elected Officer from the Executive Committee or the ACMA Board will authorize disbursements. Details on expenditures will be made available to any material contributor on request. Restricted funds may be released only upon authorization of the benefactor or in the event the contributing entity is defunct, by vote of the ACMA Board.
Use of Funds: Moneys from each fund may be used for hiring lobbyists, economists, attorneys, consultants, public relations or government relations personnel, conducting research or other surveys highlighting positions favorable to cataloging, supporting coalitions or other groups allied to our positions, paying for advertising aimed at influencing elected officials or other stakeholders, organizing grass roots outreach, education or advocacy in support of public policy positions or for other tactics favorable to ACMA policy positions. Money raised will not be used to support any political candidate or political party; these moneys must come from a Political Action Committee.
Lynn Noble is ACMA’s Vice President, Industry Relations, having joined the ACMA in May 2015, following an extensive direct marketing career in private industry as well as the US Postal Service. He is responsible for leading the membership development efforts for the ACMA through new member acquisitions and providing enhanced member value.
Throughout his career, Lynn has held key marketing & sales positions with several leading direct marketers, as well as several high-level management positions with the US Postal Service.
In 2009, at the request of the ACMA, the US Postal Service initiated a new position of Catalog Manager to lead the Service’s efforts to stabilize and grow the catalog industry. Lynn returned to the USPS to lead those efforts and was instrumental to developing a stronger industry partnership between the Postal Service and the catalog industry. Serving as the product manager for catalogs, Lynn helped to raise the awareness of catalog-specific business challenges within the executive ranks of the USPS. During his tenure, the ACMA and catalog companies enjoyed a collaborative and progressive environment that produced more stabilized rates and inclusion in key USPS promotional opportunities.
Just prior to joining the ACMA Lynn was the USPS’s Manager, Strategic Account Operations, leading a team of senior sales professionals who focused exclusively in the Catalog, Mail Order, and E-commerce arena. In addition to his Postal positions, Lynn previously held key positions with leading direct marketing companies, including Cox Target Media, Market Logic, Catalina Marketing, Freesamples.com, and Advantage Direct.
Named Vice President & Deputy Director in January 2010, Miller came to the ACMA following a lengthy career of more than two decades following the catalog/multichannel/e-commerce/retail businesses. Reporting to ACMA president & executive director Hamilton Davison, Miller oversees marketing and communications, membership development, and organizes and oversees ACMA’s National Catalog Forum, while working with Davison on most of ACMA’s postal-related efforts.
Miller started his career as a reporter with Catalog Showroom Business, following a form of retailing that was led by the likes of the Service Merchandise and Best Products retail chains.
After several years of editor/reporter roles with business magazines that followed the toy and gift industries, Miller was named associate editor of Catalog Age magazine (now Multichannel Merchant) in 1986. He rose up the ranks at Catalog Age over the next 18 years to be the magazine’s senior news editor.
Beginning in the late ’80s, Miller became Catalog Age’s postal beat reporter, where he’d follow key postal events and pull out the key catalog mail-related issues for readers. During that time, he attended many Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) meetings and National Postal forums.
After leaving Catalog Age in 2004, Miller consulted with several catalogers and multichannel suppliers for a time, he was named news/website editor at Commercial Property News. Less than a year later, he was asked to take the reigns at Catalog Success (now All About ROI) where he served as editor-in- chief from 2006 till the end of 2009.
ACMA appointed Michael K. Plunkett as its President and Executive Director in January 2024, succeeding founder Hamilton Davison. Mr. Davison moved on to own and run a company. Mr. Plunkett brings years of executive leadership experience having been the President and CEO of the Association for Postal Commerce (PostCom) since 2017. In the newly-formed dual role, he will continue his current role with PostCom and the two organizations will operate separately.
During his tenure, PostCom has continued to lead the mailing and shipping industry on policy and regulatory matters and to work with Government agency partners to advance issues of importance to members. Mr. Plunkett is also President of the Delivery Technology Advocacy Council, a nonprofit launched in 2020 to concentrate on delivery and logistics technologies.
Prior to PostCom, Mr. Plunkett accumulated more than 25 years Postal experience with the United States Postal Service in numerous executive roles in operations, marketing, product development and pricing. As a leader within the Postal Service’s management team, Mr. Plunkett developed a well-earned reputation for innovation by leading efforts to develop pricing agreements for domestic services and in the development of the forever stamp and the priority mail flat rate box.
Mr. Plunkett has testified on pricing and policy issues before the Postal Regulatory Commission and Congressional subcommittees. He has authored and presented papers on postal policies, economics, and operations for National and International conferences.
Mr. Plunkett holds Masters Degrees in Business from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a Sloan Fellow. He earned a Bachelor Degrees in Economics and Finance from the Pennsylvania State University.
