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Wandering routes' problem for in-county mailers: Repair is in sight

The U.S. Postal Service has announced it is ready to extend within-county postal rates to some newspaper mail that happens to fall outside county lines. New rates will be in effect immediately.

For years, newspapers-particularly county-line papers-complained that when a postal carrier route "wandered" over a county line, USPS was charging outside county rates for the pertinent addresses. Though enforcement varied, postal software has been required to follow that policy. The Postal Service said the federal law required it, because with-county rates were subsidized. That policy continued after 1993, even after postal subsidies ended.

"I'm pleased to say NNA fixed this problem in the postal reform law," National Newspaper Association Postal Committee Chairman Max Heath said. "Because in-county is created by law, we realized the wandering route problem had to be fixed in the law. In 1996, we requested this fix. In 2006, we finally got it."

The Postal Service will also begin extending in-county rates to requester publications, another requirement from the postal reform act.

A third benefit to newspapers awaits an implementation date. USPS is working on a rate reduction for small amounts of outside county mail entered by within-county mailers. The amount of reduction and timing are unknown, but should occur by the beginning of 2008.

NNA Government Relations Chair Liz Parker said the postal reform law, which was on NNA's radar for more than a decade, would continue to bring some blessings, as well as curses.

"This major overhaul of postal law was so complex that not even Congress is quite sure how it will work yet," she said. "But NNA reaped the reward for its members from years of work. More change is ahead, and we are keeping our friends in Congress aware of unintended consequences that may arise from it."

Heath said he expected major PAVE-certified software vendors to program in the route changes with their next 60-day updates.

"My gospel to our mailers this year is that it's time to get into a good software program," he said. "More change is coming. If you are still trying to work out your postal forms by hand, you are looking ahead at a world of confusion. NNA is happy to help its members who need guidance on this conversion."

The full Postal Bulletin announcement of the rule is available in the August 30 Postal Bulletin of USPS at http://www.usps.com/about/formsandpublications.htm. Or download the new rule here.