Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 - (Page 36)

& QA with Dan G. Blair, Chairman, Postal Regulatory Commission Editor’s Note: Mailing Systems Technology sat down for an interview with Dan G. Blair, Chairman of the Postal Regulatory Commission to talk about his thoughts on the future of the Postal Service as well as the PRC. You came to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) the same time that the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA) became law. So much has transpired over this intervening time - what are some of the highlights? It’s been exciting. Assuming leadership in December 2006, at the same time we were transitioning into the Regulatory Commission from the former Rate Commission, was challenging. We were on a dual track: ﬁnishing a rate case under the old law and moving into our new role as the strengthened regulator. I took the bold step in March 2007 when I said the Commission could have new ratemaking systems for competitive and market-dominant products in place prior to the June 2008 statutory deadline. We beat that deadline by eight months and issued ﬁnal regulations on this essential and critical requirement of the PAEA at the end of October. I’m proud that our hard work — and the tremendous input from the postal community — resulted in the Postal Service foregoing one last omnibus rate case under the 1970 law and adopting the new ratemaking process. Before issuing our proposed rules, however, we wanted to hear from the public. That’s why we issued two advance notices asking interested parties to tell us their expectations for a new ratemaking system. The Commission also held ﬁeld hearings in Los Angeles, Kansas City and Wilmington to make sure we heard from mailers outside of Washington, DC. I also testiﬁed ﬁve times before Congress over a seven-month period, so we also had the beneﬁt of hearing from the authors of the new law. What are the advantages of the new ratemaking system? The beneﬁts are tremendous. The elimination of costly and time-consuming rate cases in favor of annual rate adjustments with a cap based on the CPI and a 45-day notice pe- 36 MAY-JUNE 2008 | WWW.MAILINGSYSTEMSTECHNOLOGY.COM http://www.mailingsystemstechnology.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008

Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008 Contents Editor’s Note Peer to Peer It’s an Inside Job Greening Your Mail Center Adopting an Automated Document Factory Intelligent Mail and Address Quality 7 Steps to Combat “Do Not Mail” A Successful Resolution Q&A with Dan G. Blair, Chairman, Postal Regulatory Commission The Intelligent Mail Barcode Developing High-Performance Teams Simple Strategies to Save You Money A Powerful Social Network With Change, Comes Opportunity Increasing the Deliverability of Mail Kate’s Slate Products & Services People of Distinction Advertiser Index Sho Time

Mailing Systems Technology - May/June 2008

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