Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Permits - does the system need to updated?

Currently, large mailers are required to have separate permits – and pay individual permit fees – for every location at which they put items in the mail.

If they want to enter mail in Birmingham they need a permit. If they have a printer in Buffalo, either they have to ship the mailpieces to Birmingham to enter there or buy a permit in Buffalo.

At the National Postal Forum, PMG Donahoe suggested a nationwide customer account system to make it easier for businesses to use the Postal Service.

“We would like to get a system where you don’t need any permits, and you can bring in your mail easily wherever you are,” he said.

Speaking to Post&Parcel, he said it could be done through a national billing system using customer IDs. His timeline is less than one year.

What do you think? A good idea?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What about a one-time application fee and a simpler form instead of the dozen or so that currently exist? Make it easier for the customers and the employees.

With the new EDDM any business can mail anytime, anywhere without a permit.

Anonymous said...

Why do this ... it makes too much sense ...

Anonymous said...

Our entire system needs overhauled, so we can identify such overloaded programs. Yes, the permit system should be easier and so should the mailier process.

Anonymous said...

The system definitely needs to be made easier for the mailers. I always wondered why we made it so difficult for them, as if we really didn't want their business.

Anonymous said...

Every time my permit mailer comes to my office to drop off his mailing, we spend 10 minutes at the counter going over the postage statement, ensuring that he has dotted the i's and crossed the t's. Then I spend another 10 minutes verifying that the mail pieces meet the requirements for mailing and that the statement is correctly computed. The postage is usually around $50-60 with each mailing. Seems I spend more time on the process then I do processing the mail.