SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Table of Contents

I. Introduction

II. Proposal

III. Notice and Comment

IV. Ordering Paragraphs

I. Introduction

On May 28, 2026, the Postal Service filed a petition pursuant to 39 CFR 3050.11 requesting that the Commission initiate a rulemaking proceeding to consider a proposed change to analytical principles relating to the Postal Service's periodic reports.^[1] The Petition identifies the proposed analytical principles change filed in this docket as updates and refinements to the reporting of window service costs. Petition, Proposal at 3. Specifically, the Postal Service seeks to overhaul the existing methodology to correct identified mathematical and econometric errors and to reflect changes in window service volumes and operations. Id.

II. Proposal

Background. The Postal Service states that the existing methodology for reporting window service costs was established in Docket No. R90-1 and refined in Docket Nos. R97-1 and R2006-1. Id. The Postal Service notes that there have been significant changes in window service volume and operations since the established methodology was last updated. Id. The Postal Service also identifies errors in the established methodology that, when corrected, contradict existing “assumptions that both network time and waiting time were one hundred percent variable with visit time during the late 1980s.” Id. The Postal Service additionally identifies data limitations underpinning the established methodology that can be ameliorated by using modern data captured using its Retail Systems Software (RSS) point-of-sale system. Id. at 4.

Proposal. The Postal Service proposes correcting, updating, and/or refining four of the five variabilities that go into calculating volume variable window service costs. Id. at 5. Visit time variability is proposed to be updated using RSS data, the application of Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) to account for non-item time, and a revised method for directly estimating the response in visits to changes in window service volumes. Id. at 5-9. Network variability is proposed to be updated by correcting a mistaken formula in the established methodology and making improvements to comport with current Commission standards. Id. at 9-10. Waiting time variability is proposed to be updated to adjust assumptions in the established methodology and to account for the decline in window service volume. Id. at 10-14. Non-acceptance variability is proposed to be updated to correct an implicit variability for non-acceptance costs of 100 percent. Id. at 14-15.

Impact. The proposed changes would decrease the affected variabilities, which would cause a corresponding decrease in volume variable window service costs. See id. at 15-17. The claimed impacts on window service costs are:

Id. at 17. The claimed impacts on unit costs range from −0.3 percent to −.0 percent for First-Class Mail; −0.1 percent to −1.4 percent for USPS Marketing Mail; −0.1 percent to −0.7 percent for Periodicals; −0.1 percent to −2.5 percent for Package Services; −12.1 percent to −37.1 percent for Ancillary Services, and average −1.4 percent for domestic Competitive products.^[2]

III. Notice and Comment

Pursuant to 39 CFR 3050.11(d)(1), the Commission establishes Docket No. RM2026-6 to consider the matters raised by the Petition. More information on the Petition may be accessed via the Commission's website at https://www.prc.gov. Interested persons may submit comments on the Petition and the Proposal no later than July 27, 2026. Reply comments are due August 3, 2026. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Madison Lichtenstein is designated as an officer of the Commission (Public Representative) to represent the interests of the general public in this proceeding. The Public Representative does not represent any individual person, entity or particular point of view, and, when Commission attorneys are appointed, no attorney-client relationship is established.

IV. Ordering Paragraphs

It is ordered:

1. The Commission establishes Docket No. RM2026-6 to consider the matters raised by the Petition of the United States Postal Service to Initiate a Proceeding to Change Analytical Principles, and Notice of Filing USPS-RM2026-6-NP-1, filed May 28, 2026.

2. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, the Commission appoints Madison Lichtenstein to serve as an officer of the Commission (Public Representative) to ( printed page 33681) represent the interests of the general public in this docket.

3. Comments by interested persons in this proceeding are due no later than July 27, 2026.

4. Reply Comments are due August 3, 2026.

5. This Order, or abstract thereof, shall be published in the Federal Register .

91 FR 33679