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The summer temps aren’t the only thing heating up these days. MailSmart Logistics’ own Teri Taylor is getting warmed up in her new role as Client Services Team Leader!

Teri and the MailSmart Logistics team will manage over 9,000 pick-ups for over 1,000 clients this year alone. That’s quite a workload for a team leader to manage, but we know Teri is up to the challenge. After all, she’s rocked the direct marketing world for 26 years, the last 2.5 years at MailSmart Logistics.

So how does Teri stay on top of her direct marketing game? For starters, she’s an active member of several industry groups, including DMAW where she volunteers at a number of events, especially the Bridge Conference.

Congratulations on your new role, Teri! We know you’ll knock it out of the park for our clients.

Run a direct mail program and have plans to attend this year’s Bridge Conference? Make sure you have a coffee ready for this bright and early training on Friday morning.  You won’t want to miss a word of this session!

Elise Buck and Debbie Sylvester are “Rockin It Old School” at this year’s Bridge Conference with their presentation titled “How to Best Use Postal Logistics in Your Direct Mail Program.”

The educational session will be jam-packed with useful information to give your postal logistics strategy a boost. (And let’s face it, there’s never been a better time to introduce a cost-saving strategy into your mail program.) Whether you know a little or a lot about postal logistics, this 65-minute course will show you how to get faster, more predictable mailings and save on postage costs. We’d say that’s worth waking up early for!

We hope you’ll join us for this informative training session on Friday, July 29 from 8:15am-9:20am.

At MailSmart Logistics, we provide a free service, MailTracker, to assist our clients with knowing when their mail will arrive.

We do this by nightly collecting scanning data from the Post Office’s barcode program, which allows us to follow every single piece of mail as it heads from the mailshop to its destination.

We crunched the numbers on our scan volume and here’s what we came up with (hold on to your cup of coffee):

Over a 6-month period MailSmart Logistics processed 1,140,275,625 scans. If your math is a little rusty, that’s about 190,045,937 scans every month, 6,334,865 scans every day, 263,953 scans Every. Single. Hour.

Knowing when your mail will arrive in mailboxes is a critical element of your campaigns’ overall performance. It allows mailers to do things like:

• Alert caging services
• Staff up at call centers
• Prepare inventory for fulfillment
• Launch complimentary digital campaigns
• and more!

We manage hundreds of millions of letters every year and we process literally two billion scans every year. This means that you’ll never have to wonder where your mail is or when it will be delivered. This will allow you to prepare all the other areas for response to your mailing.

We think that calls for another cup of coffee.

Interested in learning more about MailTracker? Let’s chat.

Direct Mail Trends We’re Watching: Postage, Delivery Performance, Paper and More

MailSmart Logistics and the PMG family are monitoring several critical industry trends as we enter the fall mailing season:

Postage:

New postage rates go into effect August 29, 2021. Commingling rate increases are compounded by rising fuel costs, truck driver and transportation shortages and a persistent labor shortage. Yet increases for non-commingled mail are even higher.

The MailSmart Logistics team highly recommends an initial Postal Logistics review to uncover any cost savings in your mailing program. Increasing commingling volumes to achieve the best rate possible is one of the easiest ways to save on postage, especially now.

A package design review may also reveal opportunities to modify the weight and thickness of your “flat” mailings and move into a less expensive letter rate package that can commingle versus more costly drop shipping. Freight costs are increasing significantly for drop shipping.

Mailers can also save 2% on postage this fall by participating in the USPS Informed Delivery Promotion effective September 1 – November 30, 2021.

Mail Delivery Performance:

In a recent USPS Industry Alert, service delivery performance data for July 1^st – August 12^th showed steady improvement across First-Class, Marketing and Periodical mail categories from the 3^rd quarter ending June 30:

• First-Class Mail: Delivered 88.8 % of First-Class Mail on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 1.3% from the third quarter.
• Marketing Mail: Delivered 92.6% of Marketing Mail on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 1.6% from the third quarter.
• Periodicals: Delivered 82.4% of Periodicals on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 3.1% from the third quarter.

Our supplier partners are reporting performance levels of client mail slightly below the USPS reported data, most likely due to the limited amount of mail included in the USPS measurement.

The USPS is trumpeting its service level improvements but is now officially slowing delivery of mail. On August 6, the Postal Service announced its plan to move ahead with lengthening the service standards for almost 40 percent of First Class Mail and 7 percent of Periodicals Mail beginning next month. Deteriorating service will most likely have a negative impact on mailer volumes and USPS revenue. Through pressure from Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, The Nonprofit Alliance and other industry groups, we hope this misguided decision will be reversed.

Paper & Materials:

Paper shortages, delivery delays and price increases continue. Paper allocations remain very strict through at least October. On-the-floor inventory at our suppliers is depleted. Paper producers are eliminating some paper grades and transitioning to packaging grades in some instances, while other mills are closing permanently. Meanwhile increased demand, increased shipping costs and ongoing staffing shortages are driving up prices.

Environmental-spec papers like Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI) stocks are limited. Clients that require these environmental certifications on their mail pieces limit alternative paper sourcing options. Some organizations are dropping their logo requirements temporarily to allow more flexibility in substitute stocks.

Suppliers that focus on coated stocks expect another paper cost increase of 5-7% this year, with at least two increases projected for 2022. One of our leading suppliers in offset paper stocks expects price increases of 8-9% by the end of 2022.

Suppliers are also seeing rising costs for other materials, including pigments and chemicals used in ink, polybag substrate, fuel and freight. Cost increases of at least 5% are expected in 2022 across these categories of materials.

Despite shortages and cost increases, demand for printing is high. Many of our suppliers are operating at capacity. Labor shortages and the threat of Covid/Delta Variant outbreaks could further impact schedules and lead times. Last minute drop-in projects often can’t be scheduled, so long-term planning, ample lead times and sticking to art and data schedules are critical.

Overseas Production:

Though ocean freight costs continue to rise, our suppliers’ relationships with ocean freight companies allow us access to containers when others cannot get them. These relationships contribute directly to our ability to meet our clients’ mail dates.

Flexibility in budgets is helpful when scheduling is the priority. Switching to a faster yet slightly more expensive production process, for example, jet printing envelopes instead of using flexo, can help meet your mailing deadlines.

MailSmart Logistics and the entire PMG family are constantly finding ways to keep your direct marketing programs on track despite all these challenges.

We will continue to advise you on how these trends may impact your project budgets and schedules this fall and into 2022.

Please contact us if you have any questions or concerns. As always, we’re here to help!

MailSmart Logistics is monitoring several situations that may impact our clients’ direct mail programs in early 2021 and throughout the year: 

1. Global Freight Issues: For nonprofits using China-based suppliers for their premium items and direct mail packages, a critical shipping container shortage is causing delays and significant cost increases. Companies waiting weeks for containers to ship their goods from China to the U.S. and Europe have caused shipping costs to increase as much as 300%. Limited air freight capacity under Covid-19 travel restrictions further aggravates the problem. The situation is seriously impacting overseas premium orders as companies compete trying to secure containers. We are in constant contact with our partners to work through this problem. 
2. Impending postage increases: We are very concerned about a possible 6 to 8.5 percent mid-year rate increase from the Postal Regulatory Commission and the USPS. The actual postage increases for specific types of mail will most likely be confirmed at the end of March. According to our colleague, Steve Kearney, Executive Director of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, First Class and Marketing Mail postage may increase 6 to 6.5 percent, but specific products within each class may increase less than this average. It’s a complex situation, and the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers, of which we are a member, is advocating aggressively on behalf of nonprofit mailers to stop these increases. 
3. Delivery trends: Anecdotally, individual service has been quite poor recently. Many of us have experienced delays with our holiday cards, bills and parcels. Delays can often be tied to local Covid-19 hot spots. MailSmart Logistics’ MailTracker reporting shows that our clients’ presorted letter rate mail is delivering within acceptable time frames, however we are seeing longer delivery times for flats like calendar packages. We expect delivery to continue to improve in the weeks and months ahead. Any workshare postal solutions that skip steps in the USPS delivery system, including drop shipping and commingling, help keep delivery times consistent and on schedule.

The MailSmart Logistics team will continue to monitor these issues and strategize on ways to mitigate their impacts on your direct mail programs. Please contact us if you have any questions or if you would like more detailed information or guidance on any of these trends.