Postal and Industry Updates
Stability in a Changing Postal Landscape
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Deborah Damore and GrayHair Software bring you the latest from the USPS and the postal industry.
Upcoming Events
Join industry experts and peers as we explore new ideas, share practical strategies, and discuss the trends shaping our field.
National Postal Forum: MTAC , What's New and How to Get Involved (#NPF2026)
Sunday – May 3 @ 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM
Period 1 – Room 224 B
Deborah Damore, Glen Sywers
Come and hear about the structure and format changes and find out how you can take part in the technical conversations happening at the quarterly meetings!
National Postal Forum: Mail Prep & Entry Using USPS Data Files (#NPF2026)
Monday – May 4 @ 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM
Period 7 – Room 222 C
Deborah Damore, Rose Flanagan, Michelle Zalewski, Adam Koester, Mindy McCellen
Join a panel of seasoned industry experts as they explore how the mail supply chain leverages USPS monthly data files to align with mail owners’ in-home delivery expectations and drive campaign success.
Rates, Pricing & Economics
What will mail cost, now and next?
Special Update: July 2026 Postage Increase
The United States Postal Service (USPS) has proposed a postage rate increase for Market Dominant Products, scheduled to take effect on July 12, 2026, pending approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). This brief summary highlights the most important changes...
July 2026 Price Change
As a reminder we are expecting to see the USPS price filing hit the PRC next week on Wednesday or Thursday. Once released GrayHair Software will begin the analysis of rate change impacts at various rate cell levels. We will have more news concerning the 2027...
Laws That Govern Postage Rates
Initially the prices for postage was set directly by Congress. The authority to set rates was established in the Postal Service Act of 1792, which was signed into law by President George Washington. Under this early system, prices were not uniform; instead, they...
Regulation, Compliance & PRC
What rules govern how we mail?
Executive Order Impacting Mail in Ballots
On March 31, 2026, President Trump signed the Executive Order "Ensuring Citizenship Verification and Integrity in Federal Elections." This order introduces two major shifts: the creation of a federal "master list" of citizens for voter verification and new federal...
USPS on the Hill
Oversight of the U.S. Postal Service: The Financial Future Under Postmaster General Steiner The House government operation subcommittee will be holding a hearing today, March 17th with witness testimony from Postmaster General Steiner and David Marroni, Director,...
Postmarks and Postal Possession Updates
The proposed rule educates, formalizes, and clarifies the public understanding of postmarks within the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) By Deborah Damore, Head of Postal Affairs, GrayHair Software August 13, 2025 A notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal...
Operations, Network & Service
How is the mail actually moving?
Annual Compliance Determination (ACD)
Under legal direction the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) is required to produce the ACD within ninety days of the USPS published Annual Compliance Review (ACR). The ACD is an assessment of whether all products of the postal service cover their costs and are...
July 2026 Structural Changes Proposed
The Postal Service publishes an advance overview of planned structural changes with each price change. The Overview document does not give any pricing information, nor does it contain all of the technical information related to the upcoming changes, those will be...
Regional Transportation Optimization (RTO)
The publicity associated with Postmarks has brought new attention to the RTO operation and the number of sites that will be impacted with once-a-day mail pick up. USPS must report to the PRC monthly data with updates on 5-Digit zip codes where RTO has been...
Financials, Performance & Market Trends
Is USPS healthy? Who’s winning?
USPS February Financial, Revenue & Volume
The United States Postal Service Preliminary Financial Information (unaudited), February 2026, shows a period of significant operating losses despite a slight increase in revenue compared to the same period last year (SPLY). The USPS continues to face a gap between...
USPS Office of Inspector General Financial Dashboard
USPS Deeper Dive: Financials & Productivity The OIG has created a new dashboard available to the public, providing key metrics of the U.S. Postal Service’s business and operational performance over time. The data comes from the USPS annual form 10-K filings along...
Postal Financials in the News
Direct from USPS Quotes Over the last week there have been multiple articles concerning the financial status of the USPS. As quoted “Steiner told Reuters in December that the agency has a “precarious cash position,” adding that at current spending rates, “we’re...
Leadership, Strategy & USPS Direction
Who’s in charge and where are we going?
USPS Personnel Changes
Sharon Owens, the VP of Pricing and Costing, is retiring at the end of April, this was her last MTAC. The MTAC leadership and ex officious presented Sharon with the MTAC award, expressing the below sentiments. "It has been over six years since the MTAC Award was last...
Does the USPS Receive Tax Dollars?
The statement on USPS communications concerning tax dollars “The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.” is accurate, what they receive is minimal, less...
USPS Board of Governors (BOG) Meeting
FY2026 Q1 Results USPS reported their FY26 Q1 (Oct 1, 2025 - Dec 31, 2025) financials, volumes, and service numbers to their Board of Governors (BOG) and the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on February 5th, 2026. Financials Total operating revenue was $22.2...
Industry Events & Context
The community and the big picture.
USPS and Industry Events
GrayHair will be presenting, or in attendance at all events listed with an *, if you will be attending please let your GrayHair representative know so we can plan to meet up! EMA Conference, April 14th - 16th, San Diego, CA NPF 2026 May 3rd - 6th, 2026, Phoenix AZ *...
USPS and Industry Events
GrayHair will be presenting, or in attendance at all events listed in red, if you will be attending please let your GrayHair representative know so we can plan to meet up! MFSA Annual Conference, March 19th - 21st, Irving, TX MAILCOM Spring Conference, March 23-25th,...
A Banner year for Stamps
USPS has issued some recent stamps that are sure to become collectables for many. My favorite is the new series that honor the courage, convictions, and sacrifices of the people who shaped the American Revolution. As I live in a village where the rt66 runs right...
About Deborah
Deborah Damore is the Head of Postal Affairs at GrayHair Software, bringing over 20 years of expertise in the mailing and logistics market. She specializes in driving success and innovation through enterprise-wide mail management solutions for diverse sectors, including financial services, insurance, direct marketing, and nonprofits.
A dedicated industry advocate, Deborah champions the interests of mailers and shippers nationwide. Her commitment is demonstrated by her leadership roles, including serving as the Industry Co-Chair of the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) and holding board positions with PostCom and the NPPC. She presents regularly at NPF, PCCs, AIMs, and Industry Trade conferences.
Her downtime, while limited, is spent with her growing family, traveling, and reading a good book.
