Postal Rate and Fee Changes,
2000
)
Docket No. R2000-1
OFFICE OF THE CONSUMER ADVOCATE
INTERROGATORIES
TO UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
(OCAIUSPS-57-66)
February IO,2000
Pursuant
Commission,
requests
to sections
26 and 27 of the Rules of Practice
the Office of the Consumer
for production
OCAIUSPS-1-14
of documents.
Advocate
Instructions
hereby submits interrogatories
L4ti
submitted,
ls!a
TED P. GERARDEN
Director
Office of the Consumer Advocate
EMMETT RAND COSTICH
Attorney
1333 H Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20268-0001
(202) 789-6830; Fax (202) 789-6819
and
included with OCA interrogatories
dated January 24, 2000, are hereby incorporated
Respectfully
of the Postal Rate
by reference,
Docket No. RZOOO-1
OCA/USPS-57.
Please refer to the response of the Postal Service to OCALJSPS-3.
The interrogatory
requests supporting
the documentation
“supporting
-2-
documentation
filed for BY 1998.
documentation
for an FY 1999 CRA equivalent
The response
to
states that the Service will file
required by” Rule 102. Interrogatory
3 requests
information
different from that required by Rule 102.
(4
Please confirm that the Postal Service will provide a response to interrogatory
that includes information
different from that required by Rule 102.
If you do not
confirm, please explain why the Postal Service neither objected
responsive
lb)
answer to interrogatory
nor provided
a
3.
Please confirm that the Postal Service regularly creates workpapers
each year’s CRA that contain
3
information
underlying
different from that required
by Rule
102. If you do not confirm please explain.
(4
Please provide a// workpapers
OCA/USPS-58.
Refer
to OCA/USPS-8
thereto filed February 7, 2000.
mailings
The questions
and
OCAIUSPS-9
and
the
below relate to widespread
responses
or saturation
by the Postal Service to the general public, not to mailings to employees
single-piece
(4
underlying the FY 1999 CRA.
mailings, targeted business mailings, or other limited-scope
mailings.
For the volume of GFY 1998 and GFY 1999 Postal Service mailings reported
the Government
Fiscal Year 1999 Revenue,
Pieces, and Weight
portion of the mailings are entered under Permit No. G-IO?
Service
mailings
sent under Permit No. G-IO?
or
in
Report, what
Are any non-Postal
Does the Postal Service
use
permits other than G-l O? If so, please list the permit numbers and the VOlUmeS
mailed under those permits for GFYs 1998 and 1999.
Docket No. R2000-1
(b)
-3-
Provide copies of mail entry documents,
comparable
to those required
by the
Postal Service of mailers, for Postal Service mailings entered under Permit No.
G-10 in GFY 1998 and GFY 1999.
(4
Provide any documents,
similar documents,
or saturation
(4
including audits, reports, budgets,
concerning
mailpieces
Are such mailpieces
the cost of preparing
studies, reviews, or
and/or mailing widespread
mailed under Permit No. G-10 (or other permits).
mailed under Permit No. G-10 (or other permits) prepared
by the Postal Service or by outside contractors?
W
Are RPW reported
attempts
volumes for Postal Service Mail estimates?
made to reconcile
such estimates
with accounting
If so, are any
records?
Please
explain.
0-l
Please provide copies of all documents
relating to the proper use of permits such
as Permit No. G-10 by Postal Service employees
(9)
State whether
Service
any records exist that would identify mailings made by the Postal
to the general
nationwide
or agents.
basis.
public either
on an area or regional
basis or on a
From any such records, provide a list of such mailings in GFY
1998 and GFY 1999.
OCAIUSPS-59.
2000.
Refer to OCAIUSPS-10
Please confirm that a reasonable
and the response
“estimated
Standard
A Mail Saturation
ECR” is $0.05415.
described
below.
is not a reasonable
If $0.05415
and explain the derivation
of the estimate.
thereto filed February
TY volume variable
The derivation
7,
unit cost for
of this estimate
is
estimate, please provide an estimate
Docket No. R2000-1
Derivation
4
of $0.05475:
cost for all Standard
1, provides
Exhibit USPS-32B
Mail (A) regular ECR of $2,471,864,000.
a TYAR volume for all Standard
This results in an average
ECR of $0.075297.
provides
“wpl~comm.xls,”
at page 3 TYAR volume
USPS-LR-I-166,
regular ECR (auto, basic, HD, saturation
delivery for all categories
the two
saturation
saturation
First-Class
forecasts
The average
categories
(letters
and non-letters)
could not be sent as Standard
is $0.05150.
of $0.075297
and
Accordingly,
Turning
= $0.05415.
Provide the unit cost of producing
This mailpiece
this
was sent as
Is there any reason that a similar mailpiece
Mail (A) saturation
ECR? If so, please explain.
Provide an estimate of the cost of producing
size stamps, denominated
130 million sheets of
as “make-up
rate” stamps (i.e.,
similar in size and format to the “Fruit Berries” stamp sheet, #I564516622,
stamps rather than 20).
At
and delivery
of overall regular unit ECR cost.
Refer to the attachment.
standard
non-letters).
of
of regular ECR is $0.07162; the average unit test year cost for
Mail under Permit No. G-10.
12 self-adhesive
for each category
unit test year cost for mail processing
(do not include cost of mailing the mailpiece).
OCAIUSPS-61.
12, 2000, spreadsheet
provides total test year mail processing
to volume variable cost, 71.9151%
mailpiece
filed January
letters; basic, HD, saturation
unit cost appears to be 71.9151%
OCA/USPS-60.
Mail (A) regular
was provided by the Postal Service for the volume
ECR.
page 10 the same spreadsheet
Table
Mail (A) regular ECR of 32,828,211,000.
variable costs of saturation
costs for each category.
Exhibit USPS-T-6,
unit volume variable cost for all Standard
No calculation
provides
a TYAR volume variable
but for 12
Docket No. R2000-1
OCAIUSPS-62.
distribute
-5Provide
an estimate
new denominations
of the time
of First-Class
required
stamps, including
to plan,
“make-up
print,
and
rate” stamps,
for an assumed effective date of new rates of January 2001.
OCANSPS-63.
addresses
Please
provide
an estimate
of the number
of domestic
delivery
the Postal Service expects to have in January 2001.
OCANSPS-64.
Refer to USPS-LR-I-179,
filed February
Table I. Total volume appears to differ by approximately
that occurring
in Standard
the volume projections
in forecasting
(specifically
in USUPS-T-6,
methodologies
OCANSPS-65.
8.5 billion pieces, with most of
Mail (A). Please provide an explanation
in USPS-LR-I-179
TYAR volume projections
7, 2000, and USPS-T-6,
in
at page 8 for PFY 2001) from the
Table I for GFY 2001.
and assumptions
of the differences
Identify all differences
between the two forecasts.
Please provide the equivalent
of Library References
l-130 through
l-149 for a Base Year 1999.
OCANSPS-66.
LR-I-182
Please refer to the two page document
entitled “Electronic
from the Household
that document
Bill Payment
The last sentence
on the second page of
questions “are included in the report.”
(4
Please provide a copy of the report referred to in this sentence.
(b)
Please
provide
Household
(c)
of USPS-
and the Impacts on Mail Volume--Evidence
Diary Study 1995-1997.”
indicates that recommended
at the beginning
a list of the questions
recommended
for inclusion
in the
been included
in the 1998 or 1999
Diary Study.
Have any of the recommended
versions of the Household
questions
Diary Study?
If not, why not?
-__
--
Docket No. R2000-1
CERTIFICATE
OF SERVICE
I hereby certify that I have this date served the foregoing
participants
of record in this proceeding
in accordance
document
with section 12 of the rules of
practice.
~~(4cdLeup
Stephanie
Washington, D.C. 20268-0001
February IO,2000
upon all
S. Wallace