POSTAL SERVICE PROPOSES HIGHER POSTAGE RATES, CHANGES IN RATE STRUCTURE
	The Postal Service on Wednesday filed a request with the Postal Rate Commission (R2006-1) for higher postage rates, seeking about $4 billion in new revenue for the test year of 2008. The rate hike translates into an 7.6 percent overall average postage rate increase that is supported by the PRC..
	Of course, certain classes of mail would see higher-than-average increases and other classes would see lower (see charts on next slides showing average increases by class of mail). In some cases, such as First-Class Mail letters weighing 2 oz., prices would actually decrease.
	The filing includes a number of pricing innovations and changes, including a move to a pricing structure based more on shape than on weight. Postal prices now are based primarily on weight and do not recognize that each shape - letter, flat, parcel - has different processing costs, postal officials said.