MailStream Plus Postal Preparation

Recently the USPS announced the United States Postal Service (USPS) announced a temporary price increase for Commercial Parcels effective on mailings beginning October 4^th, 2026, and ending January 17^th, 2027.  

The temporary price increase affects the USPS Ground Advantage and USPS Priority Mail preparations supported by MailStream Plus 2026.6. Additional information may be found at  USPS Price Change Index and USPS PostalPro. 

To comply with this temporary price increase for Commercial Parcels during the October 4, 2026 to January 17, 2027 using MailStream Plus 2026.6 you will need to: 

1. Update to the September 2026 Postal Reference files or later from the Precisely Data Experience 

2. Modify the HEADER parameter card (HEADERP) by placing a "P" in Position 7 for the impacted MailStream Plus jobs only. 

 
Starting with the September 2026 Postal Reference Files and going thru the December 2026 Postal Reference Files, the temporary prices will be in the alternate rate table.

Hi Mary, 

We do not send USPS Ground Advantage or Priority mail so are not impacted by this price change. Does that mean we will not need to make any updates? Will there be an MSP software release to support this price change?

We do use a software for postage statement preparation that has released a new version to support this price change which we will be updating. Do we need to make any MSP software changes as well?

Thanks!

Jyoti

Hi Jyoti,

The USPS has had this same price increase for the last 4 or 5 years. If you have never had to make any changes in the past, then this increase will probably still not affect you.

The only change to a job setup would be for USPS Ground Advantage or Priority mail jobs and adding the P in position 7 of the HEADER parameter for these presorts only. The updated rates will be in the September thru December 2026 Postal Reference files. No patch/Update will be required.

Thanks,