Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 9, 1994                   TAG: 9411090072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

32-CENT STAMP ON THE WAY

That pledge by Postal Board Chairman Sam Winters was designed to end uncertainty among commercial mailers over whether the agency would delay its requested 10.3 percent increase until later in January.

The Postal Rate Commission, an independent agency, is reviewing the request and is expected to rule this month on the service's unprecedented request for a uniform, across-the-board increase in the price of all classes of mail.

The price rise would give the Postal Service an additional $4.7 billion in revenue, money it needs to eliminate an operating deficit that reached about $1.3 billion in the just-ended fiscal year.

Postal spokesmen said Winters' statement, delivered at the opening of the monthly board of governors meeting, means the agency plans to implement the new rates on Jan. 1. The governors must vote formally to endorse the rate increase after it is approved by the commission and set the date when the increase takes effect.

Winters' announcement is vital to the huge third-class, or advertising, mail industry. It probably will mean that mailers will move up mailings planned for January into the days immediately after Christmas to take advantage of the cheaper postage.

Postmaster General Marvin Runyon, who has been under fire for the decline of service, cautioned the governors that the agency may see a further drop in its customer-satisfaction index next year as the higher prices are implemented. Declines of 3 percent to 4 percent are common after rate increases, he said.

The index fell last year, partly a result of poor delivery service.