Postal Affairs Blog

I will be in the WBI booth #2297 at Graph Expo next week, in my favorite city in the world, Chicago! We will be in the Mailing Fulfillment Center, all the way at the end of the 2200 Aisle. Drop me a note if you would like to set up a few minutes to discuss any current or future Window Book applications, or if you have questions about Mail.dat or PostalOne!

Please be sure to stop by and say hello,
Best wishes,
Lisa

PS Here is a link to the floor map of the Mailing and Fulfillment area, with our booth highlighted:
http://www.windowbook.com/GraphExpo/Floor-Plan.pdf

New 8125 and 8125C forms are programmed and being tested now, and will be released shortly. Changes to be aware of:

pages 77-79 in the August 2 Postal Bulletin.
Block 15 on PS Form 8125 and Block 16 on PS Form 8125-C now require the SCF/ADC/BMC/ASF
designator and ZIP Code^TM from the DMM label list for the mailing presented. On PS Form 8125, the instructions for block 15 also reflect this information.

On both forms, block 28 now requires the facility name, address, city, state, and ZIP + 4® for the entry office as found in the Drop Ship product. This block also notes that appointments or shipments with 100% Periodicals can be presented whenever the destination facility is open and staffed.

Let me know if you have any questions,
Lisa

This came through from the USPS FAST Team. There is some great information and at the bottom, some FAST resources.
Let me know if you have any questions on FAST/Surface Visibility, I’ll point you in the right direction,
Best wishes,
Lisa

Attention: Mailers Dropping Standard and/or Package Services at a FAST/Surface Visibility (SV) site in the Western Area

Beginning August 18, the following USPS facilities will be activated as part of the FAST Mailer Rating National Deployment.

• 522 – Cedar Rapids
• 50Z – Des Moines BMC
• 55Z – Minneapolis/St Paul BMC
• 570 – Sioux Falls

On August 18, FAST will allocate appointment slots according to tier availability for appointments scheduled for September 1 and onward. Appointment availability will be based on tiers using appointment data from July 14 – August 10.

The facilities listed above were activated for Mailer Rating based on their SV drop shipment compliance of 80% or higher. Failure to adhere to this standard will result in deactivation.

To help you familiarize yourself with Mailer Rating there are a number of resources at your disposal. These resources include but are not limited to the following:

FAST Training & Job Aids

• Available on the Customer website at https://fast@usps.com
• Pre-login users can click on Resources > Reference Documents to:
• Download updated Customer Web-Based Training (Module 7)
• View FAST Job Aids
• View FAST User Guide
• View, link to or download Publication 804, Drop Shipment Procedures for Destination Entry, Domestic Mail Manual, and all PS Forms

Mailer Rating Reports

• Users can access the following Mailer Rating reports:
• Appointment Rating Analysis Report
• Corporate Rating Report
• Recurring Appointment Performance Report
• Slot Availability Report

Questions or concerns regarding the Mailer Rating National Deployment should be directed to fast@usps.com with ‘Mailer Rating National Deployment’ in the subject line.

Thank you,
FAST Support

FAST provides email support weekdays 9am-6pm ET. To find answers to your questions, please visit or contact the following:

• USPS Policy: Pub. 804 www.usps.com/publications/pubs/welcome.htm
• FAST ‘How-To’: FAST Pre-Login – Resources – User Guide
• Customer login/information: PostalOne! 800-522-9085 or postalone@email.usps.gov
• FAST Application Issues: USPS Help Desk 800-877-7435

The following message was passed along from a really great ListServ I particpate in, from MFSA Mailing & Fulfillment Service Association. Participation in the ListSev is but one of the many benefits of MFSA Membership. It is a very useful resource.

This information is from the USPS, reagarding the Intelligent Mail Barcode for mailpieces themselves. DAT-MAIL will, of course, support the IMBs on tray, sack, and pallet placards. Our Confirm module already supports both the old traditional Confirm format as well as the IMB Confirm barcode information and format.

Please let me know if you have any questions on the post-presort possibilities for Intelligent Mail.
Best wishes,
Lisa

Intelligent Mail Barcode Update

The Intelligent Mail barcode (formally known as the 4-State Customer Barcode) is the next generation of USPS barcode technology used to sort and track letters and flats. Intelligent Mail barcode technology, among other things, combines the capabilities of the POSTNET barcode and the Planet Code barcode into one unique barcode.

The 31-digit Intelligent Mail barcode (65 bars) is slightly longer than the 11-digit POSTNET barcode (62 bars), and it offers mailers certain flexibility in choosing the height and width of the barcode. Due to mail-piece real estate concerns and barcode print quality, some mailers expressed an interest in shorter-height Intelligent Mail barcode.

Evaluations were conducted with letter mail that allowed the USPS to reduce the height requirement by 16.3% for the September 2006 offering.

The USPS is committed to working with the mailing community to lock down the barcode variance and set the minimum natural threshold for readability and acceptance of the Intelligent Mail barcode.

Consequently, the read-rate and dimension analysis supported by an extensive flats test was used as a decision-making tool in determining the feasibility of a revised Intelligent Mail barcode for flat mail with reduced vertical dimensions. As a result of this, later this year, the USPS will be publishing a new Specification for the Intelligent Mail barcode with even shorter bar heights.

The Intelligent Mail barcode will be moving to a height range between 0.125 and 0.165 inches.

Until this Specification comes into effect, the USPS will have time to update the UFSM 1000 line of equipment to better read barcodes at this height range. All USPS publications that refer to the Intelligent Mail barcode will be updated to reflect the new height requirements. The mailing industry will also have enough time to review their existing fonts and make any necessary changes.

In support of these changes and in order to accommodate the new Intelligent Mail barcode specification tolerances, the USPS will be updating the font packages distributed via the RIBBS website (http://ribbs.usps.gov/onecodesolution).

The existing software and fonts support the following common print architectures:

• Advanced Function Printing (AFP)
• XEROX Metacode
• Hewlett Packard’s PCL
• Adobe’s Postscript
• TrueType

These fonts were developed based on the current Intelligent Mail barcode Specification, which allows a Full Bar height range of 0.134 to 0.230 inches. The new Specification tolerances allow a Full Bar height range of 0.125 to 0.165 inches. All font packages will be updated to remove any fonts that are no longer valid and the USPS will develop additional shorter-height fonts to supplement those already distributed. Please discontinue using any fonts that are labeled as “Full Height” as they will not be valid after the new Specification comes into effect. This does not apply to users of the scalable TrueType USPS4CB.ttf font, which is still valid when printed at 20pt. There will be a grace period which will allow customers to continue using the Full Height fonts until they transition to the more elegant shorter-height barcode.

In addition to shorter barcode heights, the new Specification document will outline new rules for the availability of 6 or 9 digit Customer

(Mailer) ID as well as revised Sequence (Serial) Number construct. This information is already available in the Intelligent Mail barcode Resource Guide and the new Mailer ID Description documents on the RIBBS website (http://ribbs.usps.gov/onecodesolution). We strongly encourage you to download the latest Resource Guide as it reflects additional changes, such as the availability of the Intelligent Mail barcode for Bound Printed Matter.

Thank you,

Intelligent Mail Barcode
National Customer Support Center
USPS(r) Address Management
onecodesolution@usps.gov
877-640-0724 option 2

Periodical mailers, who in the past did not have to make a drop ship appointment, will now need to do so starting 9/4.  Periodical mailers need to register for FAST via PostalOne!, and obtain a drop ship scheduler code in order to use the FAST system.  Drop ship scheduledr codes will be mandatory for all Periodical mailers by the beginning of October, so it is prudent to act now. 

Periodicals mailers that come in to a drop ship facility without an appointment will be unloaded after any Periodicals that have come in with an appointment.  Additionally, Periodical drop shipments without an appointment will be entered as an unscheduled arrival, which counts against the mailer rating. 

DAT-MAIL and Post Master users can fill the appointment number in via Mail.dat, data entry, or by making their drop ship appointments directly through the web services FAST functionality included in the programs.

Any questions, please feel free to contact me,

Best wishes,
Lisa

FAST (Facility Access and Shipment Tracking) is the USPS drop ship appointment system. While at MTAC, the FAST team confirmed plans to begin to deploy the Mailer Rating System nationally, starting with FAST/Surface Visibility drop ship sites. Deployment is expected to be phased in over 3 months. Standard and Parcel mail will be rated, Periodicals will not at this time.

Deployment schedule:

1. 8/18 Western Area
2. 9/15 Great Lakes, Southwest, and Eastern Areas
3. 10/20 New York Metro, Capital Metro, Pacific, Northeast, and Southeast Areas

The mailer rating system will rate mailers based on their drop ship appointment on-time scheduling performance.

Questions about the mailer rating system deployment should be e-mailed to “fast@usps.com“.

it will be more important than ever to get your appointment numbers onto your 8125 forms. DAT-MAIL users can fill in thier appointment numbers either via Mail.dat, or by using the FAST web services functionality in thier program to actually make the appointments, and automatically fill the appointment numbers in to the corresponding 8125.