We have a dedicated team of expert professionals who not only provide outstanding technical support, but we help keep you up to date. Staying abreast of the ever-changing rules and regulations, policies and procedures in the mailing and shipping industry is a daunting task at best. We hope you will find this blog filled with pertinent information you can use to run your business more efficiently and profitably. As always, we welcome your feedback and comments.
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During a press conference on September 15, 2011, the United States Postal Service® (USPS®) announced plans to greatly reduce its current network of processing facilities. The number of processing facilities could be cut by as much as half, which equates to approximately 250 facilities. This would result in a 50% reduction of mail processing equipment and a possible reduction in workforce of up to 35,000 employees.
This move would save the USPS approximately $3 billion per year. The USPS is experiencing substantial drops in mail volume and revenue, and has been implementing a number of cost-cutting measures. Postmaster General Pat Donahoe cited in the September 15, 2011 press release, “Since 2006, we have closed 186 facilities, removed more than 1,500 pieces of mail processing equipment, decreased employee complement by more than 110,000 through attrition and reduced costs by $12 billion.”
Making these types of reductions would obviously have an impact on the level of service, so the USPS is also proposing to adjust the First-Class Mail® delivery standards from the current 1-3 day range to 2 to 3 days. The USPS published a Federal Register Notice on September 15, 2011, detailing the plans for the adjustment in the delivery standards.
Donahoe also noted during the press conference that this move is based strictly on the need to cut costs in the current financially challenging period the USPS is facing, and has no reflection on the dedicated USPS employees commitment to service.
Stay tuned for further developments regarding this announcement. This process will require a great deal of study and will undoubtedly become politically charged as members of Congress try to save postal facilities (and jobs!) located in their districts.
For all the details, visit the new USPS web page introduced just for this topic.
The Postal Service made final clarifications on non-profit eligibility, commingled mail procedures and the usage of Postal Wizard for their Summer 2011 Mobile Barcode Promotion.
Access all the latest and final information here: https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mobilebarcode
Wallace Vingelis
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
One of the hottest topics related to the USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion is the issue of whether commingled, combined and co-mail mailings can participate and take advantage of the 3% discount during July and August. Yesterday afternoon the USPS met with representatives from the mailing industry and worked out the details on this issue. Here is the updated information taken directly from page 2 of the latest USPS FAQs document:
10. If my mail is commingled, combined or part of a co-mailing can I participate?
A: The scope of this promotion includes only mobile barcode mailings supported by a single postage statement. First-Class Mail and Standard commingled, combined and co-mail mailings (including MLOCR mailings) may only qualify for the Mobile Barcode promotion if all of the pieces commingled in the mailing have mobile barcodes or if the mailings include multiple clients (or versions) , but have separate postage statements generated by client (or version) that contain mobile barcode. Commingled, combined and co-mail mailings which do not separate mobile barcode mailings in separate postage statements from non-mobile barcode mailings, are not eligible for the discount.
Individually presented and accepted mailings that are later copalletized are eligible for the Mobile Barcode Promotion. This includes Standard Mail copalletized trays when the mailings are individually presented for acceptance and then copalletized.
For all the details on the USPS Mobile Barcode Promotion, and to download the latest copy of the FAQs, visit: https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mobilebarcode.
Wallace Vingelis
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
URL: www.windowbook.com
Although the Postal Service has not formally announced this yet, the FAQs document about the Mobile Barcode Promotion has been updated to reflect that non-profit mail will be eligible to take advantage of the 3% mobile barcode discount as long as all other requirements of the program are met. This information was also confirmed by several employees of the USPS on an MTAC User Group 1 teleconference this morning. They also let everyone on the call know that formal announcement of this is expected sometime next week.
The below Q&A is copied directly from page 3 of the most recent FAQs document:
14. Is non-profit mail eligible for the promotion?
A. Yes, non-profit mail is eligible for this promotion discount, as long as all other program requirements are met.
To get all the details about the Mobile Barcode Promotion and download a copy of the most recent FAQs document, visit: https://ribbs.usps.gov/index.cfm?page=mobilebarcode
Also discussed on the MTAC call this morning was that there will be a call this afternoon between the USPS and members of MTAC to discuss and clarify issues concerning commingled mailings and their participation in this program.
Wallace Vingelis
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
URL: www.windowbook.com
Mailing industry leaders met with USPS PMG Pat Donahoe this morning where he announced that the Postal Service plans to file an inflation-based price increase request this afternoon. The proposed implementation date will be April 17, 2011.
They will seek an overall increase of 1.741% increase.
First-Class Mail will see an overall increase of 1.7%, but the $0.44 Forever stamp will remain unchanged.
Standard Mail will also see a 1.7% increase. Letters will go up by 1.8%. Flats will go up 0.8%. The big hit in Standard are Parcels and NFMs, which will go up 11.3%.
USPS officials also announced that the May 2011 implementation date for switching to Intelligent Mail barcodes to qualify for automation rates is being pushed back, however, no new date has been announced yet.
More to follow after the filing!
Wallace Vingelis
Vice President, Business Development & Marketing
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
Fax: (617) 395-5969
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
URL: www.windowbook.com
Full-Service eDoc Verification and Assessment
The November 2010 PostalOne! release will introduce a process for the evaluation of eDoc for Intelligent Mail Full-Service mailings. The process will evaluate Full-Service eDoc for:
- Invalid Mailer ID
- Invalid Service Type ID
- Incorrect By/For information
- Incorrect Customer/Supplier Agreement (CSA) information
- Non-unique barcodes
On January 2, 2011, these errors will result in the loss of Full-Service discounts. Mailers should use the feedback to correct errors found during Full-Service verification prior to implementation of the Full-Service Discount Removal on January 2, 2011. Additional information can be found on RIBBS in the PostalOne! Release 25.0 release notes.
Full-Service Feedback Webinars:
The next USPS Full-Service Feedback webinar will be broadcast on Thursday, October 28 at 3 p.m. (EDT). This webinar explains the eDoc Verification process and Mail Data Quality reports. Log in information on the Webinars is posted on RIBBS® under Intelligent Mail Latest News.
As always, if you have questions about this information, please feel free to contact me or anyone here at Window Book.
Wallace Vingelis
Director, Postal Industry Practice
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
From the DMM Advisory on Friday:
September 17, 2010
DMM Advisory
Pricing — keeping you informed about the prices and mailing standards of the United States Postal Service
Published Federal Register Notices
The following two Federal Register notices were published today and are now posted on the Postal Explorer® website at pe.usps.com. We encourage you to check them out:
Intelligent Mail Package Barcode — This advanced notice of proposed rulemaking incorporates standards for the optional use of Intelligent Mail® package barcodes (IMpb) no later than January 2011; and requires the mandatory use of IMpb on all domestic packages beginning in January 2012. The IMpb will provide valuable piece-level package information. We’re looking forward to receiving and considering mailing industry feedback on the proposed timeline before publishing the final standards. Customers are encouraged to respond on or before September 27, 2010.
Express Mail Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute — We are proposing to revise the service commitment for Express Mail Open and Distribute as a guaranteed end of day product to reflect the way it is processed. We are also proposing to add a minimum five-pound weight requirement for Express Mail® Open and Distribute and Priority Mail® Open and Distribute sacks so that they won’t be mistaken for empty sacks and delayed in handling. Customers are encouraged to respond on or before October 18, 2010.
The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) is available on Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com). To subscribe to the DMM Advisory, send an e-mail to dmmadvisory@usps.com. Simply indicate “subscribe” in the subject line.
The following was published in the DMM Advisory today:
September DMM Update
Postal Explorer® (pe.usps.com) is your source for up-to-date mailing standards. The Domestic Mail Manual is fully searchable on Postal Explorer and features fly-out menus, cross-reference links, and an extensive subject index. Today we updated our mailing standards to capture the following changes:
Alternative Addressing Format Options
We revised 507.1.0 and 602.3.0 to permit the use of certificates of mailing, Confirm service, Delivery Confirmation, and special handling extra services when using an alternative address format.
Contents of Periodicals Mail
We revised 707.3.0 to incorporate “content” changes to the standards governing pages, supplements, products and product samples, and mailpiece design.
New Endorsement for Returned Mailpieces
We revised Exhibit 507.1.4.1 to add a new endorsement, “Returned to Sender, Item Contains Nonmailable Contents,” for mailpieces that are returned due to contents that are nonmailable.
Commercial Flats Clarification
We revised 301.1.0 to update commercial flats text with minor editorial updates, and to rearrange the DMM reference text for better flow.
Clarification of Standards for Parcel Select
We revised 453.3.0 to remove standards for loyalty and growth rebates. We also revised 602.1.5.3 to note that all Parcel Select pieces must have a return address.
Delivery Address Visibility in Window Envelopes
We revised 202.2.1 and 302.2.1 to add a reference to current standards that require the delivery address to be completely visible within a window envelope, when used.
New Font Size Option for Optional Endorsement Lines
We revised 708.7.2 to provide a new font size option for mailers applying an optional endorsement line (OEL) to their mailpieces that do not bear a traditional Address Change Service (ACS) participant code.
Confirmation Services to the Northern Mariana Islands—ZIP Code 96952
We revised 503.9.2.4 and 503.10.2.3 to eliminate the Northern Mariana Islands (ZIP Code 96952) from the tables of ineligible ZIP Codes to receive Delivery Confirmation and Signature Confirmation services.
Our next scheduled DMM update is October 4.
Today’s DMM Advisory issued the following update:
IMb™ Services Update
FAST® Release 15.0.0 will deploy on November 7, 2010. Updated FAST 15.0.0 Release Notes are available at http://ribbs.usps.gov/fast/documents/tech_guides/FASTRelease/. The key features of this release are:
- Users now have the capability to choose to receive emails for stand-alone content association.
- The FAST Web Services messaging will be updated to account for previous error messages.
The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) is available on Postal Explorer (pe.usps.com). To subscribe to the DMM Advisory, send an e-mail to dmmadvisory@usps.com. Simply indicate “subscribe” in the subject line.
With the recent publication of our latest white paper - ”Intelligent Mail Full-Service: Critical Steps to Understanding and Implementing” – we want to hear from you.
Take this opportunity to comment, question, disagree – whatever you want – but do it here. Reply to this blog post. Let us know how we did.
Wallace Vingelis
Director, Postal Industry Practice
Window Book, Inc.
Phone: (617) 395-4569
email: wvingelis@windowbook.com
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