Addressing, Automation & Presort

Lloyd M. Moss

Agenda

• Overview of how Addressing, Automation and Presort earn postal discounts

• Addressing Requirements: present and future

• Automation &Presorting Fundamentals

Overview

• You must meet USPS addressing requirements and print Postnet or Intelligent Mail Barcodes (IMBC’s) to qualify for automation discounts.

• You must presort mail that meets USPS addressing requirement to actually earn presort and automation postal discounts

Addressing Requirements• Defined in the Domestic Mail Manual,

USPS publication 28 and in CASS™ regulations

• In the event of conflicting information, the DMM takes precedence

• An address must be complete and accurate for mail to be delivered in the shortest amount of time at the lowest cost to the USPS

Address Elements• Primary Address (Street Address)• Secondary Address (Apt No, Suite No, PO Box)

• City• State – must use specific abbreviations• ZIP Code (Zone Improvement Program)

– ZIP+4– Delivery Point

• Carrier Route (not printed on mail piece)

ZIP Code 2 0 0 0 1 11 11 00 33 0 3 9

5 Digit ZIP Code identifies the post office/station (Washington, DC)

ZIP+4 is a 4 digit code that identifies the block face Delivery Point - 2 digit code to make 11 digit

barcode unique Check Digit – 12th digit to ensure proper decoding

of barcode

Postal Barcodes• Must be printed on mail piece to qualify for

automation discounts• Two types of barcodes can currently be used

for letters and flats– Postnet (5,9,11 Digit ZIP + check digit)– Intelligent Mail Barcode (for flats as of 5/1)

• 5,9,11 Digit barcode+other information to identify mailer, unique piece and services provided (more on this in next session) – likely to be mandated in 2009

Carrier Route (CRRT)Used for Enhanced Carrier RT

Preparation 4 character code that identifies the mail

carrier or route. 3 digits preceded by one of the following alphabetic codes:

C UrbanB PO BoxR Rural RouteH Highway ContractorG General DeliveryExample: C015

Enhanced Line of Travel (eLOT)

5 character code that identifies how the carrier route and how it is delivered.

Includes the 4 digit Carrier Route followed by one of the following alphabetic codes:

A AscendingD Descending

Example: 0015A

Main St Washington DC 20001

202 204 206

C015

C016

1101

1102

Address Example:

203 MAIN ST

WASHINGTON DC 20001-1101

201 203 205 0015ADPBC:

200011101031

CRRT:

C015

eLOT:

0015A

Useful Acronyms DPV™ Delivery Point Validation

» Separate database that contains all delivery points

EWS Early Warning System» File that contains addresses that have not been

added to the USPS address database

LACSLink™ Locatable Address Conversion System

» Separate database that contains 911 converted addresses, USPS converted street addresses, and renumbered PO Boxes

CASS™ Coding Accuracy Support System Measures the accuracy of address matching

software such as CODE-1 Plus CASS™ process creates USPS Form 3553 CASS™ software will “standardize” an address,

lookup a ZIP+4, carrier route, “delivery point”, and eLOT number.

Successful ZIP+4 lookup required to qualify for automation discounts

CASS™ is First Step to get discounts

Presort is the other step required to get discounts

To qualify for:

You must verify:

You must use: By this Date:

Presorted rates

5 Digit ZIP Code

5 Digit ZIP Code 12 months of mailing

Automation rates

Complete addresses

ZIP+4 w/ Delivery Point

180 days of mailing

Enhanced carrier route rates

Carrier route information

ZIP Code

CRRT

eLOT (for presort)

90 days of mailing

CASS™ Cycle L (8/1/07)

• Requires primary address (street numbers) to be validate using DPV file to qualify for automation discounts

• Requires LACSLink™ to be used to get ZIP Code

CASS™ Cycle M (8/1/08)• Requires DPV validation of high rise

apartment numbers to pass secondary address validation, but this validation will still not be required to qualify for automation discounts.

• SuiteLink™ required• Preferred Street Alias must be used in

output

Future Requirements?• CASS™ required in 7/2009 to earn any

postal discounts (proposed in Fed. Register)– Must use Standardized Address on mail piece

• Secondary Address Validation with DPV to qualify for Automation rates?

• DPV failures pay Single Piece Rate, not Presort Rate?

• USPS wants mailers to implement closed loop upstream address management!

Move Update Requirement

• Currently in effect for First Class

• Will be expanded to Standard Class in early 2009

• Requires COA identification

• Requires updating mailing list data within 185 days with new address

COA Identification Methods

• NCOALink™ - pre-mailing

• ACS™ - post-mailing

• FastForward™ - post-mailing

• Updating requirement described in detail in USPS publication 363

• IMBC will allow very easy enforcement!

Automation & Presort• The point of worksharing discounts for addressing and

presort is to allow the USPS to reduce the amount of work they need to do in order to process mail

• This requires mailers to prepare mail so it can be processed further “upstream”

• The USPS sorting process relies on scanning barcodes. Mail with barcodes already on it can be more easily sorted than if the USPS has to spray the barcode on themselves.

• Presorting allows the mailer to separate and containerize mail so it can be processed as far upstream as possible. The further upstream, the bigger the worksharing discount.

Presorting

• Process by which the mailer prepares mail so it is sorted, bundled and containerized based on postal regulations in DMM

• Allows mailers to do some of the work otherwise done by the USPS and enjoy some cost savings

• Presort Software is certified by PAVE™ Presort Accuracy and Validation Evaluation

Presorting(continued)

Presort considerations Piece attributes

• Dimensions & processing category• Weight • Contents • Identical or Non-identical

– Size of the mailing (number of pieces)– Geographic concentration of mailing

What Does Presort Software Do?

• Sorts mail for maximum postal discounts• Defines bundles and containers (sacks, trays

and pallets)• Creates sack, tray and pallet labels• Creates reports that USPS requires for

acceptance, verification and acceptance• Can create Mail.dat™ files for other

applications

Consolidated like small jobs into larger jobs prior to presorting and production. This increases ZIP Code density.

Standard, Periodical and Package Services mailers need to more aggressively take advantage of drop ship discounts.

Mail that is not at least earning at least a 3 Digit automation discount could be handed to a presort service bureau for commingling.

Increase automation discounts by improving address hygiene.

Mailers that Use Presort Software Can Increase Postal Discounts