Information about postal regulations
Sources: USPS DMM Manual; NCOA and Confirm Service

• Size Matters
  • Postcards: postcards can be almost any size depending on what you want to spend in postage dollars however, the Post Office does have certain rules about sizes. For example, they have rules that postcards need to be proportionately balanced in length verses depth. A card that measures 3” X 5” would be rejected but, a card measuring 3.5”X 5” is acceptable. These rules are based on their sorting equipment and the Post Office will not make exceptions for errors like this. If they do, you can be sure they will want extra postage monies to handle it. Another example: a postcard can be a maximum size of 6 1/8” X 11” and still be considered a “letter” size and therefore receive better postage rates than a card that measures 8 ½” X 11”. The difference in postage is approximately .10 cents each. However, did you know that there are some exceptions to this rule? As you can see postcards are simple to create but, they can be tricky. At Ross we can help you steer through the 800 page DMM (the official Post Office manual) to get the best rates
  • Flats: What is a flat? The simple answer is that the Post Office calls anything larger than a “letter” size piece a flat or “non-letter”. What it means to you is additional postage. If your piece is larger than a “letter” size and you do not want to pay the extra postage there are options such as: folding your piece down to become a self-mailer, inserting it into an envelope or creating a different product to carry all the information you want to convey. Let Ross help you decide the options best suited to your budgets.
  • Letters: As discussed above a letter has to be 6 1/8” X 11” or smaller but, here again, your piece must be proportionately correct in order to be acceptable to the Post Office.
    Most people think of “letters” as something that comes in an envelope but, a “letter” size can be a postcard, self-mailer or even a booklet so long as it is the right size.
• What's Your Weight?

  • How much does your piece weigh? The Post Office is just like any other carrier when it comes to moving mail from here to there; it takes man power, machines and trucks to move mail and how much it all weighs is how you are charged. So, in the mailing game ounces count! If your “letter” weighs 3.5 ounces or less than you will save money vs. a piece that weighs just 4 ounces that may end up costing you hundreds more.
  • 7pt. 8pt. 9pt. 10pt. 12pt. what's with all these points? Again the Post Office has certain rules about "size" which affects the thickness a postcard or self-mailer must be. A postcard that is 3 ½” X 5” can mail as a postcard if it is 7pts. or better but, it will not be accepted if your piece is 5” X 8”, then the Post Office will require your piece to be 9pts. or better. The same applies to self-mailers except that a flat size can start at 3pts. and when folded down it will be 9pts. and therefore qualify. At Ross we can help you figure out all the sizes and weights that you need to be concerned with to slim down your postage budget. 
• Terminology

  • Zip Code Density: This is a term some mailers use to describe how your list may break down into what the Post Office calls, “Basic, 3-Digit or 5-Digit” sorting. The more your list will break down into the “5-Digit” sort the better your postage prices will be because the Post Office delivers mail based on zip code areas or blocks.
  • Delivery Points: These are points of entry that your mail will start at the Post Office. Mail delivered to a local GMC (general mail center) will have to then go through a number of other facilities to reach the Post Office in your area before it is delivered by your friendly carrier. There are BMC's (bulk mail centers), SCF's (sectional center facilities) and DDU's (destination delivery units). Depending on what kind of mail you have and where in the system it is dropped will depend on your delivery date. Let Ross help you hit your target windows.
  • CASS Certification: The CASS system improves the accuracy of carrier route, five-digit ZIP®, ZIP + 4®, and delivery point codes that appear on mail pieces. CASS is offered to all mailers, service bureaus, and software vendors who want to evaluate their address-matching software and improve the quality of their ZIP + 4, CRIS, and five-digit coding accuracy. This process is graded by the United States Postal Service®, National Customer Support Center (NCSC), and the results returned to mailers in order to provide useful diagnostics for correcting deficiencies.
  • NCOA:Over 40 million Americans change their address annually, which creates formidable obstacles in maintaining a high-quality mailing list. The NCOA Link ™ Product makes change-of-address information available to mailers to help reduce undeliverable mail pieces before mail enters the mail stream. The NCOA Link process consists of computer software purchased, leased or developed by the licensee to access the NCOA Link data. The Postal Service™ certifies the process and licenses the NCOA Link Product to private sector companies for commercial mail list processing or internal mail list management. Updated, computerized change-of-address information is provided on a regular basis to the NCOA Link licensees by the Postal Service. The NCOA Link process improves mail deliver ability by providing mailers with current, standardized, delivery point coded addresses for individual, family, and business moves.
  • Confirm Service: Confirm service allows mailers to uniquely identify and track mail by placing an additional barcode, known as PLANET code, on the front of a letter and flat mail pieces. This is a great tool to help many types of businesses track their mail progress which can help you know when to gear up additional staff for inquiries, orders or quotes