Postage Increase

Postage rates increased on May 11, 2009.  Recent legislation allows for annual rate increases, so budget accordingly.  Rates can increase at the annual rate of inflation for the previous year.  New rates are announced every year in February.  For current pricing information, visit: http://www.usps.com/prices/welcome.htm

New Requirements for Standard/Nonprofit Flats

Starting on March 29, 2009, new requirements affect address characteristics (how the address looks) and address placement (where the address is located) on flat sized mailpieces mailed at Standard or Nonprofit Rates.

• Mailers must address each piece using a minimum of 8-point type. Each character must be at least
  0.080 inch high.
• If the mailpiece bears a POSTNET or Intelligent Mail barcode with a delivery point routing code, mailers may use 6-point type in all capital letters. Each character must be at least 0.065 inch high.
• In all automation pieces, the characters in the address must not overlap, the address lines must not touch or overlap, and each address element may be separated by no more than five blank character spaces. (A blank character space can equal the width of the widest letter used in the type.)
• Mailers must place the delivery address in the “top half” of the mailpiece. 

Mail Processing will be conducting a seminar on the new requirements in the near future.  Please use this two page information sheet to help guide you and be sure to call us if you have any questions!

Flat-sized Mailing Requirements for Standard and Nonprofit mail.

Move-Update Requirement

Effective November 23, 2008 the Postal Service has increased its effort to improve the percentage of deliverable mail by revising the Move Update standards. The Move Update standards provide ways for mailers to reduce the number of mail pieces that require forwarding or return by the periodic matching of a mailer's address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders.  The final rule includes the following changes related to change-of-address processing:

• Increase the minimum frequency of change-of-address processing from 185 calendar days to 95 days prior to the date of mailing.
• Extend the revised Move Update standards to include all Standard Mail (letters, flats, parcels and Not Flat-Machinables), as well as automation-rate and presort-rate First-Class Mail.
  

Failure to prove your compliance could subject your department to penalties by the USPS and loss of past and future discounts.

Here are some suggestions to help your department avoid these potential penalties and maintain compliance:                                                   

1. For internal address databases--maintain documentation that you have changed the address database.
2. For externally purchased address databases--require the seller to certify that they are "Move Update" compliant.
3. For all address databases--consider sending the address database to Mail Processing for NCOA processing (checking your database for moves in the last 48 months).

Compliance:

NCOA

Send your address list to be processed through NCOA and updated for moves.  Mail Processing as well as many suppliers can do this for you.  The cost will depend on the size of your list. Your service provider should send you back your file with the updated addresses.

Ancillary Endorsements

If your department uses an ancillary endorsement (Address Service Requested, Return Service Requested or Change Service Requested) AND your department updates its database with information, you are in compliance.  However, you must be able to prove that the database was updated.  The USPS has assigned field auditors to businesses to verify that they are maintaining compliance with the "Move Update Compliance Process."

Exemptions

Standard Mail bearing a simplified or alternative address format (i.e., "Joe Spartan or Current Resident", "Postal Customer", etc.) will not be subject to the Move Update requirement.

Addresses updated as part of a First-Class mailing can be used again for a Standard mailing (and vice-versa) without being updated again as long as the second mailing is within 95 days of the first Move Update process.