Post Ops Update - MemberClicks...2016/04/04 · Post Ops Update, Issue 02-16, April 4, 2016 Page 3...

Post Ops Update News on Postal Operations Issues

Issue 02-16, April 4, 2016

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PMG Announces Nationwide Rollout of Informed Delivery in 2017

Postmaster General Megan Brennan at the National

Postal Forum (NPF) held in Nashville, TN,

announced a national rollout of the USPS’ Informed

Delivery service in 2017. "The Postal Service is

investing in our digital strategy, because there are

limitless opportunities when we combine the power

of mail with the ubiquity of mobile," the PMG told

the NPF audience. "We are committed to elevating

the role of mail in American marketing and commu-

nications, and earning a bigger slice of the marketing

pie," she said.

"By the start of 2017," the Postmaster General said,

"we will enable our entire network so Informed

Delivery will be available in every ZIP in the U.S."

"Results from a market test in New York City show

70 percent of subscribers opening daily notifications

and more than 90 percent reading notifications more

than four times a week," the USPS said in its NPF

press release.

"Informed Delivery engages customers where they

want to be - in a mobile and digital environment,"

the PMG told the NPF audience. "It puts the power

of mail onto digital channels." "Informed Delivery

creates an opportunity to bring your mail and packag-

es onto the smartphones and devices of the American

consumer," said Brennan. "It gives every marketer

the opportunity to attach a digital offer to mail pieces,

and eventually packages. This is an incredibly power-

ful product for this industry."

The USPS is working to connect hardcopy mail and

digital communications, Brennan said, applying

USPS Prepping for Volume Changes Tied to Exigent Rollback

The USPS at the NPF March MTAC meeting

said it is anticipating volume pattern changes tied

to the April 10th exigent surcharge price rollback,

based on historical behavior changes in anticipa-

tion of price adjustments.

The USPS said it is expecting volumes to drop

prior to the April 10th price decrease and volumes

to increase in the week after the rollback. “We’d

like to hear from mailers as to any potential vol-

ume shifts,” the USPS said at the MTAC meeting.

The USPS said it plans to “flex down” its network

in the week preceding April 10th, and “flex up”

the network in the week following April 10th. “If

you know of substantial mailings that may switch

dates, particularly First-Class Mail at origin

which might require changes in our air network,”

the USPS told mailers at the MTAC meeting,

“please tell us.”

insights and behavior information so consumers

have stronger connections to the mail they receive.

She said that the USPS plans to apply its experience

and learnings from improving the package delivery

experience and visibility to mail products.

The PMG said the USPS will give business custom-

ers planning tools to help them better anticipate

delivery based on real-time operations information.

"Our vision is not confined to what we can accom-

plish the next 1-2 years," she said, "we must contin-

ue to build and focus on the long term."

Post Ops Update, Issue 02-16, April 4, 2016

USPS Vice President of New Products and Innovation

Gary Reblin told NPF session attendees that to date over

66,000 people have signed up for the pilot test in the

NYC area, with 150,000 invited to participate. He said

the USPS is seeing about a 77% read rate on the Informed

Delivery emails on an average day, and said consumers

are happy with the service with less than 4% reporting

they are dissatisfied/very dissatisfied.

Reblin reported that 16% of the pilot participants say they

are more aware of direct mail and more likely to open

their physical direct mail, and over 50% say they often/

sometimes respond to relevant offers. Reblin said more

people are being reached with the digital component, with

41% reporting that most often others in their household

pick up the physical mail, and 68% saying they are more

likely to look for a FCM piece in their physical mail.

The USPS will be bringing on board three direct mailers

to the sender component of the pilot test, Reblin said –

ESPN, Express and Bond #9, and said over 60 other

companies have expressed interest.

Brennan said Informed Delivery builds anticipation for

the physical mail, and will provide valuable data to mar-

keters, such as when the piece will be delivered to the

consumer, helping rewrite the role of mail in omni-

channel marketing and bridging the physical and digital

worlds. "Informed Delivery extends the mail experi-

ence," the PMG said, "engaging customers in the mobile

and digital environments and can be a launching pad into

other channels."

"Mail is the center of this strategy," the PMG empha-

sized, noting that Informed Delivery will build anticipa-

tion for the consumer to see what is coming in the mail-

box, and allow a cascade of activity when they click

through images. "Together," she told the NPF audience,

"we are making mail simply amazing."

USPS to Signal Soon on Mailer Scorecard Quality

The USPS is hoping to send a message to mailers soon

that the Mailer Scorecard data has reached the desired

quality levels and that mailers should begin looking at

their data to determine quality issues prior to the sched-

uled July implementation (based on June mailing data)

of additional postage assessment for errors ex-

ceeding the USPS’ threshold for IMb Full-

Service electronic verification.

USPS Vice President of Business Mail Entry and

Payment Pritha Mehra at the MTAC meeting

held in conjunction with the NPF told attendees

that the USPS has focused its internal testing on

Full-Service and eInduction data, looking at

whether the Scorecard is recording errors correct-

ly and if the error threshold is exceeded, is that

data correct. “We want to open it up to have

widespread testing,” Mehra told the MTAC

group, saying that mailers should expect to see

an email announcement soon that they can start

using/testing the Scorecard data, and setting up

a hotline for questions/issues reporting.

The USPS soon will send a message to industry

using the Industry Alert and MTAC messaging

systems, and Mehra also said BMEUs will be

doing outreach and the USPS likely will do webi-

nars to walk people through using the reports and

identifying quality issues.

eInduction. Mehra said that the USPS has

tested the eInduction Scorecard data and it is

“ready as far as we know.” “That doesn’t mean

you won’t find any problems,” she cautioned, and

said the USPS encourages mailers to analyze and

test the data so that problems can be found sooner

rather than later. She noted one issue that she

said is human-caused, the setting of Surface

Visibility devices to an incorrect locale key (ZIP)

which then could cause mis-shipped errors to

show up. She said it is down to a handful of sites

having issues, but mailers should be aware of it

and report any of those situations so they can

be fixed.

Seamless Acceptance. Mehra said the USPS

soon will announce testing of the Seamless

Acceptance data to MTAC Task Team 23, since

the USPS has completed its internal testing. She

said the postage assessment part of Seamless is

still being tested internally.

Mehra said there are many mailers in the pipeline

who want to come on to Seamless Acceptance,


but if the next phase of testing does not go well, it

will be at least another month since the assessments

are based on monthly mailing data. She said per-

haps things will be ready to look at April mailing

data, or May mailing data, if things go well, and

open up participation around June. She said the

USPS does not want to set a date until the testing

is finished.

Mehra said undocumented pieces remains a big

issue being worked by the USPS and industry,

which is when a piece is found but there is no elec-

tronic documentation associated with it. She said

the USPS is pilot testing some solutions with the

NAPM, trying to come up with work-around rules

that help separate true undocumented pieces from

operational variances. She said some testing the

USPS has done has helped identify some of the

reasons for pieces to be categorized as undocument-

ed when they were just operational variances.

The USPS wants to find a process, she said, for

when a mailer can’t document all the pieces, but

can explain why, so they are not assessed for those

pieces that are not true undocumented pieces.

Mehra said the USPS also is pilot testing with

NAPM members some by/for solutions such as use

of a “jackpot MID.” She said the USPS wants to

identify these issues during Seamless Acceptance

parallel before mailers transition into full Seamless.

In response to the concern raised that mailers are

automatically “turned on” for Seamless Acceptance

when they get to 90% IMb Full-Service, and they

may not want to move into Seamless due to poten-

tial additional costs, Mehra said if they are not

ready, the USPS is not forcing them to move into

Seamless right now.

Move Update. Mehra said the USPS is still

working on the two Federal Register notices inter-

nally with every organization reviewing Move

Update rules, scores and error thresholds. She said

when that is finished, the USPS will come back and

publish another advance notice of proposed rule-

making. She noted that since there is a fee compo-

nent, it likely will be rolled into the next price

change. Mehra noted one change from the past

version of the proposed rule, in that the last version

had said the new Move Update census-based pro-

cess would be used only if more than 75% of the

mailing is IMb Full-Service – in the next version,

that will change to 50%.

More to Come. Mehra said that the USPS will

provide a list of outstanding Scorecard/Assessment

issues, to be published on RIBBS where the USPS

publishes the release data. Additional issues can be

reported by calling the Hotline, Help Desk, or send-

ing email.

USPS Considers New Name for Standard Mail

“One of our premium products, with the most legs

for the future, is called ‘Standard Mail,’” USPS

Chief Marketing and Sales Officer (CMSO) Jim

Cochrane said at the NPF. “By definition,

‘standard’ means average,” he said, “which is not

exciting.” He said the product needs to be renamed

and the USPS is considering “marketing mail” but

other ideas are welcome. “We need to rebrand it,”

he said.

New Draft USPS User Guide Coming in April

USPS Vice President of Business Mail Entry

and Payment Pritha Mehra told MTAC meeting

attendees that the USPS will be sending out a new

draft version of the Streamlined Mail Entry for

Letters and Flats publication in April. The USPS

had sent out an initial draft but received a signifi-

cant amount of feedback and now has redesigned

the new publication.

Mehra said industry will have a month to review

the new draft and provide feedback and if more

time is needed, they should let her know. The

MTAC User Group again will also help review

and provide feedback on the new guide. This

second draft will not have a change management

process up front since a significant number of

changes have been made, Mehra said, but future

drafts will do so and she said the USPS will give

industry at least three months’ notice on any

changes to error thresholds.


USPS Jan 2017 Product/Price Simplification

The USPS at the NPF provided more information

about the process it is pursuing for a January 2017

product/pricing simplification. USPS Vice President

of Pricing and Costing Sharon Owens and USPS

Executive Director of Products Steve Monteith pro-

vided an update at an NPF session, and USPS Chief

Marketing and Sales Officer (CMSO) Jim Cochrane

touched on the initiative during his opening session

remarks.

Simplifying Pricing/Product Offerings. USPS

Chief Marketing and Sales Officer (CMSO) Jim

Cochrane told NPF attendees that the USPS “has the

opportunity to take steps to make mail easier to use.”

“We’ve listened to the industry and small business-

es,” he said, “and we are committed to simplify our

solutions.” He said that things such as Periodicals

mailing rules, obtaining CRIDs/MIDs and permits,

and other processes are not easy. “We are taking a

step back and focusing on the mailing experience,”

he said, “and looking at barriers to entry.”

Owens said the USPS wants to make it easy for new-

comers to use the mail, and improve profitability as a

result of mail growth. She noted that there currently

are 68 pages in the USPS’ Notice 123 rate chart

alone. “Are all those price cells needed?” she

asked. She noted that there are flats in all four mail

classes but each has a different rate structure (piece/

pound, ounce-based etc.). Could there be more

consistency to simplify the price structures? She

noted that it takes the USPS and industry significant

time to program and design systems to handle all

the price cells.

Aligning USPS and Mailer Processes. Cochrane

also said the USPS is looking to better align mail

preparation and how the USPS processes mail to

better achieve the “lowest combined cost.”

Owens said the USPS wants to continue to improve

its network efficiency, noting that there may be

needs for some complex mail preparation rules or

designs if they drive the right mail preparation and

entry behaviors. “But we don’t want legacy rules

created decades ago that are no longer in keeping

with how our network operates,” she told NPF

session attendees.

Cochrane said that 80% of CR bundles arrive at

plants on a 3-digit pallet, and only 20% need to be

at that processing center. There is not a good price

incentive today, he said, to drive CR bundles to be

entered at DDUs or as 5-digit pallets that can be

cross-docked from the plant to the DDU.

Stimulate Interest in Mail. Owens said that the

USPS is looking on how to stimulate interest in

using mail as well as making it easier. Changes

such as making the FCM third ounce free can help

add value to mail as well as simplifying preparation

that can become complex due to the weight breaks

and having to separate or separately account for

pieces.

Cochrane said that facilitating more weight for

catalogs to add texture or additional content can

lead to more product orders which translates to

more packages.

Ideas Being Considered. Owens and Monteith

at the NPF session briefly reviewed some of the

ideas the USPS is considering, with the following

highlights by mail class.

USPS Announces it Will Propose FCM Third Ounce Free for Jan 2017 Implementation

The Postmaster General also announced in her

keynote address that the USPS plans to file a

request with the Postal Regulatory Commission

(PRC) later this year to allow FCM commercial

customers to mail the first three ounces at the one

ounce price (up from two ounces today) begin-

ning in January 2017.

"We think it's an effective way to increase the

value of mail for the sender, and deliver more

content to the consumer," said Brennan. "You

spoke," she said, "and we listened."


First-Class Mail. The USPS is looking at simplify-

ing FCM commercial presort by combining the

3-digit and AADC preparation for automation

letters into one category. Monteith noted that a

few years ago the USPS changed the prices to be

the same for these two categories, and the different

preparation is no longer needed with the USPS

current network configuration. Combining the two

categories would eliminate 5 price cells for FCM,

he noted, as well as making space on mailing state-

ments. The USPS is evaluating the impact of the

combined preparation, he said, to ensure there are

no “unintended consequences” for the USPS or

industry. The USPS also needs to look at the issues

around residual pieces, he said.

The PMG had announced (see related article in this

issue) that the USPS will move to third ounce free

for FCM commercial letters. Monteith said the

USPS also is looking at whether there would be

value in the change for FCM Single Piece letters

and noted that the USPS today has a lot of retail

counter traffic just for people to weigh and ensure

correct postage on greeting cards. NPF session

attendees asked if the USPS would consider making

the pieces the same price up to 3.5 ounces to stand-

ardize with the automation letter weight maximum,

for simplification.

The USPS also is looking at simplifying the need

for individualized Customer/Supplier Agreements

(CSAs) as today by moving to a standardized set of

FCM palletization rules; exploring ways to elimi-

nate bundles being prepared in flat tubs, Monteith

said, which the USPS needs to break open for pro-

cessing; and is looking at 5-digit scheme for FCM

flats, looking at the volumes and exploring the idea.

Periodicals Mail: The USPS is considering elimi-

nating multiple origin-entry facility types since the

prices are the same; combining non-machinable non

-barcoded flats with parcels; revising the pending

Periodicals calculations; creating an optional

structure to mirror Standard Mail; and eliminating

Periodicals in sacks.

In response the question of whether the USPS’

costs are the same for different origin-entry facility

types, Monteith said that needs to be evaluated.

Standard Mail: Similar to FCM, the USPS is looking

at combining the 3-digit and AADC presort categories

for automation Standard Mail letters. It also is looking

at eliminating the piece/pound pricing structure for

letters weighing between 3.3 and 3.5 ounces, which it

began doing in the last price change, and Monteith

said would remove 44 price cells and two pages from

the mailing statement, and only applies to 1/10th of

1% of Standard Mail automation letter volume.

Monteith said the USPS also is looking at the piece/

pound structure to encourage more weight in the mail

piece, and is evaluating a few different possibilities,

he said, such as tiered weight/pricing breaks, or in-

creasing the 3.3 to 4.0 ounces or something like that,

or other options. He said the USPS is working with

some industry groups to evaluate different models, and

has looked at things like 4 ounce break tiers (e.g.,

pieces weighing 4-8 ounces pay the same price), but

came to the conclusion that anything under 6.4 ounces

essentially lowers the price of a piece.

The USPS also wants to increase preparation of CR

pallets, Monteith said, and is looking at ways to get

more CR bundles onto DDU drop containers or in

containers that can be cross-docked from the plant.

The USPS also is looking at whether the 16-ounce

weight maximum for Standard Mail could be in-

creased, whether the current maximum is a USPS

standard or from legislation, and also looking at pric-

ing models to see what the impact of an increase

would be. One reason the USPS is exploring it is so

that heavier weight pieces, which today are forced to

be prepared as Bound Printed Matter (BPM) flats,

could move back into Standard Mail preparation.

Package Services Mail: The USPS is exploring some

simplification in Package Services categories, such as

whether non-automation Bound Printed Matter (BPM)

flats weighing over 20 ounces should move to parcel

category. BPM also would be impacted if the USPS

were to increase the maximum weight for Standard

Mail since pieces currently forced to be prepared as

BPM flats could move into Standard Mail.

Process Underway. The USPS is working with indus-

try to identify potential product/price changes for

January 2017. The list of potential initiatives will be

evaluated against the key objectives, the USPS said,


socialized with industry, and then the USPS will de-

termine which ideas it will pursue for January 2017

implementation, and which may need to be pursued at

another time. Owens emphasized that the USPS will

share the information with industry as early as possi-

ble to allow adequate preparation timing. She said

structural changes will be shared with industry by

this summer and a request filed with the Postal Regu-

latory Commission (PRC) this fall for January 2017

implementation.

Owens said that USPS Marketing will still take the

lead in customer interface on pricing/product chang-

es, but will bring in reps from the Pricing group for

pricing and cost analysis and to avoid unintended

price consequences. She said the USPS pricing/

costing group needs to get out to mailer and service

provider facilities. “It’s important that they under-

stand your postal processes,” she said.

Monteith emphasized that this process “will be a

journey, not a one-time 2017 effort.” He said the

USPS wants to continue on an iterative journey to-

ward improvements that are beneficial for the USPS

and industry.

USPS Says IMb Planning Tool Changes “Before End of Fiscal Year”

The USPS in its NPF session said it now anticipates

changes to its IMb Planning Tool will be implement-

ed “before the end of this Fiscal Year,” (which ends

Sept. 30, 2016). The USPS for the past few months

has been touting the anticipated changes to the tool

as Informed Visibility is implemented, bringing more

real-time data to the Planning Tool.

USPS Acting Director of Corporate Reporting Steve

Dearing told NPF sessions attendees that the IMb

Planning Tool data currently is about a week old, but

with Informed Visibility, it will have real-time data,

with updates occurring “as machine hits are happen-

ing,” to help mailers anticipate when their mail will

be delivered. “We want to answer the question of

‘where’s my mail?’ and leverage data to predict when

you should enter mail to achieve your in-home

dates,” he said.

Dearing said the revised IMb Planning Tool also

will provide flexible data provisioning, allowing

users to choose the data they want, when they want

it, and how they want to obtain it. He said the

revised system will have an intuitive user interface,

making the data easy to access and share, and pro-

vide data in real-time. He said the USPS wants

to process of sharing the data to be as easy as a

friend request on social media, so if a mailer wants

to share their data with a service provider, for

instance, the process is easy.

The USPS is in a transition period, Dearing said,

moving from the current IMb Tracing environment

into its Informed Visibility platform. He said there

should be “minimal impact” for mailers, but en-

couraged them to stay informed through MTAC

User Group 4. He said users will be able to control

the pace of adoption. “There may be some chang-

es on IP addressing,” he told the NPF session

group, “and we will communicate well on what

needs to be done to minimize the impact.” He said

the USPS will tell mailers what is available and the

dates, but not force them to convert. “If you want

to stay on IMb Tracing,” he said, “so be it.” “But

if you want the enhanced features of Informed

Visibility, then you need to put that ability into your

software development,” Dearing told the NPF

session attendees. “Stay tuned,” he cautioned, “this

will be rapidly evolving over the next 4-6 months.”

Dearing said the USPS will be posting a lot of

information starting in April, on its RIBBS/

PostalPro web site. Referential data is available

now, he said, through the Facility File, Op Code

List, etc. The USPS shared its updated Informed

Visibility implementation time line, which runs

from May to August. According to the time line,

the USPS in May will pilot test the Phase 1 web-

enabled mail tracking and flexible data provision-

ing, with both scheduled for national deployment in

June. Phase 2 pilot testing for both occurs in July,

as does national deployment of the second phase.

Pilot testing of the new IMb Tracing, container/tray

visibility, and bundle visibility for automation han-

dling events are all scheduled for May, with nation-

al rollout planned for June, and enhancements

planned for July.


“Stay informed,” Dearing said, “this is a value prop-

osition for the industry and the more you know, the

more you can prepare to be able to leverage real

time data.”

More on Informed Visibility

The USPS in key sessions at the NPF emphasized

the robust data and information it will be able to

provide customers and its own managers through

Informed Visibility (IV) implementation. The PMG

noted that the USPS is now seeing rich data and

analytics that enable greater visibility associated

with the "last mile" of delivery, and said that com-

mercial customers should leverage the robust infor-

mation from the USPS to personalize mail and better

coordinate omni-channel marketing campaigns.

"The real power of Informed Visibility is that it can

make mail a much more powerful marketing and

communications tool," the PMG said.

USPS Chief Marketing and Sales Officer (CMSO)

Jim Cochrane told NPF attendees that it is “time

to reap the benefits of the power of Informed Visi-

bility,” which he said turns data into useful rapid

insights that can help the USPS improve perfor-

mance “all the way to the door.” “For you,” he told

the industry “it can provide insights about mail, and

drive consumer action based on an expected delivery

day.” He said IV will “show you where in the coun-

try your mail is, letting you know when it gets

through our network so you know how much mail

has been delivered and when the rest will arrive.”

Cochrane said the USPS is focused on growing mail

by helping customers know more. He cited the

USPS’ political mail campaign, saying that users

wanted to know estimated delivery dates so they

know which neighborhoods to visit when pieces

were delivered, and coordinate timing with other

media. The USPS is providing a mobile optimized

dashboard for political campaigns, he said, which it

will be promoting aggressively in the coming weeks.

“And it’s free,” he told the NPF audience, “and not

proprietary.” Cochrane said the USPS will provide

the API for any mailer for the dashboard and they

can use it with their own logo, modification, etc.

FPARS to be Activated April-Sept

The USPS reported that FPARS (PARS for flats)

equipment has been deployed and installed at 17

sites, but is only activated at one site. The software

necessary for FPARS has been deployed to all 17

sites, the USPS said.

The USPS at the NPF MTAC meeting said it plans

to begin the activation in April and end in Septem-

ber, with site activation driven by its engineering

and operations groups. The address labels applied

by FPARS will be white, the USPS noted.

USPS Presents First Irresistible Mail Award at NPF

The USPS at the National Postal Forum presented

its first "Irresistible Mail" award to the team

behind a direct mailing that was designed to

boost tourism in South Dakota. Nahan Printing,

designer Lawrence & Schiller, and the state's

tourism department received the award for the

"Black Hills & Badlands" mailpiece, which

featured high-quality photographs of South

Dakota's national parks, a pine forest-scented

scratch-and-sniff, and a free T-shirt coupon.

"Mail is evolving, allowing marketers to leverage

the unique interactivity of mail and create new

and powerful experiences by seamlessly connect-

ing mail with digital content and by employing

new printing techniques to improve memorability

and responses," said USPS Vice President of New

Products and Innovation Gary Reblin. The award

is part of the USPS' Irresistible Mail program,

which highlights innovative designs and print

and digital technologies. National Postal Forum

attendees voted for the winner from a list of six

finalists, whose work is displayed on the Irresisti-

ble Mail site (https://www.irresistiblemail.com).


USPS to Explore Adding More Zones to FSS

The USPS at the recent MTAC meeting held in

conjunction with the National Postal Forum (NPF)

told mailers that it is looking to add more zones/ZIPs

to its Flats Sequencing System (FSS) processing.

The announcement was met with opposition from

flats mailers, who said FSS preparation costs and

prices are higher than for Carrier Route mail, so

moving more zones to FSS would raise costs for

mailers.

USPS Vice President of Network Operations Linda

Malone told the MTAC group that FSS volumes are

declining and the USPS wants to explore opportuni-

ties to increase the volumes. She said the USPS will

share with industry a list of additional zones being

considered. She also said that the USPS will be

moving one FSS machine.

Flats mailers at the meeting were opposed to the plan,

and noted that the USPS has not yet provided the cost

analysis it had committed to doing comparing FSS

and Carrier Route. “From a Standard Mail perspec-

tive,” one printer said, “We already have clients

suppressing mail to FSS ZIPs, so they are not mailing

those addresses at all, and this will just give them

more to eliminate.” He said the change would not

be good for customers, for printers, or for the

USPS.

In response to industry concerns raised at the meet-

ing, the USPS said it will schedule a webinar on the

FSS changes, allowing mailers to ask questions.

Malone said the industry has some valid points

which the USPS will consider and walk through,

but she emphasized that the USPS has made a huge

capital investment in FSS and she said she knows

from first-hand experience it has brought operation-

al savings. Mailers responded that the USPS has

not priced FSS mail properly, and cost data does

not reflect the cost savings. They urged the USPS

to hold off on adding more zones to FSS until

changes can be made to the pricing structure.

Malone said the USPS will “take it under advise-

ment,” but said it had been looking to make the

changes sooner rather than later because some FSS

machines are under-utilized with opportunity for

additional volumes. She said the USPS will pro-

vide a draft list of zones and continue to discuss the

issues with industry.


High Speed Flats Feeder (HSFF). The USPS

reported that it is continuing to test the High Speed

Flats Feeders (HSFF), which it said is tripling the

productivity on machines where it is being used.

The USPS is seeing benefits from the HSFF and

will continue to monitor the testing, the USPS said,

and is working through its engineering group on

how to best utilize it.

FAST Facility Expansion

The USPS at the March MTAC meeting at the NPF

reported that it has expanded FAST facility con-

straints in 16 facilities and changed FAST profiles

in 14 facilities. In response to a mailer complaint

that a facility had a black-out for FAST appoint-

ments between 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm, the USPS

investigated and found that a number of its facilities

had outdated FAST constraints in place.

The USPS said it found a wide variation in the

FAST acceptance hours from plant to plant and

further exploration found the reasons generally

were outdated. The USPS said it has immediately

taken the worst sites and opened up the FAST

acceptance windows. It said the goal is to be stand-

ardized, and in alignment with customer needs.

The USPS said it will continue to review FAST pro-

files and appointment availability for the remaining

facilities, using a top-down mathematical approach

based on facility characteristics and workload. “We

want to minimize the amount of time your trucks are

sitting in our yards,” USPS Vice President of Net-

work Operations Linda Malone told the MTAC

group.

Mailers to USPS: How do we get Mon-Tues-Wed In-Home Delivery?

Mailers at the March MTAC meeting again raised to

the USPS their frustration in trying to achieve Mon-

day/Tuesday/Wednesday in-home delivery of Stand-

ard Mail, which has been exacerbated by the USPS’

Load Leveling service standard changes as well as

other operating changes.

Remaining 2016 MTAC Meeting Dates

The following MTAC meeting dates remain in

2016:

July 12 - 14, 2016

November 1 - 3, 2016


The USPS advised that mail entered at the DSCF on

Saturday would have a service standard that includes

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday delivery. Mailers re-

sponded that Saturday drops mean paying a premium

for transportation.

The USPS has advanced its efforts to deliver mail

earlier in the 3-day service standard window, rather

than leaving a significant percentage for delivery on

Day 3 with high risk of negative impact from service

delays/failures. As a result, it is delivering more

Friday-entered mail on Saturdays, so mailers trying to

achieve Mon-Tues-Wed delivery by entering mail on

Friday (which avoids the premium transportation

costs), may see significant volumes delivered on

Saturday, which is not desirable in many cases. The

USPS said it is running mail to capacity on its ma-

chines and if Standard Mail is available, it gets put on

the machine, and if that means some Friday-entered

mail gets delivered Saturday, that is ok for the USPS

since Standard Mail is deferrable.

Nonprofit mailers at the meeting said it is not just

commercial retailers who are looking for Mon-Tues-

Wed in home dates, that many nonprofit mailers are

also trying to achieve those delivery days of the

week, and when they have to drop on Friday and

mail gets delivered on Saturdays, they have

unhappy clients.

USPS Vice President of Network Operations Linda

Malone told mailers that when volumes are low,

there is more excess capacity than when volumes

are higher, which means that mail may be moving

more quickly through the system. She said that if

mailers could share data with the USPS to give it a

better understanding of the impacts when in-home

target dates are not met, then it would be willing to

discuss potential solutions.

Is USPS Giving Political/Election Mail Preferential Treatment?

Mailers at the March MTAC meeting asked the

USPS to clarify what “bells and whistles” it is

providing for political/election mail, which essen-

tially pays the same postage rate as other Standard

Mail. The USPS noted that the special identifica-

tion tags that can be used by political/campaign

mailers have been in use for years, but mailers were

particularly interested in the visibility “dashboard”

the USPS has developed for political/election mail.

The USPS has designated lead political/election

mail coordinators for every Area and District, is

providing extensive documentation, guides, and

resources, said it is partnering with the political/

election mail community to ensure sufficient MTE

is available, as well as ensuring that all its employ-

ees are alert for Tag 57 (a special tag for political/

election mail containers), and the USPS also this

year is providing a “dashboard” for mail tracking

for political/election mail.

When asked by other Standard Mail users at the

meeting whether the dashboard produces some type

of usable report, rather than returning raw IMb data

as other mailers get from the USPS, the Postal Ser-

vice said that the data would be the mailer’s IMb

data, but was unclear on what the report functional-

ity would include. The USPS said it will provide a

webinar for industry within the next few weeks to

RIBBS to Become PostalPro

The USPS at the NPF announced that it soon will

be launching its redesigned RIBBS web site,

which is also being renamed "PostalPro." USPS

Chief Marketing and Sales Officer Jim Cochrane

told the NPF audience that the change is in the

spirit of simplification and sharing mail with pro-

fessionals, and that the web site would continue to

be an important source of updates and information

from the USPS.

Cochrane said a key goal of the redesign is to

make the new web site easier to search and navi-

gate. "RIBBS has amazing content," he said,

"but the navigation experience degraded over

time." The PostalPro beta web site is being intro-

duced, the USPS said, and feedback is welcome.

Cochrane said the beta will allow the USPS to

continue working on the new format while get-

ting feedback from users.


share the dashboard and reporting functionality and

further discuss any issues.

The USPS in its update on the 2016 political/

election mail efforts, said its “plants will handle all

political mailings properly and expeditiously, meet-

ing service standards across the board.” It also said

it will be tracking performance of political/

campaign mail, though it said its plants will “not

delay other mail to process political/campaign

mail.”

USPS/Industry Continue to Work Toward IMpb Quality Metrics

The USPS and parcel shipping industry are

continuing to work toward IMpb quality metrics.

The USPS at the March NPF MTAC meeting re-

ported that national address quality performance

for IMpb is at about 88.87% (89% goal); Shipping

Services File requirements are at 91.37% (91%

goal); and Barcode Quality is at 95.28% (95%)

goal.

Address quality metrics measures the percent of

pieces with enough address information to validate

to the unique exact 11-digit DPV ZIP Code when

the address is matched against the USPS’ AMS

database. The Shipping Services File quality metric

measures the percent of manifest records that pass

key package level detail validations, mitigating

potential errors when processed in the USPS’ PTR

system. Barcode quality measures the percent of

IMpb that pass key validations for formal and

uniqueness without errors or warnings when mani-

fests are processed in the PTR database and pieces

physically scanned.

According to the USPS, when delving deeper in

the Address Quality metrics, about 10.05% of

addresses could not be resolved to the exact 11-

digit DPV and 45.52% of those were missing

secondary address info (e.g., apartment or suite

number), 26.89% were missing street numbers,

and 25.44% were unable to match the ZIP+4.

The USPS said it will continue to work with industry

on a collaborative implementation approach, work-

ing through MTAC to simplify IMpb compliance. It

has scheduled a series of webinars, each looking at a

different set of IMpb metrics (https://ribbs.usps.gov/

industryoutreach/documents/tech_guides/

webinarschedule.htm).

Is the Address of the Future – No Address?

USPS Vice President of New Products and

Innovation Gary Reblin told NPF session

attendees that he challenges the Postal Service

and industry to help define “what is the address

of the future?” and whether it is an address on

the mailpiece at all. Reblin said the with the tech-

nology solutions available today, an actual address

on a mailpiece may not be needed at all in the

future.

Reblin said that most people do not save physical

addresses on their mobile devices, but they do

typically keep email addresses. If an email

address was tied through a database to the physical

address, computers have the ability to sort all the

way down to the carrier walking the route using a

“license plate” code to tie the two addresses to-

gether. So if someone wants to send mail, they

would only need the person’s email address, not

their USPS address.

While the discussion was not long on details,

the concept was that a code could replace the

physical address on the mailpiece. “Let’s re-think

the address going forward,” Reblin challenged the

group. “Think about the future – how can we

make the experience better, and enhance and grow

the mail using technology,” he said.

PostCom’s 2016-2017 Operations Planner (updated as of 4/3/16)

Date Category Proposed/New Requirements

TBD IMb Full-Service Mail

USPS to publish proposed rules in Federal Register around moving to a census-based Move Update verification process. [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 03-15]

TBD IMb Full-Service Mail

USPS to publish proposed rules in Federal Register outlining legal restraint exceptions to Move Update verification process. [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 03-15]

TBD 2016

All Mail USPS to resume implementation of Phase 2 Network Rationalization facility consolidations. [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-15]

November 1, 2015 - February 2016

All Mail USPS pilot test in NYC area for Informed Delivery (formerly known as “Real Mail Notification” program) [For more information, see PostCom Post Ops Updates 01-16 and 03-15]

Jan 15 - Aug 31, 2016

First-Class and Standard Mail

Registration period for USPS’ proposed Emerging and Advanced Technology/Video in Print 2016 promotion

Jan 15 - Aug 31, 2016

Standard Mail Registration period for USPS’ proposed Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement 2016 promotion

March 1 - Aug 31, 2016

First-Class and Standard Mail

Promotion period for USPS’ proposed Emerging and Advanced Technology/Video in Print 2016 promotion

March 1 - Aug 31, 2016

Standard Mail Promotion period for USPS’ proposed Tactile, Sensory & Interactive Mailpiece Engagement 2016 promotion.

April 2016 All Mail USPS to release updated draft of its Streamlined Mail Entry for Letters and Flats, and provide mailers at least one month to review and provide feedback [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Updates 02-16, 01-16 and 04-15.

April - Sept Flats USPS to activate FPARS at 17 sites [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Updates 02-16, 01-16 and 04-15.]

April 1 - June 30, 2016

First-Class Mail Reply Mail

Promotion period for USPS’ proposed Earned Value Reply Mail 2016 promotion.

April 3, 2016 All Mail USPS to deploy release 22.0.0 SASP & BIDS /1

April 8, 2016 All Mail USPS to publish third version of release documents for April price change /1

April 10, 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to implement exigency rollback price change [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Updates 02-16 and 01-16]

April 26, 2016 All Mail USPS to publish final version of release notes and technical specs for April pricing change /1

May 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin pilot testing Phase 1 Informed Visibility components (IMb Tracing, Container/Tray Visibility, Bundle Visibility for automation handling events, Web-enabled Mail Tracking, Flexible Data Provisioning, and Flexible Data Delegation) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

May 15 - Dec 31, 2016

Standard Mail Registration period for USPS’ proposed Mobile Shopping 2016 promotion.

Date Category Proposed/New Requirements

May 15 - Dec 31, 2016

First-Class Mail

Registration period for USPS’ proposed Personalized Color Transpromo 2016 promotion.

June 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin national rollout for Phase 1 Informed Visibility components (IMb Tracing, Container/Tray Visibility, Bundle Visibility for automation handling events, Web-enabled Mail Tracking, Flexible Data Provisioning, and Flexible Data Delegation) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

June 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin pilot testing of Phase 1 Informed Visibility components (Logical Delivery Events, Bundle Visibility enhancements, Assumed Handling Events) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

July 2016 PO Box Holders/Caller Service

USPS to implement new Enterprise Payment System for PO Box/Caller Service customers [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 01-15]

July 2016 IMb Full-Svc USPS to begin assessing additional postage for electronic verification errors (valid MID, valid STID, by/for, barcode uniqueness, entry facility, unlinked copalletization) in excess of established thresholds for IMb Full-Service mail – based on June mailing data [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Updates 02-16, 01-16, 04-15, 03-15, 07-14 and 06-14]

July 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin pilot testing of Informed Visibility components (Start-the-Clock, Web-Enabled Mail Tracking Enhancements Phase 2, Flexible Data Provisioning enhancements Phase 2, and Flexible Data Delegation enhancements Phase 2) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

July 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin national rollout of Informed Visibility components (Logical Delivery Events, Bundle Visibility enhancements, Assumed Handling Events, Web-Enabled Mail Tracking Phase 2, Flexible Data Provisioning Phase 2, Flexible Data Delegation phase 2) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

July 1 - Dec 31, 2016

First-Class Mail

Promotion period for USPS’ proposed Personalized Color Transpromo 2016 promotion.

July 1 - Dec 31, 2016

Standard Mail Promotion period for USPS’ proposed Mobile Shopping 2016 promotion.

August 2016 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to begin national rollout of Informed Visibility components (Start-the-Clock) [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

January 2017 All Market Dominant Mail

USPS to implement pricing/product changes [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Updates 02-16, 01-16 and 04-15]

Early 2017 All mail USPS planning nationwide rollout of its Informed Delivery service in “early 2017" [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 02-16]

July 1, 2017

All Mail All postal address management products and systems must be converted from SHA- to SHA-2 format. [More information in PostCom’s Post Ops Update 03-15]

/1 USPS 2016 Software Release Schedule (https://ribbs.usps.gov/intelligentmail_schedule2016/releaseoverview2016.cfm) and

(https://ribbs.usps.gov/intelligentmail_schedule2016/releaseschedule_2016.pdf)

1800 Diagonal Rd., Ste 320 * Alexandria, VA 22314-2862 * Ph.: +1 703 524 0096 * Fax: +1 703 997 2414

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