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Postal Affairs Blog

Which is which and who is who?

A mail owner is the business entity (or individual) who makes business decisions regarding the mailpiece content, directly benefits from the mailing, and ultimately pays for postage on the mailpiece.

A mailing agent is a business entity acting on behalf of one or more mail owners by providing mailing services for which the mail owners will compensate the mailing agent.

The USPS will be holding regular Intelligent Mail® Technical Integration Webinars in the coming weeks.  These webinars are intended to answer technical questions regarding Intelligent Mail implementation.  The webinars will supplement the current documentation and resources at USPS RIBBS site.

The Webinars will be conducted every two weeks on Fridays from 1:00 p.m.–2:30 p.m. Eastern. The first Intelligent Mail Technical Integration Webinar is March 6.

Mailers are requested to forward their questions to imb@usps.gov at least four days in advance of the Webinar.

Dial-in Information
Audio: 800-932-9280
Meeting ID: 0288185

Other information you should know:

* USPS® participants at the Webinars will be experts on technical specifications and business processes pertaining to Intelligent Mail services, particularly Full Service.
* During the Webinars, the USPS experts will first answer the technical questions forwarded to imb@usps.gov. They will answer questions that are relevant to the mailing industry at large or to a broad spectrum of mailers. Questions tailored to a specific mailer should be forwarded to the PostalOne! help desk, Business Mail Acceptance personnel, or local Business Mailer Support analysts.
* Upon answering the questions forwarded in advance to imb@usps.gov, the USPS will use the remainder of the time to answer questions that are forwarded during the Webinar session. Questions that are not able to be answered during the session will be addressed in a successive session, provided they meet the criteria of applicability to a larger audience.
* Frequently Asked Questions will be compiled and logged in the “Frequently Asked Questions” document posted on http://ribbs.usps.gov, no later than the Tuesday after the call.
* Prior to submitting questions, mailers are encouraged to review the various Intelligent Mail services “Guides”, so that you understand the requirements of the Basic and Full-Service options for Intelligent Mail services.

While at MTAC last week, I had the opportunity to attend the inagural meeting of WG #128, Intelligent Mail barcodes for Reply Mail (both Courtesy Reply Mail CRM and Business Reply Mail BRM.  We are tasked with identifying barriers unique to Reply Mail, as far as transitioning to the IMb, and how to overcome these barriers.

If you have any questions/comments/ideas regarding IMb for Reply Mail, please contact me directly at Lisa.Bowes@intelisent.com

From a DMM Advisory today, regarding New Letter-Sized Booklet Standards and Folded Self-Mailer Recommendations.  The new standards for these mailpieces will include only recommendations, rather than requirements.  The USPS plans to continue to work with the industry to test and refine the Standards to improve the mailstream.

postalnews blog » Blog Archive » Changes to BMC network coming soon?.

More details on this Network Reengineering, from Mr. Galligan’s presentation at MTAC-

Transformation of Bulk Mail Centers (BMC) to Network Distribution Centers (NDC)
>Consolidate originating volumes to achieve end to end efficiencies
>Combine BMC & Surface Transfer Center (STC) containerization and dispatch plans to eliminate redundant networks and improve transportation utilization
>Leverage multiple trailer loading and dispatching techniques (tandems/triples) to further improve trailer utilization
>Aligns induction of originating products into one ground network
>Three tiers of NDCs will exist
>Phase I implementation begins in the Northeast

USPS sets Move Update error threshold at 30% - DMNews.

This document, dated 2/18/09, was just posted at RIBBS with updated Move Update information and references for mailers.  Access it here.

Here is a rough scan of a one-page document that was handed out at the Mailer’s Technical Advisory Committee Meetings:

Intelligent Mail Services
Helping You make Smarter Business Decisions

Questions, comments? Just contact me…

From the DMM Advisory, mailers may use the current prices for PVDS mailings verified and paid before May 11, even if the mail doesn’t arrive at the destination entry postal facilities up until May 26.

Mailers may begin to use the new pricing on April 13 for mail that will be accepted at postal facilities beginning on May 11.

Some resources have been circulated by the USPS via the PCC Insider:

Beginning May 11, 2009 a mailing with a 30% or more error rate for Move Update requirements will no longer qualify for automation discounts.  For a First-Class mailing, this means each piece will be charged at the applicable single-piece rate.

The Move Update calculation will be based on the number of pieces sampled vs the number of those pieces that should have had a Change of Address implemented.

The USPS will be tightening up this tolerance every four months.

The USPS will be sharing data with mailers via Move Update reports, with the intent of assisting mailers with improving their processes.

Go to ribbs.usps.gov, click on Move Update in the left hand list, “Latest News”.  In the blue box titled “Important Links”, look for the link to the “Guide to Accessing Move Update Report” for more details.