Archive for February 2nd, 2010
“Do Not Obliterate”, Routing, and ACS Questions-Loop Mail?
Interesting to read the comments at many of the USPS employee sites regarding the “Do Not Obliterate” push, where USPS folks are being trained to keep the address block clear of cross-outs. Here is a look at one of the training posters, courtesy of The Dead Tree Edition:
http://foxyurl.com/OCg
PARS=Postal Automated Redirection System
CFS=Computerized Forwarding System
Many of the comments center around loop mail, and the problem of mail getting incorrectly routed over and over by the automated equipment:
“If we don’t cross out the bar code, how do we get CFS to stop returning the same piece of mail over and over again. If a letter has a forwarding address written on the letter and there is still a barcode present, the plant will send it to the barcode address everytime. Loop mail has been the only successful alternative to CFS miscues but if we start sending all our IMb mail to circumvent the automation, the bar code still will not be read. Still confused..”
“the “Do not obliterate” directive has been out without giving any alternate routing instructions…any postal worker can tell you that loop mail is legion & almost impossible to get correctly routed. What if IMb mail is incorrectly addressed, but the correction is not in the system?”
“Anyone remember “LOOP” Mail? This is the cause. Mail with bad addresses is sent back to the plant. Even though the tray is labeled “Manual” some management says ‘run it through the DBCS anyway’. End result - The DBCS reads the bad address and re-send the letter back to the same carrier and the process begins anew. The mail is “looped” around in the system until someone finally pulls it out of the automated mailstream!”
Not crossing out bar codes has been a standard operating procedure for many years.
However, postal sorting machines direct mail to its destination by reading the bar code.
When the same miscoded letter keeps coming back to the carrier day after day, thee is little choice but to line out the barcode with the hope that it will then be sent to its correct destination.
There is supposed to be a “loop mail” process to redirect mis barcoded mail, but it often fails as the miscoded letters get worked right back into the regular mail stream.”
Please comment on how prevalent “loop” mail is, and what could be done to help remedy the situation. Should there be a different process for redirecting this mail?
