Tag: USA

The U.S. Postal Service launched a new, proprietary service that will allow businesses to track mail and speed service to customers. Called “Intelligent Mail,” it’s like having a global positioning system (GPS) for mail, says Postmaster General John Potter, noting that the technology’s centerpiece is a standardized barcode for use on letters and large envelopes as well as each mail container.

Intelligent Mail is being tested by three companies and is expected to be fully operational by 2009. One large mailer improved its “scan rate” (automated reading) to 99%, ensuring 140,000 pieces a day were processed by postal equipment instead of manually.

The agency said the system also provides real-time data to improve service measurement, enabling the Postal Service to pinpoint problems immediately. The USPS won a 2004 PIA/GATF InterTech Technology Award for its barcode-scanning Confirm Service, a mail-tracking program that has allowed many printers offering fulfillment to quantify proof of mailing. www.usps.com, www.gain.net

As part of its proposed May 2007 rate change, the United States Postal Service (USPS) will introduce Shape-Based Pricing, one of the most dramatic postage structure changes in years. The initiative is being implemented as a way for the USPS to better align postage rates with its mail processing costs, and its implications for mailers are expected to be two-fold. First, there will be a significant increase in postage costs for various types of mail pieces – in some cases 30% to 90%; and secondly, it could significantly change how a company processes its mail. In addition to the Shape-based Pricing initiative, traditional first class postage is expected to increase nearly 8 1/2% – to USD 0.42 up from USD 0.39.

When Shape-Based Pricing goes into effect, there is the potential for organizations unprepared for the new processing requirements to experience frustration and increased costs as they become accustomed to the numerous changes being introduced.

Currently, the USPS primarily uses a weight-based method to determine postage costs for letters, flats and parcels. With mail processing costs rising, and with the need to encourage customers to prepare mail in ways that increase efficiency for USPS processing methods, the Shape-Based Pricing initiative moves from a pure weight determination factor for postage costs to one that combines size, thickness and weight. Because of their shape differences, letters, flats and parcels will now all be priced differently, since each is handled and processed differently. Simply put, an item that is easier for the USPS to process will cost less than an item that is not.