3-5.2 Valid Appointments

A mailer has a valid appointment when the following criteria are met:

1. The shipment arrives within 24 hours after the scheduled date and time. Late-arriving appointments are placed in queue and unloaded when operationally feasible. These appointments must be accepted under the original Appointment ID. Refer to 5-3 for rules on early and late arrivals.
2. The appointment is scheduled at the correct facility based upon the Drop Ship Product files valid at the time the appointment was made.
3. The appointment is scheduled under the appropriate load type and mail class.
4. The vehicle content matches the appointment profile (e.g., mail shape and containerization).
5. There is only one Appointment ID per vehicle load per destination.

When a vehicle has multiple mailings for the same destination, only one appointment ID is permitted. The mailer must use joint scheduling so that the consolidator/mail transporter schedules the shell appointment and provides the appointment number to all mailers with content on the trailer. Each mailer schedules its stand-alone content and includes the consolidator/mail transporter's appointment number. More information is available in FAST Customer User Guide, which is located on the FAST Web site at https://fast.usps.gov/fast — under “Important Information,” click on Resources, then click on the Go button for “Reference Documents,” and then scroll down to the guide. If a large mailing submitted with a PS Form 8125 requires two vehicles, then each vehicle must contain separate PS Forms 8125 and must have its own individual Appointment ID.