Domestic Mail

DMM REVISION

Bundle Reallocation - Periodicals Mail on Pallets

Effective May 11, 2006, we are revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 705.8.0 and 708.1.0 to provide Periodicals mailers the option to reallocate bundles of flats and irregular parcels on pallets to protect an ADC pallet.

The Postal ServiceTM is finding ways to process mail more efficiently, which will improve service to our customers and reduce costs. Bundles of flat-size mailpieces or bundles of irregular parcels prepared on pallets are easier and generally less costly for us to handle than bundles in sacks. When customers present mail in sacks, the sacks must be opened and the contents unloaded before processing on our automated sorting equipment. In addition, we have found that bundles on pallets maintain their integrity to a greater degree than bundles in sacks. These new standards for preparation will help increase the volume of mail on pallets.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)

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700 Special Standards

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705 Advanced Preparation and Special Postage Payment Systems

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8.0 Preparation for Pallets

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8.5 General Preparation

8.5.1 Presort

[Revise the seventh sentence to read as follows:]

***The standards for bundle reallocation to protect the SCF, ADC, or BMC pallet (8.11, 8.12, and 8.13) are optional methods of pallet preparation designed to retain as much mail as possible at the SCF, ADC, or BMC level.***

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8.7 Copalletized, Combined, or Mixed-Rate Level Mailings of Flat-Size Pieces

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8.7.3 Periodicals Publications

[Revise the third sentence to read as follows:]

***A combined or copalletized mailing prepared using bundle reallocation under 8.11 or 8.12 may not always result in all bundles being placed on the finest pallet level possible.***

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[Renumber 8.12 through 8.21 as 8.13 through 8.22. Add new 8.12 to read as follows:]

8.12 Bundle Reallocation to Protect ADC Pallet for Periodicals Flats and Irregular Parcels on Pallets

8.12.1 Basic Standards

Bundle reallocation to protect the ADC pallet is an optional preparation method authorized for mailers using PAVE- certified presort software and may be used to create pallets under the standards in 8.12.2 and 8.12.3. Presort software determines if mail for an ADC service area falls beyond the ADC level if all finer level pallets are prepared. Reallocation is performed only when there is mail for the ADC service area that falls beyond the ADC pallet level (e.g., to sacks). Reallocate only the minimum number of bundles necessary to create an ADC pallet at the minimum required weight.

8.12.2 General Rules

Reallocation rules are as follows:

a. Bundle preparation is not affected by the reallocation process. Reallocate only complete bundles and only the minimum number of bundles necessary to create an ADC pallet meeting the minimum pallet weight. Based on the weight of individual pieces within a bundle and bundling parameters, the weight of mail, which is reallocated, may be slightly more than the minimum volume required to create an ADC pallet.

b. Reallocate only bundles of an SCF pallet from the same city and state as the ADC (L005, Column B). This may be accomplished by reallocating a portion of the bundles from an SCF pallet or reallocating all mail from the SCF pallet. Bundles may be reallocated from a protected SCF (PSCF) pallet prepared under 705.8.11.

c. Mailers may use any minimum pallet weight(s) permitted by standards and may use different minimum weights for different pallet levels in conjunction with bundle reallocation.

8.12.3 Documentation

Mailings must be supported by documentation produced by PAVE-certified software meeting the standards in 708.1.0.

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708 Technical Specifications

1.0 Standardized Documentation for First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Flat-Size Bound Printed Matter

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1.2 Format and Content

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[Revise the second sentence in item d4 to read as follows:]

4. ***Document SCF, ADC, or BMC pallets created as a result of bundle reallocation under 705.8.11, 705.8.12, or 705.8.13 on the USPS Qualification Report by designating the protected pallet with an identifier of "PSCF" (for an SCF pallet), "PADC" (for an ADC pallet), or "PBMC" (for a BMC pallet).***

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1.4 Sortation Level

The actual sortation level (or corresponding abbreviation) is used for the bundle, tray, sack, or pallet levels required by 1.2 and shown below:

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[Insert new sortation level to read as follows:]

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We will incorporate this revision into the May 11, 2006, update of the online DMM on Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com and into the next printed version following that update.

— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 12-22-05

2005 IRS Tax Packages

On December 27, 2005, contract mailers for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will begin mailing approximately 34.3 million tax-related items to individual households for tax year 2005. This total includes approximately 17.7 million individual tax packages. The remaining quantity consists of approximately 15.5 million self-mailers that promote electronic filing and a standard letter-size mailing of approximately 1.1 million pieces. These figures continue the trend of fewer mailings from year to year - the IRS has reduced the number of tax packages it mails to individual households as more taxpayers transition from filing paper tax returns to filing electronically.

All mail should be entered by mid-January 2006. Postage will be paid through IRS Permit Imprint Number G-48. Tax packages for Hawaii and Puerto Rico will be shipped by air. Tax packages for Alaska will be shipped by boat.

Acceptance Offices

Contract mailers for the IRS will prepare tax packages for mailing at the Standard Mail Enhanced Carrier Route rates. Acceptance office employees must verify that mailings meet all preparation and marking requirements in the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®).

Acceptance office employees must verify that tax package mailings are prepared according to presort requirements for Standard Mail Enhanced Carrier Route mailings. Acceptance office employees must verify the mailings according to standard acceptance procedures, including those appropriate to optional procedure systems for those mailers previously authorized. Postal ServiceTM verification ensures that the rates and piece counts reported on the postage statements are accurate and that the IRS has paid the correct postage.

Destination Offices

Contract mailers will deliver the mail to plants according to scheduled appointment dates recorded in the Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST) system and will also provide a PS Form 8125, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) Verification and Clearance. Plant personnel must verify trailer contents with mailer information recorded on PS Form 8125.

Crossdock Pallets: Bulk Mail Centers (BMCs) and Processing and Distribution Centers (P&DCs) will receive pallets labeled to 5-digit, 3-digit, and sectional center facility (SCF) destinations. Keep the pallets intact and dispatch them to the appropriate destination.

BMC Working Pallets: Upon receiving working pallets, Operations employees will break open the pallets for distribution of the contents. The destination for each package, sack, or tray is on the label. Dispatch the packages, sacks, and trays to the destination facilities for distribution to the delivery units.

Delivery Offices

Deliver tax packages upon receipt.

Errors and Irregularities

Delivery office personnel should be alert to errors in preparation and marking requirements. When carrier route presort errors exceed the 5-percent allowance, deliver the mail and use established reporting procedures to report errors to the following address:

MANAGER REVENUE AND FIELD ACCOUNTING
ATTN IRS FORMS TAX PACKAGE 2004
US POSTAL SERVICE
475 L'ENFANT PLZ SW RM 8831
WASHINGTON DC 20260-5242

Undeliverable Tax Packages

The tax packages do not include ancillary service endorsements. Therefore, no tax package is eligible for forwarding or return services.

Treat all undeliverable forms as waste - do not place them in Postal Service lobbies for any reason.

— Capital Metro Sales,
Sales, 12-22-05

NOTICE

Sharps Medical Waste Containers No Longer Accepted

Effective immediately, we have suspended GRP & Associates, Inc.'s, authorization for sharps medical waste containers USPS-058I (GRP-5Q) and USPS-058F (GRP 2-G). Employees can identify these containers by the manufacturer's name and these specific USPS® authorization numbers on the box.

Postal ServiceTM employees must not accept containers bearing the model numbers above. If containers are identified already in the mailstream, set them aside and contact the addressee to pick them up. If a customer asks why we are refusing to accept the container, tell them it is no longer considered mailable and the customer should contact the manufacturer.

We suspended authorization for these particular containers because testing revealed that the containers did not satisfy all required packaging standards.

This notice applies only to the model numbers identified above. GRP manufactures and distributes other authorized sharps medical waste containers. Continue to accept these containers for mailing.

— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 12-22-05