Information Technology

FAST for Periodicals Mailings: What’s New

By late spring 2007, Postal Service™ facilities will receive advance notification of periodicals drop shipments through the Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST) system.

With the inclusion of periodicals in FAST, business mail­ers, including mail owners, preparers, and schedulers will have enhanced visibility of their scheduled periodicals drop shipments at each facility. Mailers will be able to do the following:

• Track their drop shipments.
• Receive advance notification of redirections.
• Submit and manage recurring appointment requests online.
• Have joint scheduling capabilities.

Periodicals will continue to be accepted any time a facil­ity is open and staffed. Periodicals are not restricted to the drop shipment hours defined for Standard Mail^® and Package Services Mail.

Concurrently, Postal Service facilities will be able to use the additional information they receive about periodicals appointments to better forecast the quantity of trips and volume expected at their location on a given day. This added visibility will allow Postal Service facilities to increase staffing efficiency and reduce unload wait times for those delivering and transporting periodicals.

Get ready to go with FAST for periodicals!

What To Expect

For existing FAST users:

• During March, Postal Service facilities will be sent information about upcoming FAST deployment for periodicals.

For new FAST users:

• New facilities will be activated during the periodicals deployment.
• During March, new facilities will receive information about the upcoming FAST deployment.
• Facility coordinators will need to complete certain tasks before their facility is activated. Additional information will be communicated in late March.

For more information, send an e-mail to fastperiodicals@usps.gov.

— Global Systems Management,
Global Business, 3-15-07