The Postal Service™ is revising Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 604.4.5.3 as a reminder to mailers and to clarify the standards pertaining to the deposit of Priority Mail® items with postage affixed through a postage evidencing system, such as a postage meter or a PC Postage® product.
Standards in DMM 604.4.3.1 state that mailers using postage evidencing systems must affix an indicia on each mailpiece containing the exact amount due for the applicable rate category and associated criteria such as weight, shape, and zone or another amount permitted by mailing standards to qualify for worksharing or volume discounts. DMM 604.4.5.3 also allows all Priority Mail pieces, with postage affixed through a postage evidencing system, to be deposited at any postal facility. To avoid the possible delay or the return of deposited mail, mailers are reminded that for Priority Mail pieces over 1 pound, and not in USPS-provided flat-rate packaging, postage must be affixed as described in DMM 604.4.3.1. Postage for Priority Mail pieces that are subject to zone rating must include the correct amount due, as calculated for weight, shape, and zone, from the ZIP Code where the mailpiece is deposited to the ZIP Code of the destination address.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services
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604 Postage Payment Methods
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4.0 Postage Meters and PC Postage Products (“Postage Evidencing Systems”)
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4.5 Mailings
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4.5.3 Deposit of Mail
Mailers must deposit or enter mailpieces with metered or PC Postage indicia according to the following conditions:
[Revise first sentence and add new second sentence to 4.5.3a as follows:]
a. Mailers may deposit Express Mail, flat-rate Priority Mail, Priority Mail weighing one pound or less, single-piece rate First-Class Mail, single-piece rate Media Mail, and single-piece rate Library Mail items with a metered or PC Postage indicia at any postal facility, preferably within the area of the customer’s local Post Office. Mailers may also deposit zone-rated Priority Mail pieces at any postal facility, provided the postage affixed to each mailpiece is calculated to include the amount due as specified in 4.3.1, taking into account the weight, shape, and the zone from the ZIP Code of the office where the mailpiece is deposited to the ZIP Code of the destination address.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the DMM and into the March update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 2-28-08
