Effective November 29, 2009, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to allow certain attachments to a broader variety of Standard Mail® letters and flats. Current standards allow attachments to Standard Mail letters and flats only on carrier route pieces larger than 6 by 11 inches or on Customized MarketMail® pieces. These changes allow automation and carrier route Standard Mail letters of a certain size range and all flats to have attached thin labels or stickers, eligible as Standard Mail matter, under applicable standards.
We also add new standards for affixing dry or clean release cards to automation and carrier route letters and flats of all classes of mail, when content eligibility requirements are also met.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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200 Commercial Letters and Cards
201 Physical Standards
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3.0 Physical Standards for Machinable and Automation Letters and Cards
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[Revise the title of 3.13 as follows:]
3.13 Labels, Stickers, and Release Cards Affixed to the Outside of Letter-Size Mailpieces
[Revise the title and text of 3.13.1 to read as follows:]
3.13.1 Use
A label, sticker, or release card may be placed on a letter-sized mailpiece that is eligible for automation letter prices, including barcoded carrier route letters meeting automation standards. Release cards may not be affixed to pieces mailed at First-Class Mail card prices; see 201.1.2 for other restrictions on attachments to cards. A Standard Mail letter with a label, sticker, or release card must meet additional standards in 243.2.5. These attachments may be:
a. A label or sticker less than 0.007 inch thick, other than repositionable notes affixed under 705.21.0, as follows:
1. A permanent label or sticker (designed not to be removed or relocated) affixed directly to the outside of the mailpiece with permanent adhesive.
2. A relocatable label to be placed on the outside of a reply piece, when affixed under 3.13.2 or 3.13.3.
b. A release card, at least 0.007 inch and no more than 0.012 inch thick, secured to a letter with a liner or backing under 3.13.4.
c. On pieces mailed at First-Class Mail, Periodicals, or Standard Mail prices, only if permitted by the applicable content and eligibility standards.
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[Add new 3.13.4 and 3.13.5 as follows:]
3.13.4 Letter-Size Piece with Attached Release Card
Mailings of letter-size mailpieces with a release card attached to the outside of each piece must include eight pieces, as part of the mailing, addressed to “USPS Engineering — Letter Mail Technology” with the attention line “Release Card Sample”, using the street address in 608.8.1. A letter-size mailpiece, with an attached release card, must have the following characteristics:
a. Be between 4 and 6 inches high (inclusive) and between 8 and 9-1/2 inches long (inclusive).
b. No address element, including any address block barcode, may be closer than 1-1/2 inch to the right edge of the mailpiece.
c. The surface smoothness of all letter-size pieces must be at least 190 Sheffield Units.
d. Enveloped letters must be made of paper with a minimum 60-pound book grade paper and have a maximum thickness of 1/8 (0.125) inch. Window envelopes must have only one closed panel address window, no larger than 1-1/2 x 4-1/4 inches.
e. Card-type letters, not mailed at card prices, have a maximum thickness of 0.025 inch as mailed.
f. All letter-size pieces other than enveloped letters and card-type pieces (such as folded self-mailers and booklets) have a maximum thickness of 0.10 inch as mailed.
g. Content insert shift must be no more than 5/8 inch horizontally and no more than 1/4 inch vertically.
h. Release cards must meet the standards in 3.13.5.
3.13.5 Standards for Release Cards
A release card, at least 0.007 inch thick and no more than 0.012 inch thick, attached to a letter-size mailpiece must:
a. Be rectangular, but allowed with finished corners having a radius of at least 1/8 inch up to 1/2 inch.
b. Be between 2 and 2-1/2 inches (inclusive) high, and between 3 and 3-1/2 inches (inclusive) long. A card may be affixed with either edge parallel to the length of the mailpiece.
c. Be affixed by machine to ensure adequate adhesion. Manually affixed attachments are not allowed.
d. Be affixed, on either side, 1 inch (+/- 1/8 inch) from the bottom of the mailpiece and must not interfere with readability of the address, barcode, or postage information. The right edge of a card affixed to the back of the mailpiece must be placed between 5 and 6 inches from the leading edge of the mailpiece.
e. Be affixed to a liner (backing) and meet the following adhesion standards:
1. Adhesive used to affix the backing to the mailpiece must have a peel adhesion of at least 2 pounds/inch to stainless steel with a 20 minute dwell time, at 300 inch/minute at 90 degrees per ASTM test D3330F.
2. Adhesive used to attach the release card to the backing must have a peel adhesion of at least 1.5 ounces/inch to stainless steel with a 30-minute conditioning time, at 300 inch/minute at 90 degrees per ASTM test D3330F.
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240 Standard Mail
243 Prices and Eligibility
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2.0 Content Standards for Standard Mail Letters
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2.5 Attachments and Enclosures
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2.5.5 Attachment of Other Standard Mail Matter
[Revise the introductory text and item a of 2.5.5 to read as follows:]
Standard Mail letters may bear one repositionable note per mailpiece under 705.21.0. A Standard Mail letter may bear a label, a sticker, or a release card eligible as Standard Mail matter, when affixed under 2.5.5 and 2.5.6. Standard Mail letters also may bear other attachments eligible as Standard Mail matter if these additional conditions are met:
a. The piece bearing the attachment is claimed as Customized MarketMail (CMM) under 705.1.0 or as Enhanced Carrier Route letters under 6.0, except as allowed for labels, stickers, and release cards under 2.5.6.
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[Revise item d as follows:]
d. CMM host pieces are any size permitted under 705.1.1.3, Physical Standards. Enhanced Carrier Route letters are larger than 6 by 11 inches, except as allowed under 2.5.6.
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[Add new item h as follows:]
h. Letters, with attachments that have been approved in writing by the pricing and Classification Service Center, are eligible for mailing under the conditions specified in the approval letter.
[Add new 2.5.6 as follows:]
2.5.6 Letter-Size Pieces with Labels, Stickers, or Release Cards
Automation letters and Enhanced Carrier Route letters with an attached label, sticker, or release card eligible as Standard Mail matter must meet the standards in 201.3.13.
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300 Commercial Flats
301 Physical Standards
1.0 Physical Standards for Flats
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[Add new 1.7 as follows:]
1.7 Labels, Stickers, and Release Cards
1.7.1 Use
A label, sticker, or release card may be placed on a flat-sized mailpiece. Standard Mail flats with a label, a sticker, or a release card (no more than one per mailpiece) must meet additional standards in 343.2.5. These attachments may be:
a. A label or sticker less than 0.007 inch thick, other than repositionable notes affixed under 705.21.0, as follows:
1. A permanent label or sticker (designed not to be removed or relocated) affixed directly to the outside of the mailpiece with permanent adhesive.
2. A relocatable label to be placed on the outside of reply pieces, when affixed under 1.7.2 or 1.7.3.
b. A release card, at least 0.007 inch thick and no more than 0.012 inch thick, when affixed according to 1.7.4 and 1.7.5.
c. On pieces mailed at First-Class Mail, Periodicals, Standard Mail, or Package Services prices, only if permitted by the applicable content and eligibility standards.
1.7.2 Pressure-Sensitive Label
Any pressure-sensitive label or sticker affixed directly to a mailpiece before mailing must have a minimum peel adhesion to stainless steel of 8 ounces/inch. This standard does not apply to pressure-sensitive labels provided by the USPS to mailers to label bundles for sortation levels.
1.7.3 “Sandwich” Label
A face stock/liner label (“sandwich” label) is a two-part unit with a face stock (top label) attached to a liner (bottom label) affixed to the mailpiece. The face stock must have a peel adhesion value of at least 2 ounces/inch with respect to the liner label and at least 8 ounces/inch when reapplied to stainless steel.
1.7.4 Flats with Attached Release Cards
Mailings of flat-size mailpieces with a release card attached to the outside of each piece must include eight pieces, as part of the mailing, addressed to “USPS Engineering — Flat Mail Technology” with the attention line “Release Card Sample”, using the street address in 608.8.1. Flat-size mailpieces, with attached release cards, must be between 6 and 12 inches (inclusive) high, between 8 and 15 inches (inclusive) long, between 0.02 and 0.75 inch (inclusive) thick as mailed, and meet the following conditions:
a. Flats must be at least the minimum size for the price claimed. Nonautomation and carrier route flats must have one dimension larger than maximum letter-size dimension. Automation flats with attached release cards must be at least 6 inches high, 8 inches long, and at least 0.02 inch thick.
b. Enveloped flats must be made of a minimum 60-pound book grade paper.
c. Window envelopes must have only one closed panel address window.
d. Bound flats must have a cover with a minimum thickness of 0.003 inch.
e. Release cards must meet the standards in 1.7.5.
1.7.5 Standards for Release Cards
A release card, at least 0.007 inch thick and no more than 0.012 inch thick, attached to a flat-size mailpiece must:
a. Be rectangular, but allowed with finished corners having a radius of at least 1/8 inch up to 1/2 inch.
b. Be between 2 and 2-1/2 inches high, and between 3 and 3-1/2 inches long. A card may be affixed with either edge parallel to the length of the mailpiece.
c. Be affixed by machine to ensure adequate adhesion. Manually affixed attachments are not allowed.
d. Be affixed, on either side, a minimum of 4-1/2 inches from the bottom of an enveloped or card-type mailpiece or from the binding of a bound flat and must not interfere with the readability of the address, barcode, or postage information.
e. Be affixed to a liner (backing) and meet the following adhesion standards:
1. Adhesive used to affix the backing to the mailpiece must have a peel adhesion of at least 2 pounds/inch to stainless steel with a 20 minute dwell time at 300 inch/minute at 90 degrees per ASTM test D3330F.
2. Adhesive used to attach the release card to the backing must have a peel adhesion of at least 1.5 ounces/inch to stainless steel with a 30 minute conditioning time, at 300 inch/minute at 90 degrees per ASTM test D3330F.
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3.0 Physical Standards for Automation Flats
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3.6 Uniformity and Exterior Format
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3.6.2 Outside Attachment
[Revise the first two sentences of 3.6.2 as follows:]
Except as allowed under 1.7, an attachment to a flat-size mailpiece must be a single sheet, the same size as the cover. The attachment must be permanently, securely, and uniformly affixed to the front or back cover along a bound, folded, or otherwise closed edge, except as allowed under 1.7.***
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[Delete current 3.7 in its entirety.]
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340 Standard Mail
343 Prices and Eligibility
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2.0 Content Standards for Standard Mail Flats
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2.5 Attachments and Enclosures
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2.5.5 Attachment of Other Standard Mail Matter
[Revise the text of 2.5.5 to read as follows:]
A Standard Mail flat may bear a label, a sticker, or a release card eligible as Standard Mail matter, when affixed under 2.5.5 and 2.5.6. Standard Mail flats may bear repositionable notes under 705.21.0. Standard Mail flats also may bear other attachments eligible as Standard Mail matter if these additional conditions are met:
a. The piece bearing the attachment is claimed as Customized MarketMail (CMM) under 705.1.0 or as Enhanced Carrier Route Standard Mail flats under 6.0, except as allowed under 2.5.6.
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[Add new item h as follows:]
h. Standard Mail flats with attachments that have been approved in writing by the Pricing and Classification Service Center are eligible for mailing under the conditions specified in the approval letter.
[Add new 2.5.6 as follows:]
2.5.6 Flat-Size Pieces with Labels, Stickers, or Release Cards
Flats with an attached label, sticker, or release card eligible as Standard Mail matter must meet the standards in 301.1.7.4.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the DMM and into the monthly update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards, Pricing, 10-22-09
