Effective December 6, 2010, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 235.3.3, 235.6.6, 245.3.3, and 245.7.5 to clarify standards that apply to mail preparation for First-Class Mail® and Standard Mail® automation letters in trays.
This revision clarifies that mailers placing pieces in the next tray level, in accordance with reduced overflow standards for First-Class Mail or Standard Mail items, may claim presort prices based on the presence of 150 qualifying pieces to a particular presort destination. For example, if there are 350 pieces to a 5-digit destination (ZIP Code 20260) of which 50 of those pieces are overflow pieces, the overflow pieces may be placed in the correct 3-digit tray (ZIP Code prefix 202 for the pieces addressed to 20260) if there are already at least 150 other pieces that qualify for 3-digit prices in that tray.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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200 Commercial Letters & Cards
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230 First-Class Mail
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235 Mail Preparation
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3.0 Letter Trays
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3.3 Letter Tray Preparation
Letter trays are prepared as follows:
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[Revise the last sentence of item 3.3c as follows:]
c. ***As an alternative, if there is mail remaining, mailers may move those pieces to the next higher presort level when the minimum piece quantity has been reached at the next tray level (e.g., 150 pieces) and the standards in 235.6.6 are met.
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6.0 Preparing Automation Letters
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6.6 Tray Preparation
[Revise the introductory paragraph as follows:]
Instead of preparing overflow trays with fewer than 150 pieces, mailers may include these pieces in an existing qualified tray of at least 150 or more pieces at the next tray level. (For example, if a mailer has 30 overflow 5-digit pieces for ZIP Code 20260, these pieces may be added to an existing qualified 3-digit tray for the correct destination (ZIP Code prefix 202) and the overflow 5-digit pieces will still qualify for the 5-digit price.) Mailers must note these trays on standardized documentation (see 708.1.2). Pieces that are placed in the next tray level must be grouped by destination and placed in the front or back of that tray. Mailers may use this option selectively for 3-digit and AADC ZIP Codes. This option does not apply to origin/entry 3-digit/scheme trays. Preparation sequence, tray size, and Line 1 labeling:
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240 Standard Mail
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245 Mail Preparation
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3.0 Letter Trays
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3.3 Letter Tray Preparation
Letter trays are prepared as follows:
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[Revise the last sentence of item 3.3c as follows:]
c. ***As an alternative, if there is mail remaining, mailers may move those pieces to the next higher presort level when the minimum piece quantity has been reached at the next tray level (e.g., 150 pieces) and the standards in 245.7.5 are met.
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7.0 Preparing Automation Letters
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7.5 Tray Preparation
[Revise the introductory paragraph as follows:]
Instead of preparing overflow trays with fewer than 150 pieces, mailers may include these pieces in an existing qualified tray of at least 150 or more pieces at the next tray level. (For example, if a mailer has 30 overflow 5-digit pieces for ZIP Code 20260, these pieces may be added to an existing qualified 3-digit tray for the correct destination (ZIP Code prefix 202) and the overflow 5-digit pieces will still qualify for the 5-digit price. Mailers must note these trays on standardized documentation (see 708.1.2). Pieces that are placed in the next tray level must be grouped by destination and placed in the front or back of that tray.) Mailers may use this option selectively for 3-digit and AADC ZIP Codes. This option does not apply to origin/entry 3-digit/scheme trays. Preparation sequence, tray size, and Line 1 labeling:
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next printed version of the DMM and into the next update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Mailing Standards,
Pricing and Classification, 11-18-10
