Effective October 3, 2011, the Postal Service™ will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), 507.13 to clarify standards regarding Parcel Return Service (PRS).
PRS was designed for shippers or shipping agents who enter mail at destination entry facilities via Parcel Select® destination entry, offering those shippers convenient access for the pickup of PRS parcels at the same locations where destination entry mail is deposited. Eligibility for destination network distribution center (DNDC) entry prices is determined by DMM Exhibit 453.3.1.3 for most ZIP Codes™. Notably, ZIP Codes for Alaska and domestic offshore locations are not included in this exhibit since those locations are not served by direct transportation to and from any NDC. This omission is purposeful because there is no equivalent cost savings associated with DNDC entry deposit for parcels destined for Alaska or the offshore locations as there is for those parcels considered eligible for DNDC prices.
Similarly, there is no equivalent cost savings associated with processing PRS-labeled parcels that originate in Alaska or offshore locations as there is for PRS parcels that originate within the direct service areas of the NDCs. These parcels are transported beyond the mileage for zone 5 parcels (the maximum zone applicable for PRS return NDC [RNDC] prices). We therefore clarify that PRS-labeled parcels that are deposited into the mailstream at any offshore domestic location or from Alaska are not eligible for PRS prices, but are subject to Parcel Post® prices based on the parcel weight for the zone that applies to the coupling of the mailing office with the NDC from where the parcel is picked up by the PRS participant.
We additionally clarify that PRS participants must pick up parcels from all NDCs since customers deposit PRS parcels in the mail within the service areas of all 21 NDCs. Both of these clarifications mirror conditions that are stated in the PRS agreements that each authorized PRS participant signs.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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500 Additional Mailing Services
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507 Mailer Services
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13.0 Parcel Return Service
13.1 Basic Information
13.1.1 Description
[Revise 13.1.1 as follows:]
Parcel Return Service (PRS) applies to parcels that are picked up in bulk by authorized permit holders or their agents. Permit holders guarantee payment of postage for all parcels mailed with a PRS label. By providing an approved PRS label to its customers, the merchant or other party designates the permit holder identified on the label as its agent for receipt of mail bearing that label, and authorizes the USPS to provide that mail to the permit holder or its designee. The permit holder must retrieve parcels at each of the return network distribution centers (RNDCs). For this purpose, an RNDC is each NDC (but not any ASFs) listed in Exhibit 453.3.1.3. PRS permit holders also may retrieve parcels at one or more designated return delivery units (RDUs). Payment for parcels returned under PRS is deducted from a separate advance deposit (postage-due) account funded through the Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS). The permit holder must be authorized to use eVS (see 705.2.9).
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13.1.9 Pickup Schedule and Location
[Revise 13.1.9 as follows:]
Permit holders or their agents must set up recurring or standing appointments to retrieve PRS parcels. If the permit holder (or agent) has existing appointments to deliver Parcel Select parcels to destination facilities and those facilities are one of the NDCs or are designated as RDUs, those appointments can be used for retrieving PRS parcels at the same time. Permit holders or their agents must retrieve parcels on a regular schedule as follows:
a. From RNDCs, at a minimum of every 48 hours, excluding Sundays and USPS holidays.
b. From RDUs, according to the authorization letter. The USPS maintains a list of active RDUs and provides permit holders 30 days notice of changes to the list. This list may be obtained by contacting the manager, New Business Opportunities (see 608.8.0 for address).
c. For parcels picked up from RNDCs and that are shipped from origin ZIP Codes 006-009, 967-969, and 995-999, see 13.3.
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13.3 Prices
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[Add new 13.3.3 as follows:]
13.3.3 Parcel Post Prices
PRS-labeled parcels shipped from origin ZIP Codes 006-009, 967-969, and 995-999 that are picked up at an RNDC are subject to single-piece Parcel Post prices.
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600 Basic Standards for All Mailing Services
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608 Postal Information and Resources
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8.0 USPS Contact Information
8.1 Postal Service
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[Add a new address in appropriate alphabetical sequence as follows:]
New Business Opportunities
US Postal Service
475 L’Enfant Plz SW Rm 5407
Washington DC 20260-5407
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 9-8-11
