Effective September 4, 2012, the Postal Service™ will revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 246.4.0 to clarify that Standard Mail® letters in area distribution center (ADC) trays, or automation area distribution center (AADC) trays may be eligible for Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) entry prices when the ADC or AADC service area is exactly the same as the corresponding DSCF. We will make a similar clarification for Standard Mail flats and Bound Printed Matter flats in DMM 346.4.0 and 366.5.0. As a current example, an AADC tray for Westchester, New York, contains mail for ZIP Code™ ranges 105–109, and the SCF service area for Westchester, New York, is also 105–109. Therefore, a tray properly prepared and labeled to AADC Westchester, New York, 105 may contain only mail within the SCF Westchester, New York, service area, and the pieces in that AADC tray would be eligible for DSCF prices when all other conditions for DSCF entry are met. This clarification adds a sentence to the current standards to note that AADC or ADC trays and sacks are within the DSCF service area when the service areas are the same for the AADC/ADC as for the DSCF.
Some DSCF drop shipments are redirected to facilities other than the SCF as designated by the USPS®, when mailers make appointments via the Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST®) system. We will revise the wording in various “enter and deposit” sections of the DMM regarding DSCF eligibility to clarify that the eligible pieces in a DSCF entry drop shipment must be addressed for delivery within the DSCF service area and not necessarily within the normal service area of the processing facility to which the drop shipment may be redirected.
The Postal Service is also clarifying the conditions under which mailers may claim DSCF entry prices when depositing containers of flats, labeled to a FSS sort plan, at the appropriate FSS processing facility.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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200 Commercial Letters and Cards
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240 Standard Mail
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246 Enter and Deposit
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4.0 Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) Entry
4.2 Eligibility
Pieces in a mailing that meet the standards in 2.0 and 4.0 are eligible for DSCF prices under either 4.2a or 4.2b below:
[Revise the introductory text of item a as follows:]
a. When deposited at a DSCF or USPS-designated facility, addressed for delivery within the DSCF’s service area, and:
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[Revise item 4.2a2 as follows:]
2. Placed in a tray labeled to a destination within the DSCF’s service area. This includes trays labeled to an ADC or an AADC facility with the exact same service area as the DSCF.
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300 Commercial Flats
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340 Standard Mail
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346 Enter and Deposit
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4.0 Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) Entry
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4.2 Eligibility
Pieces in a mailing that meets the standards in 2.0 and 4.0 are eligible for the DSCF price, as follows:
[Revise the text of item 4.2a as follows:]
a. When deposited at a DSCF or USPS-designated facility, addressed for delivery within the DSCF’s service area, and placed in a sack or on a pallet labeled to the DSCF or to a destination within its service area. This includes sacks labeled to an ADC facility with the exact same service area as the DSCF.
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[Add new item 4.2c as follows:]
c. When deposited at a USPS-designated FSS processing facility and placed in a sack, or on a pallet, labeled to a FSS sort plan processed by that facility.
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360 Bound Printed Matter
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366 Enter and Deposit
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5.0 Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) Entry
5.1 Eligibility
[Revise the introductory text of 5.1 as follows:]
Bound Printed Matter flats in a mailing meeting the standards in 3.0 are eligible for the DSCF price when they meet all of the following additional conditions:
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[Revise item 5.1b as follows:]
b. Are deposited at a DSCF listed in L005 or a USPS-designated facility, and are addressed for delivery within the DSCF’s service area.
[Delete current item 5.1c in its entirety.]
[Redesignate current item 5.1d as new item 5.1c and revise as follows:]
c. Are placed in a sack or on a pallet that is labeled to the DSCF or labeled to a destination within its service area. This includes sacks labeled to an ADC facility with the exact same service area as the DSCF.
[Add a new 5.1d as follows:]
d. Are deposited at a USPS-designated FSS processing facility and placed in a sack, or on a pallet, labeled to a FSS sort plan processed by that facility.
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[Delete Exhibit 5.1, NDC Deposit of DSCF Price Pallets, in its entirety.]
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400 Commercial Parcels
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440 Standard Mail
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446 Enter and Deposit
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4.0 Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) Entry
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4.2 Eligibility
Pieces in a mailing that meets the standards in 2.0 and 4.0 are eligible for the DSCF price, as follows:
[Revise item 4.2a as follows:]
a. When deposited at a DSCF or USPS-designated facility, addressed for delivery within the DSCF’s service area, and placed in a sack or on a pallet that is labeled to the DSCF or to a destination within its service area.
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450 Parcel Select
453 Prices and Eligibility
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3.0 Price Eligibility for Parcel Select, Parcel Select Regional Ground, and Parcel Select Lightweight
[Revise introductory text of 3.1.1 as follows]
3.1 Destination Entry Price Eligibility
3.1.1 Definition
Parcel Select destination entry prices apply to parcels in Parcel Select mailings prepared as specified in 705.8.0 and 455.4.0, and addressed for delivery within the service area of a destination network distribution center, sectional center facility, or delivery unit. For this standard, the following destination facility definitions apply:
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[Revise item 3.1.1b as follows:]
b. A destination sectional center facility (DSCF) includes all facilities in L005. Mailers may be redirected to deposit DSCF mail at another USPS-designated facility. See 3.1.4 for more information.
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3.1.4 DSCF and DDU Prices
For DSCF and DDU prices, pieces must meet the applicable standards in 3.0 and the following criteria:
[Revise the text of item 3.1.4a as follows:]
a. For DSCF prices, be part of a Parcel Select destination entry mailing of parcels deposited at an SCF in L005 or a USPS-designated facility. Mailers must not prepare mail on pallets or pallet boxes if the 5-digit delivery facility is unable to handle pallets. See 455.4.2 and 455.8.0 for preparation requirements.
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455 Mail Preparation
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4.0 Preparing Destination Entry Parcel Select
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4.2 Preparing Destination SCF (DSCF) Parcel Select
4.2.1 Definition
[Revise the text of 4.2.1 as follows:]
A destination sectional center facility (DSCF) includes all facilities in L005. Mailers may be redirected to deposit DSCF mail at another USPS-designated facility.
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460 Bound Printed Matter
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466 Enter and Deposit
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5.0 Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) Entry
5.1 Eligibility
[Revise the introductory text of 5.1 as follows:]
Pieces addressed for delivery within the service area of a DSCF and in a mailing meeting the standards in 3.0 and 5.0 are eligible for the DSCF price when they meet all of the following conditions:
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[Revise item 5.1b as follows:]
b. Are deposited at the DSCF (in L005) or a USPS-designated facility.
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707 Periodicals
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29.0 Destination Entry
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29.4 Destination Sectional Center Facility
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29.4.2 Price Eligibility
Determine price eligibility as follows:
[Revise the introductory text of item 29.4.2a as follows:]
a. Pound Prices. Outside-County pieces are eligible for DSCF pound prices when placed on an SCF or more finely presorted container, deposited at the DSCF or USPS-designated facility (see also 4.2b), and addressed for delivery within the DSCF’s service area. Nonletter-size pieces are also eligible when the mailer deposits 5-digit bundles at the destination delivery unit (DDU) (the facility where the carrier cases mail for delivery to the addresses on the pieces) and the 5-digit bundles are in or on the following types of containers:
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[Add a new last sentence to 4.2b as follows:]
b. ***Mailers also may claim a DSCF container price for a FSS sort plan container deposited at the USPS-designated FSS processing facility responsible for the processing of that container.
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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, 8-23-12
