Effective March 4, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 503.11 to clarify the use and application of integrated retail systems labels and other unique, USPS-provided tracking labels for USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation service.
Effective January 27, 2013, the Postal Service introduced an integrated retail service label and a new Label 400 (which replaced Label 152 and electronic option Label 314) for USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation service. The enhancements made to mailpiece visibility technology at the retail level eliminated the need for mailers to continue to affix PS Form 152, Delivery Confirmation, to any mailpieces mailed at Post Office™ retail locations.
Additionally, the application of Label 400 is expanded for use by customers who prepay postage and any applicable extra service fees by metered indicia or ordinary stamps. Customers prepaying postage may continue to use PS Form 152 until their supplies are exhausted. Commercial mailers previously using Label 314 for electronic option USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation may now use Label 400. Furthermore, customers shipping more than 10,000 mailpieces annually who meet certain criteria can obtain preprinted, unique, product specific, USPS-provided tracking labels that are prepopulated with the product service type code and the customer’s Mailer Identification (MID) in the barcode. These labels, similar in function and appearance to Label 400, will provide mail class and extra services information as well as visibility and product use information to these mailers. The labels available by product category are:
For instructions on how to obtain and activate a unique Mailer Identification (MID) number for Shipping Services, go to https://gateway.usps.com/bcg/login.htm.
Order USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation or Signature Confirmation labels from USPS by calling 800-610-8734; when prompted, select option 1. Then, on the next menu, select option 1 again.
Although these revisions will not be published in the DMM until March 4, 2013, mailers may begin using these new labels and mailing standards immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
500 Additional Mailing Services
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503 Extra Services
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11.0 USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation
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11.2.5 Service Options
The two USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation service options are:
[Revise the second and third sentence of item a as follows:]
a. Retail option: ***Mailers may present mailpieces with an affixed retail option USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation label at a Post Office, branch, or station, or to their USPS carrier, as listed in 11.3.1. A mailer may also present mailpieces to a retail employee at a Post Office, station, or branch, and the retail associate will affix the applicable USPS Tracking/Delivery Confirmation label to the item.***
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11.3 Labels
11.3.1 Types of Labels
[Revise the introductory text of item 11.3.1 as follows:]
Mailers not printing their own labels must use one of the label options shown below. For additional information, see Publication 199, Intelligent Mail Package Barcode (IMpb) Implementation Guide for Confirmation Services and Electronic Verification System (eVS) Mailers.
[Revise the text of item a as follows:]
a. Form 152 may be used until customer supplies are depleted, and will be replaced by Label 400 (11.3.1b). This form may be used only with the retail option (see Exhibit 11.3.1a, Form 152).
[Revise the text of item b as follows:]
b. Label 400 is intended for use by electronic option mailers. The label may also be used with the retail option as follows:
1. When affixed to applicable mailpieces by a USPS® retail associate at Post Office locations without postage validation imprint (PVI) capability.
2. When affixed to mailpieces with postage and applicable fees prepaid by metered indicia or ordinary stamps.
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[Add new item c and renumber current items c and d as new items d and e as follows:]
c. Unique, product-specific, USPS-provided tracking labels are intended for use by electronic option mailers. In addition to the product service type code, these labels are also populated with the customer’s Mailer Identification (MID) number in the Intelligent Mail package barcode (IMpb).
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[Add new exhibit 11.3.1c]
Exhibit 11.3.1c Electronic Option IMpb Label (example)
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next monthly update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 2-21-13
