Effective April 26, 2015, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) section 507.3.0 to update the online payment option for Premium Forwarding Service Commercial® (PFS Commercial™) service.
The Postal Service provided advance notice of the redesign of commercial reshipment services and an introduction to PFS Commercial in Federal Register Docket No: 2013-27728 (available at www.gpo.gov) with a subsequent phased approach as new features could be made available. The initial phase was implemented January 23, 2014, [Postal Bulletin issue 22381], followed by a second payment phase implemented September 7, 2014, [FR Doc No: 2014-17138], which activated the enrollment and postage and fee payments for PFS Commercial for customers desiring shipments sent by Priority Mail Express™ through the Business Customer Gateway. This article serves to implement an additional payment phase for customers using a PostalOne!® permit account for Priority Mail® shipments, to now enroll and pay applicable postage online. As a result, these customers will no longer be required to request these services in writing to the Postmaster. Except for customers using USPS® Corporate Accounts (USPSCAs) for Priority Mail Express shipments established through their local Postmaster, all new and existing PFS Commercial customers can enroll and renew online through the Business Customer Gateway at https://gateway.usps.com/eAdmin/view/signin.
Although this enhancement will not be published in the DMM until April 26, 2015, these standards are effective immediately.
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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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3.0 Premium Forwarding Services
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3.3 Premium Forwarding Service Commercial
3.3.1 Description
[Revise the text of 3.3.1 to read as follows:]
Premium Forwarding Service Commercial (PFS Commercial) provides business commercial customers the option to have USPS gather their mail addressed to business PO Boxes (including Caller Service) or business street addresses within the same servicing postal facility, and dispatch the mail as Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail shipments to a new address in bulk. Customers must establish a service agreement with the USPS and pay an annual enrollment fee and the applicable postage for the class of mail desired for the shipments. See Notice 123 — Price List.
3.3.2 Authorization
[Revise the text of 3.3.2 to read as follows:]
Commercial customers may establish PFS Commercial service through the Business Customer Gateway for shipments selected, as desired, as Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail. Requests must specify the business PO Boxes (or Caller Service) or business street delivery addresses, destination address, frequency (Monday through Saturday), and the postage payment method (see 3.3.3b). For customers using Priority Mail Express and paying postage through a USPSCA (corporate account), the enrollment request may be made in writing to the Postmaster at the origin Post Office. Service is activated upon approval by the Postmaster for the origin office.
3.3.3 Additional Conditions
[Revise the text of 3.3.3 to read as follows:]
Only the authorized recipient (or legal agent) of the business’ (or organization’s) mail may activate the request for PFS Commercial service. PFS Commercial service agreements are subject to these additional standards:
a. Customers must pay an annual enrollment fee to establish service, regardless of the number of individual business PO Boxes, Caller Service numbers, or business street delivery addresses included for each servicing Post Office. The enrollment fee is refundable only if the request is denied.
b. For requests made in writing to the origin Post Office, the annual enrollment fee may be paid at a retail Post Office location, station, or branch; the applicable Priority Mail Express postage for each shipment container is paid using the customer’s USPSCA. For requests made through the Business Customer Gateway, the annual enrollment fee and applicable Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail postage for each shipment container is paid using an eVS account linked to the Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS).
c. Regardless of payment method chosen, the postage is charged per shipment container as follows:
1. A sack or tray box and its contents are considered one piece for calculation of the price of postage and must not exceed 70 pounds. Postage is calculated by the weight of the container and the zone, based on the ZIP Code of the servicing Post Office and the delivery address for the shipment, minus the tare weight.
2. A Flat Rate envelope and its contents are considered one piece for the applicable Flat Rate price.
d. If no mail is collected for a shipment on a designated frequency day, no postage is charged.
e. Except under 3.3.3g, the following products may be included in a PFS Commercial service container: Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, and First-Class Package Service pieces.
f. The mailer must keep a postage-due merchandise return service (MRS) account or business reply mail (BRM) account at the originating postal facility where the PO Box or business street address is located. Any short paid, MRS, or BRM pieces will be charged to the mailer’s account prior to shipment. The customer’s application must include confirmation that such an account exists.
g. Priority Mail Express, or mailpieces with USPS Tracking, Certified Mail, COD, insurance, Signature Confirmation, or Adult Signature are shipped to the destination delivery office Postmaster separately, for proper handling.
h. Registered Mail is not eligible for PFS Commercial service.
i. Business customers may terminate their PFS Commercial service agreement, effective 24 hours after the USPS receives the customer’s written notice of termination at the serving Post Office or through the Business Customer Gateway. The customer must pay all postage and fees as applicable for any shipments already scheduled before termination of service is made effective.
j. USPS may terminate a customer’s PFS Commercial service agreement, effective 24 hours after the customer receives written notice of termination from the serving Post Office. Termination is based upon the customer's failure to pay postage and fees, failure to meet the standards for PFS Commercial service, or when there is substantial reason to believe that the service is being or will be used for unlawful activities (in these cases, less than the 24-hour effective period may be granted by USPS). The customer may appeal this termination of services to the manager, Post Office Operations, but must pay for all postage and fees as applicable for any service provided during the appeal period.
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We will incorporate these revisions into the April update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 4-16-15
