Effective January 17, 2016, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) under our Parcel Simplification initiative. One of the primary goals of the Postal Service is the simplification of our products. The Postal Service and the parcel mailing industry are working together to restructure parcel standards to accomplish this goal.
As a result, the Postal Service is taking the first step in this initiative by clarifying that the term “outside parcel” is a “nonmachinable parcel” in various sections of the DMM for consistency.
Although this revision will not be published in the DMM until January 17, 2016, these standards are effective immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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100 Retail Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels
101 Physical Standards
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3.0 Physical Standards for Parcels
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3.2 Maximum Weight and Size
[Revise the last sentence of 3.2 to read as follows:]
***For additional information on machinable, irregular, and nonmachinable parcels, see 201.7.0.
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200 Commercial Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels
201 Physical Standards
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7.0 Physical Standards for Parcels
7.1 Processing Categories
[Revise the first sentence of 7.1 to read as follows:]
USPS categorizes parcels into one of three mail processing categories: machinable, irregular, or nonmachinable.***
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[Revise the heading and the first sentence of 7.7 to read as follows:]
7.7 Nonmachinable Parcel
A nonmachinable parcel is a parcel that exceeds any of the maximum dimensions for a machinable parcel.***
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500 Additional Mailing Services
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505 Return Services
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4.0 Parcel Return Service
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4.1.2 Parcel Return Service Prices
[Revise item 4.1.2a to read as follows:]
a. Parcel Return Service — Nonmachinable Prices: Parcels exceeding the maximum machinable dimensions in 201.7.5 or considered a nonmachinable parcel under 201.7.7 are subject to nonmachinable prices.
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600 Basic Standards for all Mailing Services
601 Mailability
1.0 General Standards
1.1 Determining Mail Processing Categories
1.1.1 Processing Categories
[Revise the first sentence of 1.1.1 to read as follows:]
There are five mail processing categories for mailpieces: letter, flat, machinable parcel, irregular parcel, and nonmachinable parcel.***
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We will incorporate these revisions into the next update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at http://pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Pricing, 12-24-15
