Effective July 13, 2025, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), sections 203.4.4, 203.4.5, 203.4.8, 203.4.9, and 245.9.5 to reflect changes in the Postal Service requirements for securing bundles of flats.
The Postal Service is revising the standards in the following sections to include the following requirements:
n Section 203.4.4: Mailings of 500 flat-sized pieces or less entered at the business mail entry unit do not require bundle preparation. Applicable mailings may be prepared loose in flat trays instead of in bundles.
n Sections 203.4.5, 203.4.8, and 203.4.9: All bundles of flats must have two or more cross-strapped bands or be shrink-wrapped with one or more cross-strapped bands, with the exception of newspapers that are placed in a flat tray and entered as exceptional dispatch. Such newspapers may be bundled by using only one strap around the middle of the bundle to prevent damage.
n Section 245.9.5(d): Shrink-wrapped multi-carrier-route bundles must be bundled by using two or more cross-strapped bands.
Additionally, the Postal Service no longer permits using rubber bands and twine or string for securing bundles of flats, with the exception of bundles of First-Class Mail® flats placed in flat trays.
Although the Postal Service will not publish these revisions in the DMM until July 13, 2025, the standards will become effective on July 1, 2025.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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200 Commercial Mail Letters, Cards, Flats, and Parcels
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203 Basic Postage Statement, Documentation, and Preparation Standards
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4.0 Bundles
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[Revise the title of 203.4.4 to read as follows:]
4.4 Exception to Bundle Preparation — Full Letter and Flat Trays and Small Flat Mailings
[Add a new last sentence to the text of 4.4 to read as follows:]
***When mailing 500 or less flat-sized pieces, mailers are not required to prepare bundles and may place such pieces loose in flat trays.
4.5 Securing Bundles of Flats
[Revise the introductory text of 4.5 to read as follows:]
Bundles must be able to withstand normal transit and handling without breakage and without injuring USPS employees, and are subject to the following requirements:
[Revise the text of item a. to read as follows:]
a. Bundles must be secured with two or more cross-strapped bands or shrink-wrapped with one or more cross-strapped bands that encircle the length and girth of the bundle at least once. Banding includes plastic bands, and similar material. Using string, rubber bands, wire, or metal banding is not allowed, except as provided in b. below.
[Delete item b. in its entirety. Renumber current item c. as item b, revising the text of renumbered item b. to read as follows:]
b. Bundles without polywrap materials must be cross-strapped to encircle the length and girth of the bundle at least once. Additional bands may be used if none lies within 1 inch of any bundle edge.
[Add new item c. to read as follows:]
c. Except for First-Class Mail flats placed in flat tubs, rubber bands and twine or string are not permitted to use as banding to secure bundles.
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[Revise the text of item e. to read as follows:]
e. Newspapers that are placed in a flat tray and entered as exceptional dispatch may be bundled by using only one strap around the middle of the bundle.
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4.8 Preparing Bundles in Sacks and Flat Trays
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[Revise the text of item d. to read as follows:]
d. Bundles of pieces with covers of “coated stock” (glossy covers) that are not individually enclosed in an envelope or mailing wrapper must be secured with at least two plastic straps, or with shrinkwrap plus two plastic straps, and must not exceed 6 inches in height.
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4.9 Preparing Bundles on Pallets
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[Revise the text of item a. to read as follows:]
a. Bundles without polywrap coverings must be secured with appropriate cross-strapped banding or shrink-wrap supplemented by one or more bands that encircle the length and girth of the bundle at least once. Banding includes plastic bands (recommended) or similar material.
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[Revise the title of 5.0 to read as follows:]
5.0 Letter Trays and Flat Trays
5.1 General Standards
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[Add a new last sentence to the introductory text to read as follows:]
***The following also apply:
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[Revise the text of 5.1(c) to read as follows:]
c. Flat trays used in a First-Class Mail, USPS Marketing Mail, or Periodicals flat-size mailing may be nested into each other on a pallet without lids, and the pallet then shrink-wrapped.
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240 USPS Marketing Mail
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245 Mail Preparation
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9.0 Preparing Enhanced Carrier Route Flats
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[Revise the title and introductory text of 9.5 to read as follows:]
9.5 Multi-Carrier-Routes Bundle
A mailer may combine individual eligible bundles of USPS Marketing Mail Enhanced-Carrier-Route basic-price mail into a multi-carrier-routes bundle of the same 5-digit ZIP Code under these conditions:
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[Revise the text of item d. to read as follows:]
d. The multi-carrier-routes bundle must be secured with at least two cross-strapped bands, one around the length and one around the girth, or shrink-wrapped with one or more cross-strapped bands.
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the July 13, 2025, edition of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 3-20-25
