Effective November 3, 2025, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®), section 705.18, “Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute,” for clarity and consistency.
For consistency in the standard, the Postal Service is revising DMM sections 705.18.3.2 and 705.18.4.2 to include the eligible extra services for USPS Ground Advantage® when enclosed in a Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute® or Priority Mail Open and Distribute® container.
In addition, the Postal Service is revising DMM sections 705.18.2.2 and 705.18.5.5 because of an omission in the July 13, 2025, price change (“DMM Revision: Domestic Competitive Products Pricing and Mailing Standards Changes,” Postal Bulletin, 22679, 6-26-25) for these products. DMM sections 705.18.5.1a and 705.18.5.1b were revised to reflect that the Postal Service is limiting the use of sacks to “parcels only” for Open-and-Distribute services.
As a result of that revision, DMM section 705.18.2.2c will be deleted because the Postal Service is removing the option to place bundles directly in Open-and-Distribute sacks. Section 705.18.5.5 is being revised to reflect that the Postal Service is removing the option to use Open-and-Distribute sacks for letter trays and flat trays.
Mailers are required to use the appropriate size USPS-provided tray box for Open-and-Distribute mailings of letter trays and flat trays.
Although these revisions to the DMM will not be published until November 3, 2025, these standards are effective immediately.
Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)
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700 Special Standards
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705 Advanced Preparation and Special Postage Payment Systems
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18.0 Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute
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18.2 Basic Standards
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18.2.2 Content Standards
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[Delete item c. in its entirety and renumber current item d. as item c.]
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18.3 Additional Standards for Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute
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18.3.2 Extra Services
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[Revise the text of item d. to read as follows:]
d. USPS Ground Advantage, Parcel Select, and Package Services parcels mail may be sent with USPS Tracking or Signature Confirmation service.
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18.4 Additional Standards for Priority Mail Open and Distribute
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18.4.2 Extra Services
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[Revise the text of item c. to read as follows:]
c. USPS Ground Advantage, Parcel Select, and Package Services parcels mail may be sent with USPS Tracking or Signature Confirmation service.
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18.5 Preparation
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18.5.5 Tray Boxes – Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute
[Revise the first sentence of 18.5.5 to read as follows:]
Unless the shipments are prepared under 18.5.1c or 18.5.1d, mailers using Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute shipments of letter trays and flat trays must use USPS-provided tray boxes for this service.***
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The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the November 3, 2025, edition of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 7-24-25
