USPS Wants Label Moved on Flats Mail
NEW YORK -- The U.S. Postal Service looks to change how flats mail is addressed in a move that could save time and energy but would affect magazine, newspaper and catalog design.Flats mailers should consider moving the address label from the bottom right or left corner of the front cover to the top center of either the front or back cover, Deputy Postmaster General Patrick R. Donohoe said.
Such flats sequencing would make it easier for flats presentation and reading at a postal facility, and "the tub or tray becomes the carrier's case," he told 150 clients and invitees attending a breakfast talk organized yesterday by printing giant R.R. Donnelley at the Yale Club.
Donohoe said the postal service wants feedback from mailers on this method of flats sequencing. Sufficient support will mean the first major change in magazine, newspaper and catalog addressing in years.
Meanwhile, when asked about Planet Codes to track mail, Donohoe said the USPS will announce June 1 a new one-code bar code. This will add a predictive capability already offered by rival package delivery firms UPS, FedEx and DHL. The system will start with letters and then track flats.
Mickey Alam Khan covers Internet marketing campaigns and e-commerce, agency news as well as circulation for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
