The U.S. Postal Service is adopting new mailing standards to ensure that address and presort information on bundles of irregular and flat-size parcel mail remains visible and readable during processing.
The final rule was published in yesterday’s Federal Register.
The new standards, which are effective Oct. 27, allow a six-month grace period, and it applies only to bundles of Periodicals, Standard Mail and Package Services Mail intended for processing on the agency’s Automated Package Processing System equipment.
APPS will replace many of the agency’s small parcel and bundle sorters. In the filing, the USPS said APPS equipment for bundles of irregular and flat-size parcel mail has optical character reader technology, enabling it to read delivery information and process mail more efficiently.
The USPS published the proposed rule in the Federal Register on Sept. 2, 2004, concerning address visibility on bundles of flat-size and irregular parcel mail.
The USPS received comments on the proposed rule from two publishers, ten printers, six mailer associations, six letter shops, two mail owners, one strapping manufacturer, and one individual.
Based on these comments, the USPS is not implementing new standards for the use of optional bundle labels or bundle height restrictions.
