In January the U.S. Postal Service toned down some of its proposed new mail rules. Here are some highlights.
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A relaxed flexibility test for automated flats which would be administered by pressing 1 inch from the edge of the piece instead of 1 inch from the edge of the table. The USPS says this new test is more forgiving of flats with rigid inserts. Typical bound publications and catalogs won’t have to be tested if they’re not in a box and don’t contain rigid inserts.
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A clarified definition of uniform thickness allowing a variation of up to a quarter inch, not counting selvage (that is, an outer edge or border meant to be cut off and discarded).
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A relaxed deflection test which would allow pieces to droop to within 1 inch of length, up to a maximum of 4 inches (instead of 4 inches for pieces more than 10 inches long, and 2 inches for pieces less than 10 inches long).
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A waiving of the periodicals container charge for direct carrier route, five-digit carrier route and five-digit containers of mixed outside-county and in-county pieces.
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Prorating the new periodicals container charge across multiple titles in a combined mailing if documentation is submitted through Mail.dat, a system intended to promote efficient mail handling.
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Allowing mailers to apply the no-overflow tray option selectively at the three-digit and automated area distribution center tray levels.
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Extending the “no bundling” standards to all automated carrier route letters, not just letters sorted in delivery-point sequence.
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