The USPS is seeking “start-the-clock” information from mailers on its Confirm bulk mail tracking program.
Start-the-clock, or actual mail dates, would enable the system to provide mailers with an accurate performance measurement system, said USPS program manager Paul Bakshi.
“Mailers have been asking the Postal Service to use Confirm to do performance measurement,” said Bakshi, speaking at the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee meeting in Washington. “What was missing was the start-the-clock information. We didn’t know when we had accepted your mail.”
With the launch of Confirm last October, the USPS began asking mailers to print special barcodes on mail pieces to indicate when the USPS should scan the mail and where and when the mail was accepted in the system. “This way, we can figure out how long it takes us to deliver the mail, and can compare our delivery times with our published delivery standards,” Bakshi said.
The USPS plans to take the performance measurement data and share it with mailers. “Then, if mailers have specific delivery issues, they can call postal plant people in those areas affected, and will be able to look at the same reports together online to see what the issues are,” he continued.
The USPS plans to file for a special rate classification case with the Postal Rate Commission for its Confirm program this spring.
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