1. Addressing, Automation & Presort Lloyd M. Moss

2. Agenda Overview of how Addressing, Automation and Presort earn postal discounts Addressing Requirements: present and future Automation &Presorting Fundamentals

3. Overview You must meet USPS addressing requirements and print Postnet or Intelligent Mail Barcodes (IMBC’s) to qualify for automation discounts. You must presort mail that meets USPS addressing requirement to actually earn presort and automation postal discounts

4. Addressing Requirements Defined in the Domestic Mail Manual, USPS publication 28 and in CASS™ regulations In the event of conflicting information, the DMM takes precedence An address must be complete and accurate for mail to be delivered in the shortest amount of time at the lowest cost to the USPS

5. Address Elements Primary Address (Street Address) Secondary Address (Apt No, Suite No, PO Box) City State – must use specific abbreviations ZIP Code (Zone Improvement Program) –ZIP+4 –Delivery Point Carrier Route (not printed on mail piece)

6. 1 1 0 3 ZIP Code 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 3 0 3 9  5 Digit ZIP Code identifies the post office/station (Washington, DC)  ZIP+4 is a 4 digit code that identifies the block face  Delivery Point - 2 digit code to make 11 digit barcode unique  Check Digit – 12 th digit to ensure proper decoding of barcode

7. Postal Barcodes Must be printed on mail piece to qualify for automation discounts Two types of barcodes can currently be used for letters and flats –Postnet (5,9,11 Digit ZIP + check digit) –Intelligent Mail Barcode (for flats as of 5/1) 5,9,11 Digit barcode+other information to identify mailer, unique piece and services provided (more on this in next session) – likely to be mandated in 2009

8. Carrier Route (CRRT) Used for Enhanced Carrier RT Preparation  4 character code that identifies the mail carrier or route. 3 digits preceded by one of the following alphabetic codes: CUrban BPO Box RRural Route HHighway Contractor GGeneral Delivery Example: C015

9. Enhanced Line of Travel (eLOT)  5 character code that identifies how the carrier route and how it is delivered.  Includes the 4 digit Carrier Route followed by one of the following alphabetic codes: AAscending DDescending Example: 0015A

10. Main St Washington DC 20001 202204206 C015 C016 1101 1102 Address Example: 203 MAIN ST WASHINGTON DC 20001-1101 201203205 0015A DPBC: 200011101031 CRRT: C015 eLOT: 0015A

11. Useful Acronyms  DPV™Delivery Point Validation »Separate database that contains all delivery points  EWSEarly Warning System »File that contains addresses that have not been added to the USPS address database  LACS Link™ Locatable Address Conversion System »Separate database that contains 911 converted addresses, USPS converted street addresses, and renumbered PO Boxes

12. CASS™  Coding Accuracy Support System  Measures the accuracy of address matching software such as CODE-1 Plus  CASS™ process creates USPS Form 3553  CASS™ software will “standardize” an address, lookup a ZIP+4, carrier route, “delivery point”, and eLOT number.  Successful ZIP+4 lookup required to qualify for automation discounts

13. CASS™ is First Step to get discounts  Presort is the other step required to get discounts To qualify for: You must verify: You must use:By this Date: Presorted rates 5 Digit ZIP Code 12 months of mailing Automation rates Complete addresses ZIP+4 w/ Delivery Point 180 days of mailing Enhanced carrier route rates Carrier route information ZIP Code CRRT eLOT (for presort) 90 days of mailing

14. CASS™ Cycle L (8/1/07) Requires primary address (street numbers) to be validate using DPV file to qualify for automation discounts Requires LACS Link™ to be used to get ZIP Code

15. CASS™ Cycle M (8/1/08) Requires DPV validation of high rise apartment numbers to pass secondary address validation, but this validation will still not be required to qualify for automation discounts. Suite Link™ required Preferred Street Alias must be used in output

16. Future Requirements? CASS™ required in 7/2009 to earn any postal discounts (proposed in Fed. Register) –Must use Standardized Address on mail piece Secondary Address Validation with DPV to qualify for Automation rates? DPV failures pay Single Piece Rate, not Presort Rate? USPS wants mailers to implement closed loop upstream address management!

17. Move Update Requirement Currently in effect for First Class Will be expanded to Standard Class in early 2009 Requires COA identification Requires updating mailing list data within 185 days with new address

18. COA Identification Methods NCOA Link™ - pre-mailing ACS™ - post-mailing FastForward™ - post-mailing Updating requirement described in detail in USPS publication 363 IMBC will allow very easy enforcement!

19. Automation & Presort The point of worksharing discounts for addressing and presort is to allow the USPS to reduce the amount of work they need to do in order to process mail This requires mailers to prepare mail so it can be processed further “upstream” The USPS sorting process relies on scanning barcodes. Mail with barcodes already on it can be more easily sorted than if the USPS has to spray the barcode on themselves. Presorting allows the mailer to separate and containerize mail so it can be processed as far upstream as possible. The further upstream, the bigger the worksharing discount.

20. Presorting Process by which the mailer prepares mail so it is sorted, bundled and containerized based on postal regulations in DMM Allows mailers to do some of the work otherwise done by the USPS and enjoy some cost savings Presort Software is certified by PAVE™ Presort Accuracy and Validation Evaluation

21. Presorting (continued)  Presort considerations  Piece attributes Dimensions & processing category Weight Contents Identical or Non-identical –Size of the mailing (number of pieces) –Geographic concentration of mailing

22. What Does Presort Software Do? Sorts mail for maximum postal discounts Defines bundles and containers (sacks, trays and pallets) Creates sack, tray and pallet labels Creates reports that USPS requires for acceptance, verification and acceptance Can create Mail.dat™ files for other applications

23.  Consolidated like small jobs into larger jobs prior to presorting and production. This increases ZIP Code density.  Standard, Periodical and Package Services mailers need to more aggressively take advantage of drop ship discounts.  Mail that is not at least earning at least a 3 Digit automation discount could be handed to a presort service bureau for commingling.  Increase automation discounts by improving address hygiene. Mailers that Use Presort Software Can Increase Postal Discounts