As Wirt Atmar recently noted, there are significant changes afoot at
the US Postal Service, and they take effect soon (as of July 1st, 1996).
This is the first overhaul of the mail classification structure in
several decades, and it will take place on the 20th anniversary of the
demise of the Post Office and the creation of the US Postal Service.
 
This is important for any organization who has their addresses in a
computer (ie, an HP3000) and does mailings using computer generated
mailing media (envelopes, labels, tapes to mail houses).
 
For the past two years, the USPS has been preparing for "reauthorization",
and the Postal Rate Commission (PRC) has agreed to most of the changes.
At first, the USPS tried to eliminate all current classes of service
(no more First, Second, Third, or Fourth Class mail) and replace them
with two classes (Standard and Automated).  That got vetoed by the PRC,
but a number of changes in terminology and rate structures DID get approved.
 
Here are the basic changes:
 
  Express Mail becomes Expedited.
  First-Class remains First-Class, but split into Regular and Automated.
  Second-Class becomes Periodicals.
  Third- and Fourth-Class become Standard.
 
In First-Class, Regular rates remain the same.  The reward for presorting
is reduced and rates go up.  The reward for using barcoding on all your
mail is improved by decreasing the Automated rates, but ALL pieces
must be delivery-point barcoded (that's 5 digits + 4 digits + 2 digits)
AND THIS MUST BE ACCOMPLISHED BY APPROVED COMPUTER SOFTWARE.  There are
some vendors of approved software on the HP3000, but not many.
 
Mail preparation rules are changing significantly for such things as piece
counts, bundle methods, and presorting.  Its going to be rough in the
early months, and industry insiders are predicting a "Christmas Rush" in
June where large mailers will flood the USPS with "last minute" mailings
to use the old rules, because they are not ready for the new rules.
 
The existing PostNet Barcode will continue to be used, but the USPS
is introducing the PLANET (Postal Alpha-Numeric Encoding Technology)
barcode for document tracking.  Intended for buinesses that send their
customers pre-addressed and pre-barcoded envelopes for business reply
purposes, the USPS will be able to track the envelope at the point of
origin (yes, the check IS in the mail!), notify the addressee of when
the letter entered the system, and track the piece up through delivery.
 
By the way, if you are wondering why the USPS is so hot on automation,
consider this: the internal costs to the USPS for processing 1,000
letters "by hand" (ie, without barcodes) is $44.00 while it only costs
$4.00 when automated.  You can expect to see them push for more and more
automation.
 
weh
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Wayne E. Holt                                        206-463-3030 (Voice)
Software Research Northwest, Inc.                    206-463-9393   (FAX)
[log in to unmask]                                          206-463-3555   (BBS)
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