Address Orientation on Letter-Size Mailpieces

We published a DMM revision in the June 21 Postal Bulletin titled, “Determining Letter-Size Mailability” to clarify the impact of address orientation on letter-size mailpieces. This information should help answer questions on mailability and nonmachinability for letter-size mailpieces.

The “letter” processing category is dependent on the physical dimensions of the mailpiece, without regard to placement of the address. Once a mailpiece is determined to be a letter, placement of the address then determines whether the piece is mailable and whether the mailpiece is a machinable or nonmachinable letter.

Example 1: For a letter-size piece that is 4 inches by 6 inches, if the address is parallel to the 4-inch (shorter) dimension, it is 4 inches long, which is less than the minimum length of 5 inches. This piece is nonmailable.

Example 2: For a letter-size piece that is 5 inches by 8 inches, if the address is parallel to the 5-inch (shorter) dimension, the piece is 5 inches long and 8 inches high. The aspect ratio of this piece is 0.625, which is not within the required 1.3 to 2.5 range. It is mailable only as a nonmachinable letter. For First-Class Mail, apply the nonmachinable surcharge in addition to the appropriate letter-rate postage. For Standard Mail, charge the appropriate nonmachinable letter-rate postage.

These standards will appear in the July 15th DMM update.