August 11, 2010                                                                    

Optional Mail Preparation Standards for Flat-Sized Mailpieces in FSS Zones

Today on Postal Explorer® we posted an advance copy of a Federal Register final rule introducing new Optional Mail Preparation Standards for flat-sized Standard Mail®, Periodicals and Bound Printed Matter prepared for delivery to ZIP Codes served by Flats Sequencing System (FSS) processing equipment. These new optional standards are effective beginning January 2, 2011.

Bottom-line: Preparing mail using the optional preparation rules allows for consistent bundle sizes, larger, more stable pallets, and bypassing steps in processing when mail is prepared for these new methodologies. This period of optional prep will allow USPS® to refine the rules to maximize industry efficiencies before the FSS preparation is required at a date to be determined.

We thank the mailing industry for working with the USPS® to develop these FSS optional preparation options. This final rule can be found on Postal Explorer® at pe.usps.com.