Preparing and Labeling Low Volume Pallets
REVISED March 2010

PS-327 (705.8.5.3)

This CSR discusses the preparation and labeling of low volume pallets.

Scanning pallet labels enables mailers and the Postal Service to track mail when it is received at our processing facilities. Sacked and trayed mail not presented on pallets may prove more difficult to track because there is no pallet label to scan.

The Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) states that pallets may contain a minimum of 100 pounds of nonletter-size mail or 12 linear feet of letter trays if it is a NDC or ASF pallet entered at the destination NDC or ASF; an ADC pallet entered at the destination ADC; an SCF pallet entered at the destination SCF; or the only pallet entered at an individual destination NDC or ASF, ADC, or SCF facility. 

When a mailer is transporting less than 12 linear feet of trays or fewer than 100 pounds of sacks within a mailing to a destination NDC/ASF, ADC, or SCF, the mailer may place this mail on a low volume NDC/ASF, ADC, or SCF pallet respectively provided the mailer prints and attaches an appropriate barcoded pallet label to each such pallet. This provision also applies to the last Mixed NDC or Mixed ADC pallet within a mailing if it contains less than the minimum required volume as long as all more finely presorted pallets have been prepared.

This variance from the minimum volumes stated in the DMM will facilitate efficient tracking of the mail.

(Signed)
Lizbeth Dobbins
Manager
Mailing Standards
United States Postal Service
Washington DC 20260-3436