FRONT PAGE
Swift Shipping For The Holidays
Postal Service is ready for busiest mailing and delivery days
We’re ready to deliver the holidays for you.
Monday, Dec. 17, is expected to be the busiest mailing day as the Postal Service estimates it will handle 275 million cards and letters — more than three times the average daily volume of 82 million. Total mail volume, including packages, on Dec. 17 should approach 1 billion pieces. Wednesday, Dec. 19 is expected to be the busiest delivery day.
“Our employees are working around the clock to make sure cards and presents arrive on time for the holidays,” says Deputy Postmaster General and COO Pat Donahoe. “In fact, we’re even delivering Express Mail on Christmas Day — excluding Santa, only the Postal Service will deliver on that day.”
The theme of this year’s holiday campaign is Today’s Holidays Need Today’s Mail. “Americans are busier than ever, especially during the holidays, and we’re offering services like extended hours and 24-hour Automated Postal Centers to help meet their needs,” says Anita Bizzotto, chief marketing officer and executive vice president. About 7,000 Post Offices offer extended hours during the holiday season.
When you’re ready to ship swiftly this holiday season, USPS offers free, environmentally friendly Priority Mail and Express Mail boxes and envelopes. These supplies can be ordered at usps.com or picked up at a local Post Office and can be shipped anywhere in the world.
When your customers want to make sure their purchases get to their destinations in time for Christmas, our Express Mail service makes it happen. We’ll be the only carrier open for business on Saturday, Dec. 22, that will accept your Express Mail packages and guarantee Christmas delivery within the continental states at no extra charge. As for our competitors, drop off locations will be limited, higher fees and surcharges are likely to apply, and some won’t guarantee delivery.
Try Express Mail during this busiest mailing time of the year and we’ll deliver the reliability that should make us your shipper of choice — in every season.
Direct To You
Personalized direct mail helps you reach the right person with the right message
 When it’s cutting-edge marketing you want, consider personalized direct mail using variable data printing. With this technology, elements such as text or images can be changed from one printed piece to the next without slowing down the printing process. You can tailor your message for each unique recipient, leading to better response rates and return on investment.
The Postal Service recently demonstrated the impact of this type of personalization with an advertising campaign that targeted 180,000 direct marketers and 20,000 printers. They were asked to “place their order” for a fulfillment kit containing a DVD on personalization by building their own deli “sandwich.” Not the edible kind ─ but a mailpiece consisting of a photographic image of their customized sandwich that would accompany the fulfillment DVD.
The campaign has exceeded expectations, with more than 10,000 responses so far. It shows that mail tailored to a recipient’s needs and interests is more likely to appeal to them, get their attention and generate a greater response. And because personalized mailings are so targeted, there’s less waste so they’re more cost-effective.
Learn more about direct mail at delivermagazine.com.
Improve Your Address Quality
DPV product includes information on vacant or non-delivery addresses
The Postal Service is helping mailers identify when they are sending mail to vacant or non-delivery addresses. New “no-stat” and “vacant” tables now are available as part of the Delivery Point Validation (DPV) product. The tables are simple to use and can help mailers save on production and postage costs by reducing undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail.
About 6 percent of UAA mail volume is due to the address being vacant or because the Postal Service does not make delivery to the address. The new DPV tables will assist mailers in identifying these types of delivery points and prevent mail from being returned or treated as waste.
The no-stat table identifies addresses USPS knows exist but aren’t counted as a possible delivery statistic on a carrier’s route, hence the term “no-stat.” An example would be a new address established for a house still under construction.
The vacant table identifies delivery points currently not receiving delivery. Based on analysis of customer change-of-address data, the average time an address remains vacant following a customer’s move is 74 days. After 90 days the delivery unit sets the vacant flag for the address to indicate mail is not currently being delivered there.
Using the no-stat and vacant tables will allow mailers to make an informed decision about mailing to these addresses. As the vacant address is reoccupied, or once mail delivery has been established for the address, the vacant and no-stat flags are removed. These tables are updated monthly so mailers have access to the latest information about an address.
To find out more, contact your DPV product vendor to learn whether they have incorporated these new tables in their product. If you’re using a service bureau to process your address lists, ask your provider to use these tables during processing. The release of the no-stat and vacant tables is another example of the Postal Service’s ongoing commitment to address quality to help the mailing industry make effective and efficient use of the mail.
WHAT'S UP
FAST For Periodicals
Periodicals customers are scheduling drop shipment appointments in the Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST) system. When they arrive at a USPS facility, mailers must have an appointment number on PS Form 8125, Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) Verification and Clearance. Periodicals mailers who arrive without an appointment will not be turned away. Their shipments will be accepted as an unscheduled arrival after Periodicals mailers with appointments scheduled in FAST. If there is no appointment number on PS Form 8125, closeout data for the appointment may not be recorded.
Go to PostalOne! at usps.com/postalone for information on FAST for Periodicals. Step-by-step instructions on how to register are at https://fast.usps.com/fast. Without logging in, click Resources and Reference documents. Questions or concerns about FAST for Periodicals? Send an e-mail to fast@usps.com. Include “FAST for Periodicals” in the subject line.
SPOTLIGHT ON SUCCESS
Beat The Traffic, Build A New PCC Structure, PCCAC Member Says
 Worsening traffic congestion coupled with booming growth in Northern Virginia has led the Washington Metro PCC (WMPCC) to develop an “alternate access” approach to its structure. WMPCC now will be divided into three separate PCC groups in Northern Virginia and one in the Capital District to better serve business customers closer to where they work and live.
“We want as many customers as possible to enjoy PCCs and benefit from the information they provide,” says Postal Service District Manager Michael Furey, a member of the PCC Advisory Committee. “We found that significant traffic congestion in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area was affecting attendance at our events. Northern Virginia has experienced significant growth, particularly around Dulles and other western areas, and we wanted to serve those customers more effectively. Our new PCC structure will do that.”
Furey, who had been postal co-chair of WMPCC, will relinquish that role to help guide the activities of the three new PCCs in Northern Virginia. Each will have their own postal and industry co-chairs. The Capital District will establish a PCC within the city of Washington, DC, and possibly expand to suburban Maryland in the future.
How can you increase your PCC membership? “Get your postal marketing team involved and creatively find ways to encourage new membership,” Furey says. “To effectively present certificate programs, fully utilize your BMEU manager and staff. Our customers love that group of employees and they truly help to provide effective and worthwhile programs.”
Furey says most important to PCC members is “the dual benefit of additional education and information pertaining to important postal issues and policies, and the access to postal executives and managers who can help them with their business.”
In Northern Virginia, all roads lead to improving customer access.
KEEPING POSTED
2008
- The 2008 National Postal Forum is May 18-21 in Anaheim, CA. Find more information on the NPF website at npf.org.
INFO@USPS
Your Links To Mailing Resources
U.S. Postal Service: .usps.com
National PCC Network: usps.com/pcc
Rapid Information Bulletin Board System: ribbs.usps.gov
Questions? Comments? Send an e-mail to pccinsider@usps.gov
Sign up for PCC Insider at usps.com/pcc, select "PCC Insider Registration"
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