When mail arrives at postal facilities in poor condition such as broken bundles, loose in sacks, or on poorly constructed pallets, the results can be costly for the Postal Service and mailers.

For the Postal Service, the problems can ultimately lead to delivery delays caused by extra handling requirements for improperly prepared mail.

For mailers, costs associated with the increased handling can be reflected in rates And if service performance is less than optimal, the mailing industry is faced with dissatisfied customers.

For many years, postal managers have been required to report mail irregularities to mailers as a means to help identify preparation processes that are leading to the problems.

And to ensure that its systems are not contributing to bundle breakage and other damage to mail while in transit, the Postal Service has been examining its operating environment in recent years.

With the problems impacting costs and service performance expectations for both the Postal Service and the mailing industry, the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) has become intimately involved in developing solutions.

MTAC work groups have been examining factors contributing to bundle breakage and the condition of poorly sacked, trayed and palletized mail when it arrives at destination facilities.

The groups also have focused on improving the process of alerting mailers to mail preparation problems.

One solution has been the redesign of the Postal Service's Form 3749, Mail Irregularity Report. The new version is a "user-friendly," 5.5" x 8" two-part form.

In addition to bundle breakage, the revised form will be used to report serious quality issues such as unreadable barcodes, carrier route out of sequence and mislabeled trays.

To ensure that there is proper follow-up, procedures also have been revised to include a Form 3749-D to report the disposition of the mail irregularity report.

Here's how the process works: When a postal employee identifies an irregularity, a Form 3749 is completed describing the nature of the problem and is returned to the office of mailing.

The office originating the Form 3749 will maintain a file including any supporting information on the nature of the irregularly, such as photocopies of the mailpiece and labels.

When the irregularity report is received by the post office of mailing or known office of publication for Periodicals, a Form 3749-D will be completed to summarize the investigation and resolution of the issue. A copy of the Form 3749-D will be returned to the originator of the irregularity report.

If the identified irregularity is traceable to mail preparation, the mailer will be notified and the appropriate Business Mail Entry Units (BMEUs) will be alerted to monitor future mailings presented by the mailer.

During the revamping of the process, focus groups commented that feedback to the originator of the Form 3749 is essential.

The Postal Service has responded by requiring the responsible postal managers to record information regarding the investigation and resolution of the irregularity in a "mailer quality folder" and to respond to the originator through the Form 3749-D.

It also is suggested that the "mailer quality folders" be maintained in Business Mail Entry Units or Quality Improvement offices. This new process began this month and instructions to postal managers were published in Postal Bulletin 22043 (2/8/01).

Mailing industry organizations have reported they are encouraged that the Postal Service is taking steps to streamline the reporting process and building accountability in the system.

Postal managers are equally as encouraged and expect the new process to result in a more effective system for alerting mailers and originating units to problems affecting mail quality

-Business Mail Acceptance, Marketing Technology and Channel Mgt.