DMM REVISION
Preparation Changes for Securing Packages of Mail

Effective July 1, 2001, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) M020 is revised to improve package integrity for Periodicals and Standard Mail.

Effective July 1, 2001, the Domestic Mail Manual is revised to help ensure that packages of Periodicals and Standard Mail maintain their integrity during transportation and postal processing.

These revisions reorganize DMM M020 by prescribing basic standards for preparing and securing all packages and incorporating standards that pertain individually to packages on pallets, packages in sacks, and packages in trays.

The Postal Service and the mailing industry have been working together on several fronts to address the serious issue of package breakage and its associated costs, which are ultimately reflected in postal rates.

This problem is not new, and these DMM revisions constitute just one of several ongoing efforts to make long-needed changes that will have an overall positive effect on package breakage and flats processing costs and efficiencies in general.

The following is a summary of the major revisions to the DMM, as well as clarifications of current standards and recommendations for complying with the revised standards:

Counter Stacking

DMM M020.1.2 instructs mailers to limit counter-stacking of pieces in packages to those situations when it will create packages of more uniform thickness that are more likely to maintain their integrity during transportation and processing.

For example, it may be appropriate to counter-stack saddle-stitched mailpieces and mailpieces where one edge is thicker than other edges or one corner is thicker than other corners.

Mailers should make counter-stacked groups within a package as high (thick) as possible, generally at least 1 inch. Reorienting counter-stacked pieces to prep flats for delivery or to run on a flat sorting machine (e.g., an AFSM 100), is time consuming and may add to processing costs. Therefore, mailers should limit the use of counter-stacking to those situations when it is expected to actually improve the uniformity and stability of a package.

When pieces are nonuniform in thickness because they are thicker in the center instead of along an edge or corner, mailers should not counter-stack, but should limit the height (thickness) of such packages to 3 to 6 inches to ensure the package will stay together during normal transit and handling.

Sequence for Applying Bands

Current DMM M020.2.3b requires mailers to place a first strap around the length and a second strap around the girth when double-banding packages are more than 1 inch in height. The revised standard in DMM M020.1.4d does not specify a required sequence for applying the two bands.

Apply Securing Material Properly

• Banding must be tight and centered to retain tension and reduce slippage
• Seal on plastic strips must stay secure
• For string or twine, consider a 65/35 poly/cotton blend with a 10-ply 6 yarn count

Securing Packages More Than 1 Inch High

Standards in DMM M020.1.4d, M020.1.5a, and M020.1.8c are revised to clarify that packages of more than 1 inch in height must be secured with at least two bands, with shrinkwrap, or with shrinkwrap plus one or two bands, whether placed in sacks or on pallets.

Periodicals and Standard Mail Packages Prepared in Sacks

New DMM M020.1.8 has been added to specify standards for preparing packages of Periodicals and Standard Mail placed in sacks. Key provisions of this section are:

(1) Maximum Package Weight: Revised DMM M020.1.8a provides that packages of Periodicals and Standard Mail prepared in sacks must not weigh more than 20 pounds. This limit is consistent with the maximum weight prescribed for such packages when prepared on pallets and is the maximum weight of packages or parcels that can be processed on the Postal Service small parcel and bundle sorter (SPBS).

(2) Maximum Package Height – Pieces of Coated Stock: Revised DMM M020.1.8d provides that packages of pieces with covers of coated stock that are not individually enclosed in an envelope or protective wrapper (i.e., not in polywrap or an uncoated paper wrapper) must not exceed 3 inches in height if secured with string/twine, rubber bands, or only shrinkwrap.

If secured with two plastic straps or shrinkwrap plus one or two bands, packages of coated pieces must not exceed 6 inches in height.

(3) Maximum Package Height – Pieces of Uncoated Stock: Revised DMM M020.1.8e provides that, regardless of securing method, packages of pieces with outer surfaces of uncoated stock must not exceed 8 inches in height, although it is recommended that such packages not exceed 6 inches in height.

“Uncoated stock” also refers to pieces with coated covers that are individually enclosed in a cover or mailing wrapper of uncoated stock, such as an envelope, sleeve, protective cover, partial wrapper, or polybag, and pieces with outer surfaces composed of material other than paper (e.g., plastic, cloth, fiberboard, or metal).

Clarification of Rate Eligibility Due to Package Size Limits

Under the provisions of current DMM M020.1.6a, an individual package may be prepared with fewer than the minimum number of pieces required by the standards for the rate claimed, without loss of rate eligibility, if a greater number of pieces would exceed the maximum physical size for a package and the total number of pieces for that presort destination meets the minimum volume standard (e.g., 30 pieces are available to meet a 10-piece minimum, but a package of 8 pieces is 6 inches thick).

This section has been redesignated as M020.1.7 and revised to clarify that rate eligibility for smaller physical packages prepared under the new height limits is based on the total number of pieces for the presort destination.

Setting Package Height Parameters for Jobs That Include Mail on Pallets and Mail in Sacks

Many large-volume mailers have eliminated banding from most of their production lines and use only shrinkwrap to secure packages.

The Postal Service expects these mailers to continue using current packaging materials to secure packages and to meet the revised standards by limiting the height of packages of coated pieces placed in sacks.

The Postal Service believes that by setting different package height maximums for each type of mail when presorting their mailing lists (e.g., 3-inch maximum for packages in sacks and 6-inch maximum for packages on pallets), will help mailers mitigate the impact of these revisions on their overall costs.

Several major presort software vendors have stated that their software provides users with the ability to do this.

Using Maximum Package Weight as a Proxy for Maximum Height

Mailers who control package size by weight instead of height when presorting their address files can develop weight-height conversion tables for each mailpiece they produce by using the average piece weight and thickness for each mailing. Presort software has the ability to control package height by noting the thickness of an average piece.

Moving Mail Out of Sacks and Onto Pallets

Data show that packages in sacks break at much higher rates (17.5 percent) than packages prepared on pallets (1.1 percent). Mailers should therefore take advantage of several available options that have been shown to reduce sack usage and move more mail onto pallets.

For example, mailers may choose not to prepare optional 3-digit pallets or, if they do prepare such pallets, they may use package reallocation to protect the SCF pallet level if their software is PAVE-certified to support this option.

In addition, mailers might consider lowering the minimum pallet weight as low as 250 pounds, because only the last pallet level (e.g., ADC for Periodicals or ASF/BMC for Standard Mail) keep mail from falling to sacks.

Mailers also may prepare pallets that weigh less than 250 pounds when those pallets are drop shipped to the destination sectional center facility (DSCF) or destination delivery unit (DDU).

Mailers must obtain written authorization from the processing and distribution manager of the entry facility for DSCF entry of lightweight pallets. The Postal Service is aware that many mailers do not take advantage of these opportunities.

These revisions will appear in the printed version of DMM 57 and are included in the monthly update of the online DMM, available on the Postal Explorer Web site at http://pe.usps.gov.

—Operational Requirements