Memo to Mailers - March 2004(Text)
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
VOLUME 39 NUMBER 3
MARCH 2004

WHAT’S INSIDE
TRUST AND PRIVACY
CARRIER PICKUP
ADDRESS QUALITY
KEEPING POSTED
POSTAL NEWS BRIEFS

CLICK. PRINT. SHIP. VOILA!
There are moments in life when everything just clicks. It can happen to you with the Postal Service’s Click-N-Ship online shipping solution.

Bottom line, it makes shipping easier. Whether you’re a small business looking to save time and trips to the Post Office, or you’re a busy mom or dad facing a gift-giving marathon ahead — Mother’s Day, graduations, wedding, Father’s Day, birthdays — it’s the cyber solution for package mailers everywhere.

Click-N-Ship at www.usps.com/clicknship allows you to print shipping labels — with or without postage — whenever you need to — 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And recently added features make it even easier to ship online:

Shipping cart — Print and pay for up to 10 Priority Mail and Express Mail labels with a single credit card transaction. Your label information can even be saved and printed later.

Batch Shipping — Fast path for shipping identical packages.

Shipping history — View reports on all of your postage-paid labels printed within the past six months. You can see information at a transaction level or drill down to an individual label view — and with a click, check package delivery status at Track & Confirm!

My account — This central point provides access to all of your online information — from profile to store credits cards to address book.

Order scales online — Just click on one of the convenient links within Click-N-Ship to order your scale online or simply visit The Postal Store at www.usps.com/shop.

When you use domestic shipping labels with postage that was paid online, you can simply hand your packages to your letter carrier, mail in a blue collection box, schedule a pickup online or drop off at your local Post Office. Experience the ease and convenience of shipping with USPS from your home or office.

AMERICA PUTS ITS TRUST IN USPS
Americans participating in a nationwide survey ranked the Postal Service number one in trust and privacy protection. Of 60 government agencies examined, they voiced their highest level of confidence in the Postal Service’s commitment to safeguard their personal information.

“We are pleased postal customers recognize that the Postal Service takes seriously the privacy and security of the mail and all transactions with us,” says Deputy Postmaster General John Nolan. “As new technology and processes have evolved, the Postal Service continues to prove it has earned its position as one of the most valuable, effective and trusted means of communication.”

The Privacy Trust Survey was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by the CIO Institute of Carnegie Mellon University. “The goal of our study is to determine whether or not individuals believe the government is committed to protecting their privacy and which agencies they trust the most with their personal information,” said Dr. Larry Ponemon, director of the Institute.

“When we spoke with survey respondents, they indicated that the reason for having the most confidence in the Postal Service was based on their personal relationship with their mail carrier,” said Dr. Ponemon. “They associate the Postal Service with the friendly person who delivers their catalogs, birthday cards and holds their mail when they go on vacation. They told us that they trust their mail carrier and in turn the Postal Service.”

This is the second year the Postal Service has received the highest Privacy Trust Survey rating among all government organizations examined. A 2003 survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute also ranked the Postal Service number one in privacy protection. Recent Postal Service surveys of its online postal customers also report high levels of confidence in the Postal Service’s intention to safeguard their personal information.

The Postal Service was one of the first government agencies to appoint a chief privacy officer, whose mission is to protect and build the Postal Service’s commitment to privacy. The Postal Service has developed a comprehensive privacy policy that reflects the best practices from the private and public sector. It’s posted at www.usps.com. Copies of the Government Privacy Trust Survey executive summary can be downloaded at the Ponemon Institute’s website at www.ponemon.org or at the CIO Institute’s website at http://cioi.web.cmu.edu.

IT’S THE PICKUP THAT DELIVERS … CONVENIENCE!
Home is where the business is. In growing numbers, Americans are operating businesses out of their homes and relying on online transactions. Convenience is the name of the game for these businesses — as it is for any business. And nothing is more convenient than free package pickup.

The Postal Service recently expanded a new online program called “Carrier Pickup” to select locations. It allows customers to notify their local Post Office online when they have packages for pickup. Letter carriers will then pick up the packages on their regular delivery routes the next delivery day.

Unlike the fee-based on-call or scheduled pickup, there is no charge for Carrier Pickup because the prepaid packages are available for the carrier at the time of normal mail delivery.

Carrier Pickup is especially appealing to small business employees who do not want to leave their office to accomplish shipping tasks. Plus, the service is provided at no extra charge.

Carrier Pickup is limited to prepaid, properly addressed and packaged Express Mail and Priority Mail packages that meet Postal Service mailing standards. Parcel Post packages may be picked up also when combined with Express Mail or Priority Mail for pickup.

Postage can be prepaid with postage stamps, postage meter imprint, online PC Postage, online Click-N-Ship labels with postage, or by using a prepaid Priority Mail flat-rate envelope. If stamps are used for postage on a flat or parcel weighing 16 ounces or more, the sender must be known by the letter carrier to reside or do business at the point of pickup. Additionally, the return address on the mailpiece must match the point of pickup.

Packages that are improperly prepared, don’t have postage, or contain perishable or hazardous materials are not eligible for Carrier Pickup.

Here’s how it works:
Go to www.usps.com.
Click on the Carrier Pickup link.
Request a Carrier Pickup.
Follow the prompts to complete your request.

Where is Carrier Pickup available?
Carrier Pickup is available in select locations nationwide. To see if your location is available for Carrier Pickup, go to USPS.com, click on the Carrier Pickup link, and enter your address and ZIP Code. If your ZIP Code is not serviced by Carrier Pickup you continue to have other convenient options for sending packages. You can hand your packages to your carrier during regular delivery, leave your packages for your carrier to pick up at your mailbox, call your local postmaster to arrange pickup schedules, or drop your packages into a blue collection box. When using a collection box, please note that stamped packages must weigh less than 1 pound. And of course, you can take your packages to the Post Office, where we will be happy to assist you.

COST-SAVING PUBLICATION INITIATIVE
In a continuing drive to reduce the cost of processing and distributing mail, the Postal Service filed a request with the Postal Rate Commission that will encourage more publishers to stop using costly mail sacks.

Many small publications already have responded to experimental pricing incentives by taking their publications out of sacks and combining them with other publications on more efficient pallets. With this new initiative, the Postal Service seeks to further enhance the ongoing experiment implemented last April.

“We have seen the elimination of thousands of mail sacks. We know there are more opportunities to reduce costs, and we plan to seek other ways to encourage our customers to take advantage of initiatives like this,” says Stephen Kearney, vice president, Pricing and Classification.

“The pieces that would have been entered in sacks have moved to more efficiently handled pallets. Palletization is possible when several small publications are prepared and entered as one mailing,” adds Kearney.

Pallets are less costly because they hold more volume than sacks and are easier to transport. The current experiment focuses on smaller-circulation publications of average weight and considerable advertising content. The proposed expansion would provide incentives for heavier publications with high editorial content, specifically publications weighing over 9 ounces with less than 15 percent advertising content.

Cost savings and efficiency are part of the USPS Transformation Plan, which embraces fundamental long-term transformation to include changes in postal business and operations that will affect customers and employees. This transformation will help USPS secure a future for universal mail service at affordable rates and give the Postal Service the tools to protect regular mail and ensure a sound national system well into the future.

NCOALink TAKING ADDRESS QUALITY TO THE MAX
The Postal Service is committed to helping your mail message reach the right customer at the right time. The National Change of Address (NCOA) Linkage System product — NCOALink — is your first-class ticket to the most up-to-date change-of-address information.

With NCOALink, you can update mailing lists with the customer’s most current address information before a mailing goes out. It uses encryption technology to increase the security and privacy of postal customer data. NCOALink will replace the current NCOA data format Oct. 1, 2004, and FASTforward Mailing List Correction licensed products Oct. 1, 2005. NCOALink is available under license from the Postal Service, which continues to certify software developers who will be offering products based on NCOALink technology.

NCOALink cannot be used to create mailing lists. To obtain updated address information from the NCOALink product, mailers must already possess names and old addresses that will be matched against it.

CORRECT INFORMATION IS CRITICAL
“It’s critical for our customers to have correct address information because of the amount of data they regularly process,” says Chris Bennett, technical group leader for Acxiom, a global data management services company, which is developing an NCOALink licensed product. “And from a consumer privacy standpoint, it adds a layer of protection around the consumer’s data. The Postal Service is making a big step to ensure that move data is used only to impact mail delivery.”

In addition to added security of address information, customers benefit from the increased accuracy of delivery — so mail is delivered to the correct address. With out-of-date addresses, the mail could be delayed, returned to sender or delivered to the current resident, who isn’t the intended recipient.

“A key benefit that NCOALink provides is timeliness of information,” says Chris Lien, commercial mail market director for Firstlogic, a software developer. “What makes NCOALink a better product is that it’s taking delays out of the system caused by undeliverable-as-addressed mail. And it’s making this technology as accessible as possible.”

A FOUNDATION FOR INTELLIGENT MAIL
When it comes to innovative technology that can help you conduct business through the mail more efficiently, the Postal Service delivers address management tools that can make a big difference in whether your mailing gets the response rate you desired. And address quality is a foundation for Intelligent Mail initiatives from the Postal Service that are designed to enhance the way mail communicates. A barcode can be used to track a mailpiece through the system, but the success of that effort depends on accurately addressed mail at the start.

“Our goal is to improve address quality, security and privacy with our new address management tools,” says Charles Bravo, senior vice president, USPS Intelligent Mail and Address Quality. “The Postal Service is continually exploring technological solutions that move the mail smarter and more efficiently.”

For more information on NCOALink and the full suite of address management tools available from the Postal Service, go to http://ribbs.usps.gov/.

TOP OF THE CHARTS! ADDRESS INFORMATION SYSTEMS ON CD
Here’s a hit CD that no mailer should be without. The Postal Service’s new Address Information Systems (AIS) Viewer is a convenient and easy-to-use tool that helps customers maintain accurate and up-to-date address files.

This interactive CD-ROM, available from the National Customer Support Center, is designed to replace the hardcopy National Five Digit ZIP Code Directory. AIS Viewer provides the same ZIP Code information currently available in the hard copy directory, but with significant improvements. You can customize the AIS Viewer to include the following products:

Address Lookup — Look up individual addresses to obtain the correct ZIP Code, ZIP + 4 code, carrier route code, county code, delivery point code and check digit code.

City/State/Delivery Type — The city/state portion is a comprehensive list of ZIP Codes and the city, county and Post Office name associated with those ZIP Codes. It can be used to validate a city name and ZIP Code that is part of a mailing address. You can search for information with the lookup options:
City
State
City and State
ZIP Code
Delivery Type

County Name Retrieval — The name of the county or parish in which the five-digit ZIP Code resides.

Delivery Statistics Retrieval — Provides information regarding delivery by carrier route and Post Office box section. This data file defines the number of Post Office boxes and business/residential deliveries on city, rural and highway contract routes for every ZIP Code in the country.

ZIP + 4 Retrieval — Useful when you want to search for specific data or individual street information. You can search for a specific street name or all streets.

AIS Viewer is designed to retrieve, view and print hard copy reports on demand from one CD-ROM. The data is valid for 105 days from the date the CD-ROM is produced, making its content more accurate and current than can be achieved through the old hard copy reports.

The different products available on the AIS Viewer are priced separately, allowing mailers the flexibility to customize the CD to fit their needs. The annual subscription is based on which products are ordered.

For more information about this and other addressing tools, contact the National Customer Support Center at 800-238-3150.

KEEPING POSTED
News from and for Postal Customer Councils
www.usps.com/nationalpcc

ENHANCE YOUR CAREER AND YOUR COMPANY’S PROFIT
Expanded access to two mail professionals’ certificate programs will begin next month in St. Louis, MO, the Postal Service’s Customer and Industry Marketing group has announced.

The certificate programs, previously available only to National Postal Forum attendees, now will be available to local Postal Customer Councils (PCCs). The pilot offering will take place at the April 13 Spring Conference of the Greater St. Louis PCC.

“Better access to the certificate programs is a key tactic in our effort to educate our customers about the mail and to make the mail more effective in supporting their organization’s business goals,” says Marty Emery, the Customer and Industry Marketing executive responsible for both PCCs and the certificate program. “We also believe this innovation will add considerable value to a PCC membership.”

At the conference, registered participants can begin working toward earning two certificates: Mail Center Professional Certificate (MCPC) and Mail Piece Design Certificate (MPDC). Upon completion of the required number of sessions or workshops, an official U.S. Postal Service certificate will be presented. Rich in content, the conference hosted by the Greater St. Louis PCC will be offering a range of session topics.

The MCPC program is designed to provide instruction in advanced mail center management skills. To earn this certificate, six sessions are required. The MPDC program focuses on specialized skills in mail preparation and design and four sessions are required to earn the certificate.

In addition to offering the first-ever certificate program at the local PCC level, participants at the Greater St. Louis PCC 2004 Spring Conference will have an opportunity to network with Postal Service executives and mailing industry leaders, learn effective ways to use the mail to grow their business, gain insights into innovative products and services from St. Louis area vendors, and view new tools and technologies designed to make mail center
operations run more efficiently.

If you are located in the Greater St. Louis region, you won’t want to miss this conference, so register early. For more information about the conference, and registration, contact Peggy Smith at 314-935-6369 or Peggy_Smith@wustl.edu.

To view the conference details on the Greater St. Louis PCC website, go to www.pcc-stlouis.org and click on “events.”

For more information on how PCCs can take advantage of the Professional Certificate Program, contact Heidi Cherry of Customer and Industry Marketing via e-mail at hcherry@usps.com.

FYI
We can answer your questions. The new “Contact Us” site on USPS.com features an expanded “frequently asked questions” section with more than 1,500 entries, an enhanced search engine, a link to e-mail USPS and important USPS 1-800 numbers.

USPS.com. It’s the place to go for quick, easy and convenient mailing solutions.

INFO@USPS
SMALL BUSINESS TOOLS
Get new customers.
Meet customer demands.
Around town or around the world.
www.usps.com

SIMPLE FORMULAS
Use the mail to grow your business.
Order a Simple Formulas kit.
800-THE-USPS, ext. AD4433

SHIPPING INFORMATION
Express Mail, Priority Mail and
package support line.
800-222-1811

PRINTING LABELS ONLINE
Your shipping label is just a
Click-N-Ship away.
www.usps.com/clicknship

BRINGING THE POST
OFFICE TO YOU
Visit www.usps.com

QUESTIONS?
We have the answers.
Rates and mailing information.
ZIP Codes. Post Office location.
Much, much more.
800-ASK-USPS

POSTAL NEWS BRIEFS
USPS TO ENHANCE HIGH-TECH MAIL SORTERS
Customers will see the world’s most efficient Postal Service become even more efficient with the enhancement of select high-tech mail sorters that will shorten mail processing times and eliminate the need for many first-generation mail sorters built more than a dozen years ago.

“These upgrades will reduce costs and improve service,” says Tom Day, vice president, Engineering. “The enhancements allow us to be more efficient and serve our customers better because they will consolidate high-speed mail sorting technology to eliminate several mail processing functions.”

The Postal Service’s Board of Governors approved funding for enhancements that will provide technology to replace 646 multi-line optical character readers (MLOCR) with 395 new machines. This funding approval also calls for upgrading 217 existing delivery bar code sorters and all of the Postal Service’s 1,086 automated facer cancellers (AFCS).

Placing OCR technology into machines that automatically position envelopes before applying postmarks will allow the AFCS to sort by ZIP Code and bypass the MLOCR operation so that letter mail can begin efficient automated sorting sooner.

The MLOCR, as the first major Postal Service automation investment, was deployed in 1988. It sorts letter mail at 36,000 pieces per hour as it first finds and then reads the address before spraying a barcode on the envelope to enable efficient automated processing.
OCR replacements will be added to existing cancellation equipment and to some new OCR/barcode sorters with expanded sort capability. This will result in reduced handlings and is expected to produce significant savings in 2006 and 2007 when fully deployed.

STELLAR SERVICE AND SATISFACTION
The Postal Service ended 2003 on a high note, recording stellar on-time delivery scores and customer satisfaction scores. Vice President and Consumer Advocate Francia Smith says 95 percent of First-Class Mail with a next-day delivery commitment arrived on time, and another keenly watched indicator, Customer Satisfaction Measurement, reached 93 percent.

“These measurement results are terrific indicators of how the Postal Service is performing for its customers,” she says. The achievements occurred during the holiday delivery season,
Oct. 1 through Dec. 31.

First-Class Mail delivery performance is measured externally and independently by IBM’s Business Consulting Services unit, using the External First-Class measurement system, or EXFC. It provides an independent assessment of the time it takes a piece of First-Class Mail, once it is deposited into a collection box, to be delivered to one of the more than 140 million American homes, businesses and Post Office boxes that are serviced six days a week.

Customer Satisfaction Measurement for households is independently measured by The Gallup Organization, which conducts surveys on a variety of postal issues and services from a customer’s perspective. These include accuracy and consistency of delivery; retail clerk courtesy, knowledge, and responsiveness to customers; and telephone courtesy and accuracy of information provided, to name a few.

EXFC externally measures collection box to mailbox delivery performance. EXFC continuously tests a panel of 463 ZIP Code areas selected on the basis of geographic and volume density from which 90 percent of First-Class Mail volume originates and 80 percent destinates. EXFC is not a system-wide measurement of all First-Class Mail performance.

GETTING THE LINE ON BUSINESS
Follow the sign for expert advice on how USPS products and services can help your business grow. The new Business Line service is available at 90 Post Offices across the country in a limited test. A special retail window is identified for use by businesses whose transactions are often more complex than for other retail customers. The window is staffed by postal employees who are specially trained to help these customers with mailing solutions that will help them reach their customers more effectively. Business Line customers also can learn about services that are new or unfamiliar to them, including USPS’s online shipping solutions.

Looking for business solutions? Step in line — the Business Line.

Volume 39 Number 3
Ilze Sella
Editorial Services
Frank Papandrea
Art Director
David Ostroff
Designer
John E. Potter
Postmaster General and CEO
Azeezaly S. Jaffer
Vice President, Public Affairs and Communications

Memo to Mailers is published by U.S. Postal Service Public Affairs and Communications.

USPS eagle symbol and logotype are registered marks of the United States Postal Service.
The following are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service: USPS®, U.S. Postal Service®, United States Postal Service®, Postal Service™, Post Office™, Priority Mail®, Express Mail®, Standard Mail™, First-Class Mail®, Registered Mail™, Certified Mail™, Delivery Confirmation™, Signature Confirmation™, ZIP Code™, Click-N-Ship®, NetPost® and The Postal Store®. This list is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service marks.

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MEMO TO MAILERS
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Memo to Mailers
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ribbs.usps.gov
PCC website: www.usps.com/nationalpcc
Direct Mail Kit: 800-THE-USPS x 2110