As part of its effort to streamline the acceptance, induction, and verification of commercial card, letter, and flat mailings, the Postal Service™ released drafts of two publications: a user guide and a policies and processes document. Feedback on the documents is due by July 31.
The four Postal Service initiatives aimed at streamlining the acceptance, induction, and verification of commercial mail are:
- Intelligent Mail® Full-Service, which uses Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb™) on all mailpieces, trays and sacks, and mail containers. It is available for automation and carrier-route First-Class Mail®, Periodicals, and Standard Mail®.
- Move Update, which requires mailers to periodically match their address records with the Postal Service’s customer-filed change-of-address orders. Mailers must use one of the approved methods to reconcile their mailing address list within 95 days of the postage statement finalization date or they will be assessed an additional surcharge. In the future, the Postal Service will be transitioning the verification of Move Update compliance from using samples on MERLIN® to census verification.
- eInduction, which uses eDoc, Intelligent Mail container barcodes (IMcb), and handheld scanner technology to verify the payment and preparation of commercial mail containers. It simplifies the induction of drop shipments and expedited plant load mailings.
- Seamless Acceptance, which uses eDocs, IMbs, and information collected from handheld and mail processing equipment scanners to automate the verification of commercial mailings.
