Each year the United States Postal Service processes billions of pieces of mail, and to facilitate this they may, from time to time, institute new postage regulations. We all know the traditional way to address an envelope, and this system has evolved as a way of making it easy and efficient for postal workers sorting mail. The placement of the address must be in a standard location on the envelope in order for the worker to distinguish such items as the zip code quickly and easily.
As time has passed, the need for labels and addresses to be formatted a certain way has also evolved to help computer equipment to read the information as well. Today a huge amount of mail sorting is done electronically, and this makes mail service even faster than ever before. It is little wonder then that postal workers become frustrated when mail is formatted improperly, because it can stop the entire sorting and shipping process.
This is one reason that new postage regulations went into effect at the end of March 2009. These new regulations apply to a piece of mail often called a flat and which tends to be pieces larger than 11″ long, 6-1/8″ high or 1/4″ thick. This includes catalogs, magazines, newsletters and items that can be contained in a polywrap or paper envelope. The new regulations require very particular placement of mailing address information and labels.
What is so astounding about these new regulations are the penalties that occur when they are not followed. For example, according to the USPS notice about the change: mailing of 1,000 pieces that does not meet the new regulation will cost approximately $1,250, whereas a mail piece that does meet the new specifications would cost approximately $394.
Obviously it pays to make changes in any pre-existing document designs or templates regularly used to craft materials sent via flat rates. If you work with a commercial printer make sure that they are aware of this new postage regulation as well as they could process your work in a way that is contrary to the new guidelines.
If you have any questions or need assistance with how to properly setup your direct mail piece so as to avoid any additional postage charges and fee please contact your sales representative. If you haven’t done business with us before or can’t remember who your sales representative is please call us at 800.794.5594 and we will be happy work with you.
