Today's Postal Bulletin includes Labeling List changes that went into effect Nov 12. There are changes to L001-L007, L201, L602, L605, L606 and L801 that affect a number of facilities across the country, with the Austin, TX area looking like one that has quite a few changes throughout the published changes.
In our local area, the discussions about the possibility (or probability) of closing the local La Crosse SCF (Sectional Center Facility) are front page news in the local paper as discussion meetings are held to air concerns. I'm imagining similar scenes are playing out across the country and the USPS looks to eliminate actual mail sorting at hundreds of facilities.
Elsewhere in this PB, there's an announcement about the use of Intelligent Mail Package Barcodes (IMpbs). While the text says these updates are "required" as of 22 Jan 2012 (when the rate case changes take effect), they are also providing a transitional period until 2 July 2012. Until that time (at least), there will be no penalty for not using the new barcode standards. Of course there are some exceptions, in this case meaning some types of packages won't be able to use these new barcodes at that time.
There are additional requirements that will go into effect in January 2013, especially for packages that include a tracking or extra services barcode.
The DMM language changes spread across at least 7 pages of the PB, and even the intro comments are several pages long. If you mail parcels, you will want to check out the details but know that you have at least until July before there will be any penalties involved for not using this new format.
