Today's Postal Bulletin is here. There are three DMM Revisions, but nothing that should affect Presort. The revisions are:
- Express Mail and Priority Mail Open and Distribute eVS Tags and Labels (new tags for mailings prepared under an authorized eVS manifest mailing system)
- Folded Self-Mailer Clarifications (amending the standards published 27 Jan 2013)
- Clarification of Eligibility Standards for Merchandise Return Service (Parcel Select is not eligible)
Otherwise there are just the "normal" kinds of changes - miscellaneous ZIP reassignments from facility closures, for example, that will be incorporated in the next directory file updates.
There is also an article here, “USPS Issues ‘Clean Sweep’ of MTE in Delivery Units,” describing their efforts to protect their $225 million investment over the past two years in Mail Transport Equipment (MTE). There are pictures included of improper (and most likely common) uses of MTE, such as using a letter tray as a makeshift toolbox or storing random items in stacked flat tubs. To reduce the misuse, they are asking their delivery and retail units to return all “excess or improperly used MTE to circulation.”
I don’t recall the numbers, but a few years ago I heard the estimates for how much MTE paid for by the USPS was not available because it was being used for other things. Having some awareness of this issue, I even saw an article in the local paper a couple years ago about college students moving out of their dorms at year-end, and the accompanying picture showed a student carrying out a large pile of miscellaneous items in a USPS flat tub!
In other Presort news, we continue to work toward a July release in advance of the 28 July 2013 mid-year USPS update, so it’s good that we don’t have additional requirements in today’s bulletin for that release. Check back after Memorial Day to see what’s in the next issue.
