Postal Concierge E-tips

USPS Fun Facts: Top Thirteen Things You Should Know About The USPS

9/18/2020

Time once again to lighten things up by sharing some fun USPS facts. This time, we will share the top thirteen facts you should know about the USPS.

PRC Approves Temporary Price Increases for Competitive Products

9/10/2020

On August 14, 2020, the USPS filed a proposal with the Postal Regulatory Commission PRC to temporarily increase prices for domestic competitive products. On September 4, 2020, the PRC approved these price adjustments. The changed pricing takes effect October 18, 2020, and will roll back to current pricing levels on December 27, 2020.

Seamless Acceptance: Don't Procrastinate

9/3/2020

This past June, the USPS activated all Detached Mail Unit and CRIDs to Seamless Parallel if they were not already in Seamless Acceptance. Starting in May 2021, the USPS will move all remaining Seamless Parallel CRIDs to full Seamless. Then in July 2021, the USPS will perform Seamless Acceptance verifications for all Full-Service mailings.

Stormy Weather

8/27/2020

As we watch reports regarding Hurricane Laura and its impacts on the Gulf Coast, as well as the wildfires in California, our thoughts are with the many people impacted by these situations, as well as the emergency responders and volunteers providing assistance. Many USPS facilities are closed or have reduced hours due to the impacts of the storm and fires, and this in turn can impact your mailings. Robust post-presort software provides the ability to make last minute changes to your mailing plan to accommodate these closures and re-routing of mail.

Mark Your Calendar - PostalOne Mandatory Software Update This Weekend

10/1/2020

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is issuing a MANDATORY software update for the PostalOne production system this weekend. This update will be implemented on Sunday, October 4, 2020. The PostalOne Production (PROD) system will not be available during this update process, on Sunday morning October 4, 2020 (time not yet specified by the USPS). PostalOne will then be updating the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) on Monday, October 5, 2020 (time not specified by the USPS) and TEM will be unavailable during that update period.

USPS Proposes Changes to Address Standards

9/24/2020

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is proposing changes to the Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) section 602, Addressing, to update addressing standards. This proposal was published in the September 22 Federal Register. Interested parties may submit comments regarding the proposal on or before October 22, 2020.

Mark Your Calendar! PostalOne Mandatory Software Update This Weekend

8/20/2020

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is issuing a MANDATORY software update for the PostalOne production system this weekend. This update will be implemented on Sunday, August 23, 2020. The PostalOne Production (PROD) system will not be available during this update process, on Sunday morning August 23, 2020 (time not yet specified by the USPS). PostalOne will then be updating the Test Environment for Mailers (TEM) on Monday, August 24, 2020 (time not specified by the USPS) and TEM will be unavailable during that update period.

CAPS to EPS Migration Deadline is Near

8/13/2020

As we told you in an earlier e-Tip, the USPS is ending support for the Centralized Account Processing System (CAPS) postage payment system. If you are one of the mailers still using CAPS for postage payment, you need to switch over to the Enterprise Payment System (EPS) before the deadline of August 30, 2020. The United States Postal Service (USPS) sent outreach letters the week of August 3, 2020 to customers still using permits linked to CAPS accounts who mail letters and flats products. The USPS has also been sending out industry notices for the past several months to ensure mailers can get the assistance they need to convert.

DTAC Purchases Mail.dat and Mail.XML Specifications from Idealliance

8/6/2020

In early July, the Delivery Technology Advocacy Council (DTAC) issued a press release indicating that the group entered into a purchase and transfer agreement with Idealliance for Mail.dat and Mail.XML. The specifications, along with the related User License Code program and all intellectual property will now be owned and operated by DTAC.

Improving Your Mailer Scorecard

7/30/2020

As we move closer to the mandatory Seamless Acceptance compliance dates in 2021, mailers who have not previously participated in Seamless Acceptance are working on improving their Mailer Scorecard results. The Seamless Parallel period of the program is the perfect opportunity to closely monitor your Mailer Scorecard and implement processes to improve your scores.

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