# Presentation: 196436

## Parcel Endorsement Options and Shipper Paid Forwarding

- 8/05/08

## 13.7% of all Americans move each year
41.1 million individual / family Change-of-Address (COA) filings
19.3% of all businesses move each year
2.3 million business COA filings
146+ million delivery points in USPS® database
1.8 million new addresses are added each year

- 41.1 million individual / family Change-of-Address (COA) filings
- 19.3% of all businesses move each year
- 2.3 million business COA filings
- 146+ million delivery points in USPS® database
- 1.8 million new addresses are added each year

- America Is Growing & On the Move

**Notes:**

First, Allow me to set the stage on why we need an Address Change Service.

We Live in a very dynamic environment.

The Census Bureau tells us:
   13.7% of Americans moved last year
Resulting in over 41M COA orders for individuals & families 
   Almost 20% of Businesses move each year
Resulting in 2.3M Business Change of Address orders 
The USPS services 145M delivery addresses. 
It adds 1.8M new delivery addresses each year. 
As you can see, given the magnitude of these changes, managing address quality is critical – the impact, as you will see, is significant. 
If address lists aren’t proactively managed mail will become UAA
 and the USPS then has to react in 1 of 3 ways, depending on the mail class: 
   Forward the Mail – 2.  Return the Mail – or 3. Discard the Mail

None of the actions are positive for the Postal Service or the Mailing Industry. 

But these are all too common problem actions.

## Undeliverable Parcels

- Forward
- Return
- Waste
- No Address Corrections
- Corrections on Changes of Address (COA) only
- Corrections on all Undeliverable-as- Addressed (UAA)

## Address Correction Methods/Content

- PS Form 3547
- ACSTM electronic record
- Correction affixed to returned piece
- New address information
- Reason for nondelivery

## Mailer’s Decisions

- The mailer must decide:
- If my mail cannot be delivered as addressed, how do I want the mailpiece treated?
- If my mailpiece cannot be delivered, do I want the address correction? Do I want the reason for nondelivery?
- If I want the new address or nondelivery reason, how do I want to receive it?
- How much do I want to pay for undeliverable pieces?

## Mailpiece Disposition

- What do I want done with the mail?
- Forward where possible, return the rest?
- Dispose of all UAA?
- Dispose of all UAA that cannot be forwarded?
- Return everything?

## Address Corrections

- Do I want a hardcopy notice?
- Do I want electronic notices, but only of forwarding information?
- Do I want a hardcopy if electronic cannot be produced?

## Express Mail®

- Forward with separate address correction, return with correction affixed (ASR1)
- Return all pieces with correction affixed (RSR)
- Forward (no correction) or return with correction affixed (FSR)
- All corrections manual only

## First-ClassTM/Priority Mail®

- Forward with separate address correction, return with correction affixed (ASR1)
- Dispose of all pieces, separate correction provided (CSR1) (Priority – perishable only)
- Return all pieces with correction affixed (RSR)
- Return all pieces with correction affixed, except forward temporary (TRSR)
- Forward (no correction) or return with correction affixed (FSR)

## First-ClassTM/Priority Mail®

- Forward with separate address correction, return with correction affixed, electronic correction in all cases (ASR2)
- Dispose of all pieces, separate correction provided (CSR1) (Priority – perishable only)
- Forward with separate address correction, dispose all other undeliverables, electronic correction in all cases (CSR2)
- Require ACSTM participation

## Standard Mail®

- Forward with separate address correction, return with correction affixed (ASR)
- Dispose of all pieces, separate correction provided (CSR)
- Return all pieces with correction affixed (RSR)
- Forward (no correction) or return with correction affixed (FSR)

## Standard Forwarding/Return Postage

- Forwarding postage is not collected directly
- All mail pieces returned because they are undeliverable and bear an ancillary service endorsement requesting **forwarding** pay the **weighted fee** on return (2.472 x appropriate First-ClassTM or Priority Mail® rate).
- Other requested returns charged at appropriate single-piece First-Class or Priority Mail rate or Bulk Parcel Return Service (BPRS) rate if applicable.

## Standard Mail® BPRS

- Requires an annual fee
- Requires an Accounting fee
- Requires a minimum of 10,000 returned pieces in 12 months
- Requires endorsement of Return or Address Service Requested-BPRS
- Requires machinable classification
- Pays a flat rate for each return

## Standard Mail® Shipper Paid Forwarding (SPF)

- Requires Traditional ACSTM
- Requires the use of Address Service Requested or Address Service Requested – BPRS ancillary service endorsement.
- Allows mailer to be charged forwarding postage billed via ACS account.  Each forwarded piece generates an address correction and a postage charge for the single piece rate.
- Returned pieces are charged the single piece rate or BPRS rate as applicable, collected at return office.

## Package Services

**Bound Printed Matter**
- Waste all pieces, no address corrections (Unendorsed)
- Forward where possible, return undeliverable with correction affixed (FSR)
- Waste all pieces, separate address correction (CSR)

## Package Services

**Bound Printed Matter**
- Return all pieces with address correction affixed (RSR)
- Forward all possible, separate address correction, return undeliverables with address correction affixed  (ASR)
- Shipper Paid Forwarding available

## Library/Media Mail®

- Forward locally free
- Forward non-locally postage due
- Returns at qualifying rate if marked
- Forward where possible, return undeliverable with correction affixed (FSR)
- Waste all pieces, separate address correction (CSR)

## Library/Media Mail®

- Return all pieces with address correction affixed (RSR)
- Forward all possible, separate address correction, return undeliverables with address correction affixed  (ASR)
- Shipper Paid Forwarding

## All other Package Services 

- Forward locally free
- Forward non-locally postage due
- Returns at single-piece zone rate
- Forward where possible, return undeliverable with correction affixed (FSR)
- Waste all pieces, separate address correction (CSR)

## All other Package Services

- Return all pieces with address correction affixed (RSR)
- Forward all possible, separate address correction, return undeliverables with address correction affixed  (ASR)
- Shipper paid forwarding may be available

## Package Services Forwarding/Return Charges

- Forwarded locally no charge
- Forwarded non-locally postage due
- Returns at single piece zone rate or BPRS rate (if applicable)
- Shipper paid forwarding available for qualifying pieces

## Package Services Shipper Paid Forwarding

- Requires Traditional ACSTM
- Requires the use of Address Service Requested or Address Service Requested – BPRS ancillary service endorsement.
- Allows mailer to be charged forwarding postage billed via ACS account.  Each forwarded piece generates an address correction and a postage charge for the single piece rate.
- Returned pieces are charged the single piece zone rate or BPRS rate as applicable

## Traditional ACSTM

- The USPS® assigns the mailer a Participant ID (PID) consisting of 7 alpha characters.
- The mailer completes a profile, choosing a class and mailpiece treatment option for each Participant ID.
- The mailer prints the Participant ID and optional keyline at the top of the address block.
- The mailer prints the requested ancillary service endorsement on each piece.

## Traditional ACSTM

- The Computerized Forwarding System (CFS) uses the Participant ID and optional keyline, class and ancillary service endorsement typed into the system by a clerk – along with Change-of-Address records or reasons for nondelivery to determine the disposition of the mailpiece and produce ACS records.

## ACSTM Record Content

- COA record contains the Move Effective Date, move type (Family, Individual, Business), parsed name - from the COA, *not the mailpiece*, parsed old and new address.
- Nixie record contains the Participant ID, the keyline, and the reason for nondelivery code.

## New Address Quality

- Because ACSTM data comes directly from the forwarding database, some percentage of those new addresses will not DPV® confirm. The information provided on the record is the information we use for forwarding.
- COA data is corrected where possible through processes like LACSLink®, Address Element Correction (AEC), AEC II®,  and the Electronic Unresolved Address Reporting System (eUARS).

## Nondelivery Codes

- USPS® provides a reason for nondelivery if the mail cannot be delivered or forwarded.
- ACSTM reasons for nondelivery are a subset of the total.  The others cannot be automated and must be provided manually.

## Source of Nixie data

- Mail is determined to be undeliverable only by the clerk, carrier, or postmaster at the address on the mail.
- Each piece is marked with the reason for nondelivery and submitted to CFS for processing
- Nixie data does not come from a database.  It is determined on each individual mailpiece.

## Nondelivery Codes

| Attempted—Not Known | Delivery attempted, addressee not known at place of address. |
| --- | --- |
| Illegible | Address not readable. |
| In Dispute | Mail returned to sender by order of chief field counsel because of dispute about right to delivery of mail and cannot be determined which disputing party has better right to mail. |
| Insufficient Address | Mail without number, street, box number, route number, or geographical section of city or city and state omitted and correct address not known. |
| No Mail Receptacle | Addressee failed to provide a receptacle for receipt of mail. |
| No Such Number | Addressed to nonexistent number and correct number not known. |
| No Such Office in State | Addressed to nonexistent Post OfficeTM  (X) |
| No Such Street | Addressed to nonexistent street and correct street not known. |
| Not Deliverable as Addressed—Unable to Forward | Mail undeliverable at address given; no change-of-address order on file; forwarding order expired. (Q) |
| Outside Delivery Limits | Addressed to location outside delivery limits of Post Office of address. Hold mail for out-of-bounds customers in general delivery for specified period unless addressee filed order. |
| Refused | Addressee refused to accept mail or pay postage charges on it |
| Returned for Better Address | Mail of local origin incompletely addressed for distribution or delivery. |
| Temporarily Away | Addressee temporarily away and period for holding mail expired (W) |
| Unclaimed | Addressee abandoned or failed to call for mail. |
| Vacant | House, apartment, office, or building not occupied. (Use only if mail addressed "Occupant.")  |

## Undeliverable, but not a nixie ACSTM record

## Temporarily Away

- Legitimate reason for non-delivery
- Two ways to receive:
- Either the customer has a temporary change of address on file
- The customer left mail on hold and did not return on schedule.  Carrier/clerk not yet able to submit permanent database entry

## ACSTM Account Approval (prior to mailing)

- ACS mailers must submit samples to the ACS department for approval prior to account activation.
- Samples are reviewed for correct use and placement of ancillary service endorsements the Participant ID and the keyline

## Record Fulfillment

- Address corrections are compiled by Participant ID and posted to RIBBSTM or mailed on CD.
- Mailer chooses daily, biweekly, weekly, bimonthly, or monthly fulfillments.
- Mailer logs into website manually or through a script or other automated process to collect data.

## Record Delivery on RIBBSTM

- Access is provided via a login and password by the customer account number, also known as a MEM number.
- MEM number is an “umbrella” account number for billing purposes, under which PIDs can be grouped, by class.

## Fulfillments and Shipping Notices

- Each fulfillment data file is accompanied by a Shipping Notice file.
- The file format is available in the ACSTM technical guides.
- The Shipping Notice file provides the number and type of ACS records provided in the fulfillment file of the same date.

## Monthly Billing

- Each month, an invoice is sent to the PID/MID holder showing each fulfillment, the types of records fulfilled, and the amount due.
- Invoices are payable 30 days net
- Statements are also provided.

## For More Information

- Traditional ACSTM, please read USPS® Pub 8a
- OneCode ACS®, please read USPS Pub 8b
- Both are available on RIBBSTM at _[http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/ACS/](http://ribbs.usps.gov/files/ACS/)_
- Check out our website _[http://](http://ribbs.usps.gov/)__[ribbs.usps.gov](http://ribbs.usps.gov/)__[/](http://ribbs.usps.gov/)_
- Also be sure to read DMM® 507 for more information on the treatment of UAA mail.

- Thank you for your time and attention. I hope you found this presentation and discussion helpful.