Patent ID: 7996333

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable medium tangibly embodied in a storage device encoded with instructions which, when executed on a processor, perform a method of determining efficient routing of a mail piece in a delivery system for delivering mail pieces, the method comprising: determining whether the mail piece requires urgent delivery or non-urgent delivery; processing the mail piece, if the mail piece requires urgent delivery, according to an urgent delivery processing procedure, the urgent delivery processing procedure comprising: determining a first weight of the mail piece; comparing the first weight of the mail piece to a first predetermined value; selecting priority delivery if the first weight exceeds the first predetermined value; and selecting standard delivery if the first weight does not exceed the first predetermined value; processing the mail piece, if the mail piece requires non-urgent delivery, according to a non-urgent delivery processing procedure, the non-urgent delivery processing procedure comprising: determining a second weight of the mail piece; comparing the second weight of the mail piece to a second predetermined value; selecting high-weight services if the second weight exceeds the second predetermined value; and selecting standard services if the second weight does not exceed the second predetermined value; and determining, based on whether the mail piece was processed according to the urgent delivery processing procedure or the non-urgent delivery processing procedure, a desired place in which to introduce the mail piece into the delivery system based on lowest cost.