Patent ID: 7062473

Claim:
A process of creating a drop ship index file so as to allow a mailer to receive postal discounts for mailing at an eligible USPS postal facility a plurality of mail pieces to a plurality of mailing addresses, wherein the postal discounts are provided in accordance with USPS Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) rate or discounting for mailing Periodicals and Standard Mail at a plurality of eligible USPS postal facilities, wherein the drop ship index file contains a plurality of local ZIP codes and carrier routes associated with each eligible USPS postal facility, said process comprising the steps of: a) providing a USPS Drop Ship Address File, which contains a plurality of addresses of the eligible USPS postal facilities and a drop site key; b) retrieving the addresses of the eligible USPS postal facilities, wherein each address contains a ZIP code; c) sorting the retrieved addresses of the eligible USPS postal facilities by the drop site key; d) providing a USPS Drop Ship ZIP Carrier Route File which contains a plurality of local ZIP codes and carrier routes associated with the eligible DDU USPS postal facilities, a drop site letter key, and a drop site other key; e) retrieving from the USPS Drop Ship ZIP Carrier Route File the plurality of local ZIP codes and carrier routes eligible for DDU discounting, the drop site letter key, and the drop site other key; f) sorting the retrieved local ZIP codes and carrier routes by the drop site letter key; g) merging the retrieved addresses of the eligible USPS postal facilities as sorted in step (c) and the retrieved local ZIP codes and carrier routes as sorted in step (d); h) sorting the merged addresses and ZIP codes/carrier routes by the drop site other key; i) creating a plurality of identification codes, each for one retrieved address of the eligible USPS postal facilities so that when the mailer uses an identification code to identify the eligible USPS postal facility where the mailer drops off the mail pieces for mailing, the local ZIP codes and carrier routes associated with said eligible USPS postal facility are used to check against each of the mailing addresses to determine whether said mailing address are available for DDU discounting.