On March 29th, 2009 the new USPS addressing requirements for flats went into affect. Flats are defined as direct mail measuring 11.5″ (w) x 6.125″ (h) up to a maximum size of 15″ (w) x 12″ (h).

To make things simple, we’re going to recap the new requirements and then point you to a couple of PDFs that contain additional information. This recap comes straight from the PDFs linked to below.

3 New Requirements for Standard & First-Class Mail:

1./ Mailers must address each piece using a minimum of 8-point type. Each character must be at least 0.080 inch high.

2./ If the mailpiece bears a POSTNET or Intelligent Mail barcode with a delivery point routing code, mailers may use 6-point type in all capital letters. Each character must be at least 0.065 inch high.

3./ On all automation pieces, the characters in the address must not overlap, the address lines must not touch or overlap, and each address element may be separated by no more than five blank character spaces. (A blank character space can equal the width of the widest letter used in the type.)

1 Additional Requirement For Standard Mail Only:

1./ Mailers must place the delivery address in the “top half” of the mailpiece (at the time of this writing, every piece of USPS literature we have says this is NOT a requirement for First-Class flat mail).

For more detailed addressing information, click below on the class of flat direct mail you send out.

First-Class | Standard

###

Welcome back. Have you subscribed to our blog's email updates yet? Remember - you also get the free whitepaper pictured left on cutting direct mail costs.

Note: Are you looking for information on the 2010 postage rate?

###

There will be a postage rate increase on all classes of mail effective May 11th, 2009.

The increase is actually at or under the rate of inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

Here’s a quick recap of the new rates:

Local Entry – 5 digit automated letter: $0.233
Local Entry – Non-profit 5 digit auto letter: $0.132

Local Entry – 5 digit automated flat: $0.346
Local Entry – 5 digit Non-profit auto flat: $0.212

You can also download the 41-page USPS price list here:

http://www.ballantine.com/2009-postage.pdf

If you have ANY postal questions, please contact Matt:
matt (at) ballantine.com

###

The new USPS Move Update regulations went into affect on November 23rd and we’ve seen a significant increase in traffic to our blog via Move Update related search terms.

As a result, we created the 3 minute video below to give you information you may find helpful. This is in addition to our previous Move Update post.

In the video we mentioned there were multiple ways to comply with the new Move Update regulations. Here they are…please discuss with your mail house:

• NCOAlink (recommended way)
• One Code ACS
• Appropriate ancillary service endorsement
• FASTforward MLOCR

If you have any questions, however, we’re more than willing to help as well. You can contact Matt Cote at: matt (at) ballantine.com.