Weird Rules and Good Habits

This is a post with two parts...one which you have no control over, and one which you do. Both have to do with our relationship with the U.S. Postal Service. The first is a rule change effective October 5, 2009:

QSG 201b Commercial Letters and Postcards - Using Tabs, Wafer Seals and Glue Strips

This two page notice is self explanatory, and worth printing out if you do a lot of mailing. It's current information may impact your design decisions and mail processing costs. USPS is serious about automation-compatible mail, so be aware that all regs are being strictly enforced. For those who are picture oriented here's the relevant graphic, which is page two of the notice:

(Click on the image to see full-size)

You can't do anything about the Byzantine USPS rules, but it's important to understand those parts of the mailing process you must participate in directly. If something goes wrong in this regard we all feel bad, but it's you, the customer, who bears responsibility for compliance, and will sacrifice the discounts available for automation-compatible mail. With that in mind, Your Friend in the Printing Business discloses the Mail Service Provider Top Five suggestions:

1) Be familiar with USPS requirements about elements on your mailpiece. Notice 67 from USPS is a plastic template which defines various elements such as min and max sizes, clear area for barcodes, OCR Read Area (optical character cognition of address), and FIM location (facing identification marks for reply mail).

This graphic is a simplified version of the template available at the Bulk Mail Entry Unit of the Post Office. If you print this one out, please be sure it's true to scale before you use it for real! (Click on image to see full size.)

Many requirements have changed recently, and they are important! Phil at Modern Mailers in Tallahassee, (who supplied a lot of information for this post), told me that USPS has rejected about 6 jobs in the last two weeks for problems such as background printing in the barcode clear area.

2) Confirm, in advance, whose permit number will be used, and what type of postage the indicia should specify. This insures that the correct permit language can be incorporated into the original design, and not have to be tacked on as an afterthought. It will also prompt you to tackle some logistical decisions, such as where does the job deliver to for mailing, do they know it's coming, and is there money in the permit (see number 5).

3) Submit your list to the mail service provider before you place your printing order. New regulations require your list be processed through the NCOA database (National Change of Address) to eliminate uncodable entries. We have actually seen jobs drop in quantity by thousands, (even, in one case, tens of thousands) after this step. If the printing order has been placed, and stock cut to size, you may end up owning a lot of extra paper!

4) Watch the thickness minimums Chuck at TCB Marketing (who also provided much insight for this post) told me the #1 problem he sees is material printed on paper which does not come up to the thickness minimums. If your final size is 3.5" x 5" (the minimum) the final thickness must be .007" which is equivalent to #65 uncoated cover. If your final size is larger than 4.25 x 6" all the way up to 11.5 x 6 (the max for letter-size mail) the thickness must be .009" which is where most of the problems come up.

Here's a chart of typical papers relative to the .009" thickness standard, (please bear in mind these are somewhat general):

(Click on image to see full size)

5) Be sure there's money in the permit! If your job gets to USPS and there's no money in the permit the result is obvious...confusion, delay, embarrassment...all the worst parts about working with a tangible product.

The Domestic Mail Manual, the definitive rules and regulations, is well over 1,000 pages long and the USPS website is equally impenetrable. It's difficult even to be conversant in this area, but you have responsibilities as a mailer none the less. The good news is that there are always friendly, competent people available to help at your printer, mail service provider, or the bulk mail unit at USPS.

The secret, as with so much of what we discuss, is to get a hold of these good people while your project is in development so changes can be worked in. The consequences of getting these details wrong can be dire, but some planning, (and a few timely questions), should keep you out of trouble. Neither snow nor sleet, nor dark of night or crazy rules will keep you from looking like a pro!

Thanks for reading! I am proud to observe that this post marks the one year anniversary of this blog! I'm having way to much fun!

Hugh Butler
Your Friend in the Printing Business