USPS Postal Bulletin 22166
US Post Office
October 25th, 2005
USPS Postal Bulletin 22166 outlines a new MANDATORY mailing standard to enhance their ability to process bundles of flat-size and irregular parcel mail pieces.
Compliance by April 30th, 2006 is mandatory! Failure to comply will result in returned bundled mail pieces by your local post office.
The new standard is for use on the USPS new Automated Package Processing System (APPS) equipment.
APPS has optical character reader (OCR) technology that enables it to read delivery information on bundles of mail and process that mail efficiently.
The new standards are being added to the "Mailing Standards Manual United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual" (DMM).
The United States Postal Service recommends that strapping used for bundling be clear and smooth, and have less than 70 percent haze.
Clear smooth strapping that is tightly secured around the bundle does not obstruct visibility. Compliant strapping should not contain any seams or texture marks that obscure address characters…
The United States Post office will not assess penalties on bundles not meeting standards until April 2006