Address Change Service saves 50 cents per error

National News: The Postal Service has two items pending in the Federal Register.

To reduce the volume of undeliverable-as-addressed (UAA) mail the Postal Service proposes:

· to extend the Move Update requirement for presorted rate mailings beyond First-Class Mail to also include Periodicals, Standard Mail, and Package Services.

· to decrease from 180 days to 90 days the window a mailer has to process addresses through a USPS-approved Move Update process prior to the mailing date.

· to remove manual notification from ancillary service endorsements as a stand-alone option to satisfy the Move Update requirements for more frequent use of address matching software to utilize more current address matching directories.

The changes would not take affect for at least a year and a half.

The USPS costs associated with UAA mail in fiscal year 2000 were $1.8 billion. UAA volume for that year totaled 5.7 billion pieces. The UAA volume has grown by 5.26 percent in two years.

How will this affect you?

The Postal Service is proposing the elimination of manual notification resulting from ancillary service endorsements as a method to meet the approved Move Update requirement.

The Postal Service may eliminate the automation and presorted rate discounts if mailers are not in compliance.

I want to encourage you to look at the option of using Address Change Service (ACS); the cost is 20 cents vs. 70 cents for the address change fee. Download Publication 8 from the USPS web site and learn more about ACS. (The file is a PDF.)

Also, you may receive an ACS hard copy with all of the address changes on a hard copy. A good software package also may save you a lot of money.

The Postal Service tested nine mailers in the Southeast and discovered some were not using Move Update properly and/or not updating their addresses with an approved method every 180 days. The mailers were assessed penalties for discounts claimed.

The mailers have appealed and the Postal Service is studying the case before ruling on the penalties.

The Postal Service has the capability to check your mailing and determine if and when you have updated your addresses without visiting your office. This is one of the reasons the Postal Service is recommending a 90-day update, instead of the present 180-day. The other is to diminish the $1.8 billion cost for UAA mail.