Flats Addressing Changes

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January 7, 2009

DELIVERY ADDRESS PLACEMENT & FORMATTING FOR FLATS
Why You Need to Pay Attention to How You Address Your Flat Size Mail

With another postal regulation comes another change, and new standards to learn. Beginning on March 29, 2009, the way that flats need to be addressed will change. A flat size mail piece is any piece larger that letter size (6 1/8" x 11 1/2"), but less than 15 inches long and 12 inches high.

Currently, there are no standards for the placement of the delivery address on a flat size mail piece and this new regulation will not only improve consistency throughout the mail stream, but also will allow flat size mail pieces to be run through new postal equipment. The Postal Service is rolling out the new Flats Sequencing System in order to automate the delivery of flat sized mail. This new equipment allows for sorting of the flat sized mail pieces that previously had to be done using a much slower process. This new regulation is similar to the process that letter size mail pieces went through during the 1990s.

Now that the reasons are clear for the new requirement, the important thing is to make sure to fully and completely understand what this new regulation means for you. The best way to learn this new requirement is to see a visual representation. The following links will take you to the USPS fact sheet for the new requirements for addressing standard mail flats and a Flats Addressing Guide. Of course, feel free to contact your BlueGrass Mailing representative with questions or for further clarification.

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