Here’s
how to address your mail for faster delivery
The US
Postal Service is driven by Bar Code on the Big Pitney-Bowes Machines
(The Machine).
These
machines sort the mail into bundles, which the postman carries down one side of
the street, or maybe into an apartment complex.
The postmen don’t have to think anymore!!! If an item isn’t on their Route, they
resubmit it to the system, or put it in an undeliverable bin where, when
somebody has some time they’ll see if they can figure where it’s supposed to
go.
1) The
bottom 5/8" of a letter is a reserved space for this Bar Code.
If there is some writing or marks in this
area, it will most likely be rejected by The Machine.
If returning the letter or it came to the
wrong address, it’s advisable to Black out the Bar Code.
2) These
machines and the postmen read the address from the Bottom Up.
The bottom address line is supposed to be
City (State Code) Zip
The next line up is the (street address and
APT or STE) or PO BOX
The next line up is the Persons Name or
Company Name
When an attention line is necessary, always
put it first.
3) The
preferred Font is GOTHIC and ALL CHARACTERS MUST BE CAPITALIZED, except the
Return
Address.
No punctuation is allowed, i.e.: comma or period.
If these standards aren’t adhered to, the
letter cannot be processed by The Machine.
In this case it goes down
another isle and is displayed on a postal
workers screen, in Rancho Cucamonga.
This worker reads it and
keys it in. When this happens a Pink Bar Code is printed
on the bottom of the back side of the letter.
4) Your
Return Address, you don’t want it to be Postally correct because The Machine
may pick that one up
instead of where you wanted it to go, and
be delivered to you.
5) You can
visit the Postmasters Web site and find out the correct “Full Address in
Standard Format”.
http://www.usps.com/ and then pic “Find a Zip Code” or http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/welcome.jsp
Another handy feature on the bottom right
is: Yellow Page and White Page lookup nationwide.
Zip Codes:
Five Numbers dash “-“ Four Numbers, the -4 numbers is the bundle that the
postman carries down one side of the street or on the 1st or 2nd
floor of an apartment complex. If your
not sure about the -4, don’t use it.
Sometimes
there’s another Code after the Zip Code.
This is the Carrier Route which consists of 2 Alpha and 2 Numeric, ie “AB12",
or just 2 numeric. This isn’t of
concern to you.
Correct
Abreviations:
State
Codes: two capital letters, and Country Codes: three capital letters.
Street
Address’: AVE(Avenue), BLVD(Boulevard), CIR(Circle), CMN(Common). CT(Court),
DR(Drive), LN(Lane), PKWY(Parkway),
PL(Place), RD(Road), ST(Street), TER(Terrace), WAY(Way)
APT(Apartment),
LOT(trailer park), RM(Room), {SP(Space)(trailer park)}, STE(Suite), TRL(Trail),
UNIT(Unit)
(I’ve seen
where CARRIAGE CIRCLE COMMON is CARRIAGE CIRCLE CMN)
PO BOX
(Post Office Box), PMB(Private Mail Box)
N(North),
S(South), E(East), W(West), NE(North East), NW(North West), SE(South East),
SW(South West)
Please
type or print address clearly in the middle of a white envelope, using black
ink. And, for fastest processing, use the printed reply envelopes provided in
your bills for making payments.
bcc072408
