Mastering Postal Logistics in Today’s Mailing World

Direct mail strategy is so much more than just printing and sending batches of mail. Print remains one of the most powerful ways to approach current and potential customers, but mail costs can add up. That’s where postal logistics come in. It’s a series of strategies designed to make your mailings more efficient, both in time and cost.

WHAT ARE POSTAL LOGISTICS?

Put simply, postal logistics is a method of improving all aspects of your mail delivery process. It covers strategies within the mailing process designed to lower your postal costs, speed up deliveries, and ensure seamless tracking of mail pieces every step of the way.
When you apply postal logistics, you maximize the amount of ‘work’ done prior to handing mail over to the post office so that the actual mailing process is shorter and less expensive. This requires expertise and software. By combining both, the Priority postal experts can figure out the most effective entry points into the mail stream, which is the path to savings.

It’s especially important for businesses that use direct mail as a core part of their marketing strategies to work with a print and mailing partner, like Priority. Priority deeply understands how best to use postal logistics to improve ROI and achieve goals.

MAILING ENTRY POINTS

For most people and businesses, it’s standard to simply drop a batch of mail at their closest local post office, regardless of the ultimate destination. That mail is then taken to a larger center, called a Sectional Center Facility (SCF), where it is combined with other mail and moved along its journey to an even larger, regional NDC (Network Distribution Center). It then moves to the NDC that covers its destination, gets distributed to the appropriate SCF there, and heads out toward its destination.

When the Priority team plans a mailing, they evaluate whether choosing a different entry point makes sense. For example, instead of taking it to the local post office, they could ship it to a center closer to the destination, eliminating the need for transfer points within the process. This saves the USPS money since they have fewer steps and a shorter distance to transport the mail; in turn, they can pass the savings on to you by offering lower postage rates.
The exact amount of savings is determined by multiple factors, including the quantity of mail, the type of mail, and the distance to the chosen entry point. This method may incur some freight costs, and you will need permit authorization in the city of the chosen entry point if it is not the same as your current, regular location, but the overall postage savings often offset those costs.

MACHINABLE MAIL

Your mail design can impact its ability to be processed on standard USPS equipment or
‘presorted’ before even entering the mail stream. Machinable mail can be mailed at a lower cost, while non-machinable pieces will incur higher handling fees. A mailing must have a minimum of 500 pieces to qualify for presorted and automated First-Class Mail rates, while USPS Marketing Mail requires 200 pieces OR 50 pounds.
The aspect ratio is the biggest factor determining whether a mailer is machinable or non-machinable. For a letter-size piece to be machinable, the aspect ratio must be between 1.3 and 2.5. There are also a few other aspects to consider when designing mail pieces, and an experienced mailing partner like Priority can help you figure out what works best for your unique project.

COMMINGLING

Commingling for mailing is a process where mail from multiple clients and larger quantity mailings are combined into one mailing. The combined mail is sorted by zip codes to achieve greater postal discounts. By aggregating mail volumes, customers benefit from bulk rates that wouldn’t be available for individual mailings.

Commingling adds an extra step and time to the mailing process, so talk to the Priority mail experts ahead of time to determine if it is right for you.
Postal increases, promotions, and changes occur annually, and it can be a challenge to keep up with everything and stay on budget. You need an expert mailing partner who knows how to minimize your spending, maximize your success rates, and suggest other options such as Postal Track and Trace, USPS postal promotions, Every Door Direct Mail®, and more. You’ll save money and perform better.