This fall looks to be a doozy! It’s an even-numbered year, AND a presidential election year. The Postal Service continues to make network changes, with 15 new SDCs slated to be launched in September. Here are some tools and tips you can use to plan as best as possible:
- If you are doing political mail, be sure to use the correct STID in your IMbs. Political mail will get special handling, and facilities will be cleared of it before the election. Go ahead and red-tag your political mail, too.
- If you are mailing Marketing Mail that is not political, realize that your mail may be shunted aside while facilities focus on political and ballot mail. Build it into your mail plan.
- Flats delivery may be particularly problematic for origin-entered mail. If you are dropping directly into the SCF or DDU you should be OK. Try to avoid using the Postal Service for long-distance transportation.
- SnailWorks provides excellent tools for planning using our delivery analytics tools which are available to all SnailWorks customers. From the Analytics tab you can generate delivery performance reports and maps built from billions of mail pieces tracked by SnailWorks. The SCF to State Map shows you how long mail takes on average to deliver from your chosen entry point to states across the country, choosing the applicable class and shape of the mail piece.
You can also enter a mail date and see when delivery is predicted for each state. Importantly, you can also select the data timespan you wish to use. In a rapidly changing postal environment as we expect this fall, you should choose to just use the last two or four weeks of data to build your projection.
- You can also get more granular data from the SCF to Zip3 Map under analytics.
- Of course, every mailing is unique, and conditions can change, so tracking your own mail, and keeping an eye on the results is essential.
- You can also get a general overview of national delivery conditions every Monday morning on SnailWorks’ Linked In page.
Main Takeaways
Expect a challenging mailing season this year and be sure to build extra time in for delivery. Whenever possible, be sure to drop mail as close as possible to the delivery point to minimize postal handling and transportation. And keep your customers’ minds at ease by keeping them informed on how the Postal Service is performing, and how their mail is delivering.
Need help with our analytics tools? Contact us.