Klarinet Archive - Posting 000213.txt from 1998/12

From: alchev@-----.com (Al Chiavarini)
Subj: [kl] Bar Codes
Date: Sun, 6 Dec 1998 02:05:15 -0500

On 3 Dec 1998 22:31:16 -0500, you wrote:
>The post office requires the program generating the bar code to be one
of
>the programs they approve. Not all software programs are approved.
They
>have a list of programs that are accepted and this approved list is
>changed every six months.

I didn't see the message to which you're replying (and I looked for it;
did you
send this to klarinet by mistake?), but I wanted to find out what you're
talking about. I find this paragraph hard to believe. When *I* last
looked at
the domestic mail manual (DMM), there was no such restriction.

The delivery point bar code (DPBC) is well-specified in the DMM, and is
very
easy to generate. Heck, I wrote a mailing label program and generated
the DPBC
(zip+4+2) myself. The post office never complained.

However, I was not attempting to get "bulk mail" rates. Is that what
you're
talking about? Do you know where I could get a look at this list? There
are
so many different platforms in use, I am dubious that the post office
would
attempt this kind of control.

--
- Tim Roberts, timr@-----.com
Providenza & Boekelheide, Inc.

I'm sorry that the original message that I was responding to did not
appear.
I was referring to the lower rate that the post office offers to bar code
users. We put out large mailings at bulk rate for our concert patrons
and a lower rate is offered if you use a proper bar code. When I
inquired about this at the location where the bulk rate mail is accepted
I was shown a list of accepted programs. The program that you used had to
be certified every six months.

I do not recall all of the accepted ones but do remember that Pitney
Bowls was one of them. This sparked my curiosity . I have several
addressing programs and compared the bar codes generated to a single
address and noted that they were not all alike. The program I use to
address envelopes for my personal mail generates a bar code and at the
time was not approved by the post office. Anyhow the very small
reduction in the bulk mail rate for using the bar code was not worth the
effort and time. Just because a code is printed on a piece of mail does
not mean that the PO can use it. It has to be acceptable to their
readers for their use.

We put out a mailing of about 1800 flyers each mailing.

The PO offers a very low bulk rate to non-profit organizations. your
organization must have a 501 (c) (3) non-profit rating. The use of a
permit imprint on the material has a $85.00 one time fee. It sure beats
applying a stamp on each piece of material. The addition of a bar code
would have lowered the cost of the mailing further, however as I stated
above we felt it wasn't worth the effort. The bulk mailing fee is $85.00
per year. You must have at least two hundred pieces of mail per mailing
The permit imprint is valid as long as long as it is used once every two
years.

The mail must be sorted and banded according to zipcodes and the number
of pieces per zip code--etc. It was sort of confusing but made sense in
the long road

This information is available at the bulk mailing counter at any post
office.

Al Chiavarini
Principal Clarinet
Suncoast Symphony Orchestra
alchev@-----.com

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