The USPS is doing a remarkably bad job handling flat mail through its Flats Sequencing System (or FSS.)
And flats mailers – a huge part of the USPS’s overall business and probably their most important clients – aren’t taking it lying down.
“Because the Flats Sequencing System is not performing as anticipated, a mailers coalition is urging the Postal Service to rethink how it handles catalogs, magazines, and other flat mail,” writes the author of Dead Tree Blog.
That coalition recently presented the USPS with a lengthy report on the state of the program, outlining in excruciatingly technical detail the myriad problems with the FSS system.
The letter chides the USPS by asking pertinent questions that, we would think, the USPS would already have asked – and answered – before implementing the FSS altogether.
“More than one-third of the mail intended for FSS is actually bypassing the machines, which are also experiencing a reject rate of up to 10%,” the article continues. “USPS and industry together should revisit some of the most basic assumptions about flat mail.”
Leakages, rejections, problems with machine capacity and availability all represent significant challenges to mailers at a time when we are all struggling with rising postage costs.
The USPS needs to pay attention and work with the customers that support this organization. While nobody likes being told they aren’t doing their job correctly, it is in their best interest to listen. Our industry is seeking – we assume – the same goals: Efficient, effective and affordable mail delivery.
It’s time to get this right.
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