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USPS Mail Presorting

Overview

This guide walks you through creating a USPS-compliant fulfillment in Pelcro, from configuring your mailing list to generating presorted reports that qualify for USPS automation discounts.

Pelcro integrates with BCC Architect™ to provide CASS™-certified address cleansing, presorting, and report generation.

What you'll accomplish:

  • Configure USPS templates and NCOA processing
  • Create a mailing list and fulfillment
  • Run presorting and generate all required USPS reports

Prerequisites:

  • USPS Mail Presorting enabled on your account — contact [email protected] to set this up
  • Your most recent mailing's Qualification Report, Postage Statement, and Final Mailing List (needed for template configuration)
Supported Features and Reports
  • CASS™-certified address cleansing
    • Corrects typos and misspellings.
    • Standardizes formatting (e.g., "Street" → "St").
    • Appends missing ZIP+4 codes.
    • Validates addresses against USPS databases.
  • Presorting
    • First-Class Mail®, Marketing Mail® (Standard), and Periodicals.
    • Entry point discounts (SCF, NDC, ADC, DDU).
    • Generates USPS-required documentation (e.g., Postage Statement PS Form 3541, Qualification Report, CASS Report).
    • Barcoded sack and tray labels.
    • Intelligent Mail® barcode support (mailpiece, sack, and tray).
  • NCOALink® (National Change of Address)
    • Keeps addresses up to date with USPS move database.
    • Helps meet USPS Move Update requirements for postage discounts.
  • Address Enrichment Attributes
    • Carrier Route
    • Delivery Point Barcode (DPBC)
    • eLOT® (Enhanced Line of Travel)
    • County, Congressional District, and more

Additionally, when you generate a USPS-enabled fulfillment in Pelcro, the following reports are produced:

Qualification & Postage

  • USPS Qualification Report — Shows how mail pieces qualified for specific presort discounts. Required for postal discounts.
  • Postage Statement (PS Form 3541 / others) — Official USPS postage statement (form depends on mail class). Used to declare postage costs.
  • Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PS Form 8125) — Postage statement for a drop shipment, required at the USPS entry facility.

Sorting & Containers

  • Mail Sort Summary Report (Presort Report) — Summary of the presort job, including settings, piece counts, and rate summaries.
  • Tray/Sack Labels — Physical labels to affix to trays or sacks of mail. Required for sorting and USPS acceptance.
  • Container Listing Report — Details of all trays, sacks, and containers in a mailing, showing what is inside each one.

Address & Geography

  • CASS Summary Report (PS Form 3553) — Proof that addresses were CASS-certified for automation discounts.
  • ZIP Code Listing Report — Breakdown of all ZIP Codes included in the mailing.
  • Detail Zone Listing Report — Piece counts sent to each postal zone (used for Periodicals and Package Services).

Electronic Files

  • Mail.dat ZIP Archive — Compressed archive containing Mail.dat files for USPS acceptance and qualification.
  • Custom Labels - Labels.csv — Mailing label data including recipient addresses, Optional Endorsement Lines (OEL), and Intelligent Mail® Barcodes (IMB).

USPS Fulfillment Guide

Follow the steps below to create a fulfillment and generate USPS-compliant reports:

Step 1: Getting Started with USPS

Before you can generate USPS reports, the Pelcro team needs to configure your USPS templates. Follow these sub-steps:

  1. Contact Pelcro support — Email [email protected] to request USPS template configuration for each of your brands.

  2. Provide the required files from your most recent mailing:

    • Qualification Report — The detailed, multi-page report showing how the mail was sorted.
    • Postage Statement — The official USPS form submitted (e.g., PS Form 3541 for Periodicals).
    • Final Mailing List — The list of addresses used for the presort.

  3. Optional: Include additional reports to ensure full USPS compliance and discount readiness:

    • CASS™ Summary Report (PS Form 3553)
    • NCOALink® Summary Report

  4. Validate sample reports — Once Pelcro configures your templates, you'll receive sample reports. Compare them against your existing USPS outputs and confirm they match.


Step 2: Enable NCOA Processing

Before you can generate USPS-compliant reports, your account must be configured for NCOA (National Change of Address) processing. We will provide you with the following forms:

  • Letter of Intent
  • NCOA Processing Acknowledgment Form

Once these forms are completed and returned, we can enable NCOA processing for your account.


Step 3: Create a Mailing List

  1. Navigate to Lists in the dashboard.
  2. Click Create New List.
  3. Under Mailable Type, select Mail Delivery. This is required for USPS presorting to trigger.
  4. Define your list criteria (filters, subscription type, etc.).
  5. Click Save.

For more details on list configuration, see Lists.


Step 4: Create a Fulfillment

  1. Navigate to Fulfillments.
  2. Click Create Fulfillment.
  3. Set List Type to Mail Delivery.
  4. Select the mailing list you created in Step 3.
  5. Click Save.

Step 5: Configure Presorting Settings

  1. From the Fulfillment page, click the ellipsis menu (…) next to your new fulfillment.
  1. Select View Fulfillment to open the fulfillment details page.
  2. Under Mail Presorting Settings, configure the following:
    • Select your USPS Template.
    • Enter the Mail Piece Information (weight, thickness, mailing date, etc.).
    • Review additional required fields.
  3. Click Initiate to begin the presorting process and generate the USPS reports.

📘

Pro Tip: Each brand or publication may have different USPS templates and presort configurations. Always confirm which templates to use before running live mailings.


Step 6: Generate USPS Reports

Once presorting completes, Pelcro automatically generates the official USPS reports. Download them from the fulfillment details page.

Report Examples

USPS Qualification Report


Postage Statement


Mail Sort Summary Report


CASS Summary Report


Tray/Sack Labels


Container Listing Report


ZIP Code Listing Report


Detail Zone Listing Report


Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PS8125)


Mail.dat ZIP Archive and Labels.csv (custom labels including OEL and IMB codes)


Troubleshooting

Common issues and solutions

USPS presorting option not available on fulfillment Verify that the mailing list uses Mail Delivery as the Mailable Type. Presorting only triggers for Mail Delivery lists. If the option is still missing, confirm that USPS Mail Presorting is enabled on your account by contacting [email protected].

Presorting fails or returns errors Check that your mailing list contains valid U.S. addresses. Invalid or incomplete addresses (missing ZIP codes, PO Box formatting issues) can cause presorting to fail. Also confirm the correct USPS template is selected for your mail class.

Reports are missing or incomplete Ensure the presorting process completed before downloading reports. If the process is still running, wait for it to finish. If it completed but reports are missing, verify your USPS template configuration with Pelcro support.

NCOA processing not working Confirm that both the Letter of Intent and NCOA Processing Acknowledgment Form have been submitted and approved. NCOA processing cannot run until these forms are on file.

Addresses not updating after NCOA NCOA updates apply to the fulfillment output, not to the original subscriber records. Review the final mailing list in the fulfillment details to see updated addresses.


Next Steps

  • Lists — Learn more about creating and managing mailing lists.
  • Fulfillments — Explore fulfillment options beyond USPS mail delivery.
  • For questions about USPS templates, NCOA configuration, or presort settings, contact [email protected].

Updated 3 days ago