UPDATE: USPS First-Class Air Mail SCF-Pallet Discount

WASHINGTON, DC — The United States Postal Service is putting First-Class Mail back on airlines, offering mailers an SCF-Pallet discount for letter-shaped pieces.

Mailers must apply appropriate D&R Tags to outbound trays, which are then palletized, sent to processing, and ultimately placed on a scheduled airline.

To print D&R tags, use the PostalOne system from MAI (click for website) or call 704-400-0034

Click for Air/Surface Tagging Systems listing in the Official Mail Guide

From the Federal Register Notice:

4.3.2 AADC First Class Mail Letter-Shaped Pieces SCF-Pallet Discount

Eligibility

The SCF-pallet discount applies to AADC-eligible First Class Mail letter-shaped pieces that are palletized under 705.8.10.1b to 705.8.10.1d. Note: The SCF pallet discount also applies to pieces that are palletized according to a Customer/Supplier Agreement (CSA) with the following processing codes:

–Local
–Surface
–Air

Containers with processing codes for Mixed Air, Mixed Surface, Working, and Single-Piece do not qualify for the SCF pallet discount.

From NAPM: First Class SCF Pallet Discount – Mail.Dat / Validation / Audit

USPS is implementing an SCF pallet discount for First Class Mail volumes, the SCF Pallet discount is priced at the cost avoided if a single tray sort is not needed for Letters, Postcards and Flats by the USPS. The intent is to incentivize mailers to produce more pallets of FCM that avoid these processes, increase efficiencies and benefit service on the mail volumes.

First Class mailers currently build pallets using two methods, they are either building pallets based on the DMM requirements found in section 705.8, which requires a minimum of 72 linear ft (36 2 foot trays roughly 15,000 pieces of letter volume). Alternatively, they are driven from a CSA process which is an agreement between the mailer and the USPS, these CSAs are managed by USPS Headquarters staff, the BMEUs and the mailers, in the process of building a CSA the USPS reviews the volumes historically of the mailer and defines potential separations that equal full pallets. In the CSAs the USPS identify pallets that are sorted to finer levels that avoid Tray Sortation at origin, these separations are noted as either Surface or AIR, Surface and Local containers. These separations would align with the current MM SCF pallet discount at an equivalent level and achieve the goal of avoiding Tray Sorts by the USPS providing a .004 per piece incentive.

CSA Levels:

Working – Mixed Mail any destination requiring sortation locally (not eligible)

Mixed Surface – Container equivalent to an NDC/RPDC type sortation, requiring some HSTS sortation (not eligible)

Mixed AIR – Container comprised of AIR volume from the origin mailer but does not have an ACT / D&R label on the HU, USPS must TMS the volume locally to assign to AIR Stops (not eligible)

AIR (Eligible SCF Pallet Discount container) – Container composed of AIR volume from origin but has been assigned an AIR Stop by the mailer using a SAMS / TMS system avoiding the USPS having to TMS the volume. Currently these destinations are grouped only by the AIR Code on the ACT tag, the USPS could define these with ZIP and AIR Code information to align to the SCF ranges and still receive the ACT Tag from the mailer.

Surface (Eligible SCF Pallet Discount Container) – Container that is ground transported and is built to avoid tray sortation prior to arriving at destination processing facility (LPC/SCF/P&DC), these are currently SCF / AADC type containers essentially the same as a container using the SCF Label list based on DMM requirements