Lettermail™ Presort

Amendment/Revision

Customers should ensure they are using the most current version of the Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide, including all amendments and other applicable documents, which are posted on the Canada Post website. See in particular, www.canadapost.ca/postalservices for key documents.

Significant changes appear in red in the electronic version.

In addition, when there is an amendment or a revision to the document, the version number will be modified as follows:

• an amendment increases the first digit in the version (e.g., version 2.0, 3.0).
• a revision increases the second digit in the version (e.g., version 1.1, 1.2, 1.3).
• the version number restarts at 1.0 every January.

Table of Contents

Customers should ensure they are using the most current version of the Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide and other applicable documents, which are posted on the Canada Post website. See in particular, www.canadapost.ca/postalservices for key documents.

It is the Customer’s obligation to meet all the requirements outlined in the Agreement.

Notice for Developers of Presortation Software: If there is any discrepancy between this Guide and the Presortation Technical Specifications (PTS), the PTS takes precedence.

1

Overview

1.1	Who Should Use This Guide?

This Guide has been designed to explain how to prepare Presort mail items using presortation software for the following service only:

• Incentive Lettermail™.

Visit www.canadapost.ca/postalservices for a list of support documents detailing Incentive Lettermail requirements, qualifications, terms and conditions and pricing.

1.1.1

What is Mail Presortation and Preparation?

Mail preparation is the process of facing and containerizing the items and labelling the containers. It helps ensure machineability of mail (where applicable), protection of mail, identification of the type of mail and ease of handling.

Mail presortation is the process of sequencing, grouping and containerizing the items and labelling the containers to allow Canada Post to bypass various processing steps and facilities within its mail distribution network.

1.1.2

What is Lettermail Presort?

The Presort option allows Customers to presort mail (that is, sequence, group and place mail in containers) using presortation software recognized by Canada Post, allowing Canada Post to bypass various processing steps and facilities within its mail distribution network and to pass savings on to Customers. Presort is used by Customers such as utility companies or banks; it requires a minimum of 500 items of mail per deposit.

1.2	Requirements for Lettermail Presort

To qualify for presortation:

• the mailing must be composed of at least 500 identical items
• the mail items must be mailed in Canada for delivery in Canada
• the mail items must meet all Canada Post physical requirements for service and type such as size and weight. Consult the appropriate Customer Guide (see section 1.3 “Information Sources”)
• the mail items must meet any requirement specified in the Agreement, the Presort Technical Specifications and the Canada Postal Guide, and
• the mailing must use presortation software recognized by Canada Post.

Commingling of Incentive Lettermail items is not permitted. Commingling occurs when a number of separate and notably different mailings are combined to achieve the minimum deposit requirement or sufficient densities to achieve discount prices.

1.3	Information Sources

This Mail Preparation and Presortation Guide forms part of the Agreement, and all references to the Agreement shall be deemed to include the documents referenced in section 13 “Entire Agreement and Alterations”of the General Terms and Conditions.

2

What You Need to Know Before You Start

This section explains basic information on postal codes, Delivery Mode Codes, alphanumeric sequencing and the National Presortation Schematic (NPS) that is required to prepare Lettermail Presort mailings.

2.1	The Postal Code

The postal code is an integral part of every postal address in Canada. It was designed to aid in sorting mail by both mechanized and manual methods.

The postal code is a six-character, alphanumeric code in the form of ANA NAN in which “A” represents a letter of the alphabet and “N” represents a number. For example, the postal code M4B 1G5 is made up of two segments (as shown in Figure 1).

Figure 1: Postal Code Segments

The first segment (the first three characters) represents a Forward Sortation Area (FSA). The first letter indicates a major geographical region (as shown in Table 3).

The second segment represents a Local Delivery Unit (LDU). It identifies the smallest delivery unit within an FSA. In urban areas, the LDU may indicate a specific city block (one side of a street between two intersecting streets), a single building or, in some cases, a large-volume mail receiver. In rural areas (as indicated by the zero in the FSA), the LDU combines with the FSA to identify a specific rural community.

For more information on postal codes, visit www.canadapost.ca/postalguide under Addressing Guidelines.

2.2	Delivery Mode Code

The Delivery Mode Code (DMC) appears to the right of an address (as shown in Figure 2) and identifies a specific type of delivery and a specific delivery route for urban mail. The DMC is required on each item of urban mail for Lettermail Presort.

Figure 2: Delivery Mode Code

The DMC consists of the Delivery Mode Audit Code and Delivery Mode Details (DMDs).

2.2.1

Delivery Mode Audit Code

The Delivery Mode Audit Code is required on all urban and rural mail for Lettermail Presort.

The Delivery Mode Audit Code identifies which version of the Delivery Mode Data was used to prepare a mailing. The Delivery Mode Audit Code is a code that appears on the mail item and changes every five to six weeks. It allows a Receipt Verification Unit (RVU) to identify if the current presort tape is being used. The Delivery Mode Audit Code must be placed in parentheses (see Figure 2).

2.2.2

Delivery Mode Details

The DMD is a combination of alphabetical and/or numerical characters representing a particular type of mail delivery in an urban area. The DMD includes the Delivery Mode type (e.g., H) and the Delivery Mode Detail. There is no DMD for rural postal codes.

The purpose of the DMD is to establish how to group items, that is, items with the same DMD will be grouped together.

The alphabetic characters of the DMD denote the Delivery Mode type. Delivery Mode types are indicated by the following letters:

A = Delivery to a block face address

B = Delivery to an apartment building

E = Delivery to a business building

G = Delivery to a large-volume receiver

H = Delivery via a rural route

J = General Delivery

K = Delivery to a Post Office box (PO Box), not a community mail box (CMB)

M = Delivery to a large-volume receiver (PO Box)

T = Delivery via a suburban service

X = Delivery via a mobile route

Z = Postal code is retired (No further delivery to this code)

The letter denoting Delivery Mode type is not always required. For instance, it is possible that the same Letter Carrier can serve A, B, E and G. In this case, because the software groups the four Delivery Mode types together to the same Letter Carrier Route – that is, the numeric characters – it will not print the alphabetic character denoting the Delivery Mode type (as shown in Figure 3).

Figure 3: Delivery Mode Type

2.2.3

Placement of Delivery Mode Code

A DMC can appear up to two lines above the address block or three to four blank spaces to the right of any line in the address block that does not contain the delivery address information, that is, lines containing company and personal names and titles, and building names. It cannot appear on the same line as street addresses, city or province names, or postal codes.

Examples of placement are shown in Figure 4, Figure 5, and Figure 6.

Figure 4: DMC Placement – Example 1

Figure 5: DMC Placement – Example 2

Figure 6: DMC Placement – Example 3

2.3	Alphanumeric Sequencing

2.3.1

Alphanumeric Sequencing by Delivery Mode Details

Canada Post requires that groupings be sequenced by the DMDs in alphanumeric order. Within DMDs, they must then be sorted by FSA, and then LDU within each Delivery Facility.

The software first sorts records with DMDs that have numeric characters only in numerical, ascending (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.) order. It then sorts records with DMDs that have alphabetical characters in the left-most positions alphabetically, in ascending order and then by any numerical characters in numeric, ascending order (e.g., CF, DIR, GD, H1, H10, H11, etc.).

For overall sequencing of DMDs, ascending order is preferred. Descending order can be used as long as it is consistently used throughout the mailing (as shown in Table 4).

2.3.2

Sequencing by Postal Code

This type of sequencing is done after sortation by DMD. This is usually done by the software.

When sequencing by postal code, first sequence by the FSA (the first three characters), as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Example of Sequencing by FSA

Then, within each FSA, sequence by LDU (the last three characters of the postal code, as shown in Table 5).

2.4	Lettermail National Presortation Schematic

The National Presortation Schematic (NPS) has two schematics: for Lettermail and for Non-Lettermail. For Lettermail Presort, the Customer must use the Lettermail NPS.

The Lettermail National Presortation Schematic (NPS) is a set of tables that indicates how to consolidate mail through Canada Post’s mail distribution network, beginning with the FSA.

The NPS is used for all Canada Post presortation processes, including Lettermail Presort. The NPS has four levels of access:

• Level 1 – Delivery Facility (Urban or Rural)
• Level 2 – City
• Level 3 – Distribution Centre Facility (DCF), and
• Level 4 – Forward Consolidation Point (FCP).

Following the NPS levels of access is key to sequencing, grouping, containerizing and labelling mail for presortation (as shown in Figure 8).

Figure 8: Illustration of the NPS

To avoid delays and extra handling charges, the Customer must use the current version of the Lettermail National Presortation Schematic, available at www.canadapost.ca/nps on the Canada Post website.

2.4.1

Levels of Access for Groupings

Figure 9 shows the NPS levels of access for grouping mail for presortation. Lettermail Presort requires a minimum of five items to create a grouping. For urban mail, mail is grouped by the DMD; no other groupings of urban mail are permitted. Rural Delivery Facility (RDF) groupings are considered as Level 1 of the NPS.

Figure 9: NPS Levels for Groupings

2.4.2

Using Containers

The Customer consolidates groupings into containers. Figure 10 shows the NPS access levels for containerization of Lettermail Presort. (See section 5 “Place the Groupings in Containers (Step 3)” for more information). Containers may access NPS Level 1, Urban Delivery Facility and Rural Delivery Facility, and Level 3, Distribution Centre Facility (DCF), where DCF access is permitted. Some major urban centres do not consolidate to a DCF (see section 5.2 “Levels of Containerization” for more information).

Figure 10: NPS Levels for Containerization

2.5	Steps for Lettermail Presort

The essential steps for Lettermail presortation are:

1. Sequence the Mail (Step 1) – The software will generate address labels in order by postal codes, delivery mode codes and alphanumeric sequencing.
2. Group the Mail (Step 2) – This involves segregating the mail, including labelling for some groupings. This step prepares the mail for placing it in containers. Some software does this task.
3. Place the Groupings in Containers (Step 3) – Proper facing will ensure efficient handling of the mailing.
4. Label the Containers (Step 4) – Correct labelling ensures that mail is directed to the appropriate work centre within a Canada Post facility and/or downstream destination.
5. Make Up Monotainers and Pallets (Step 5) – Monotainers and pallets make it much easier to move the mail and maintain the integrity of the presortation, ensuring efficient handling by Canada Post.
6. Prepare the Mailing Summary (Step 6) – If the Customer does not complete this step, the deposit will be refused.

3

Sequence the Mail (Step 1)

The first step in presorting mail is called sequencing. Sequencing is the process of placing the mail in order to prepare for grouping the mail.

The software should already sort the mail by NPS level:

• NPS Level 1 Urban
• NPS Level 1 Rural

For all levels of sortation, Canada Post prefers sequencing in ascending order (i.e., from lowest to highest numerically or alphabetically; as shown in Figure 11). Descending order can be used, provided it is used consistently for the entire mailing.

Figure 11: Sequencing in Ascending Order

3.1	Sequencing Urban Mail (Level 1)

If the software has not