By Justin G. Cramer

Shippers using the U.S. Postal Service are being challenged by an escalating number of changes ranging from shape-based rates to intelligent bar codes.

Despite the hassle, even shippers who use USPS for only a portion of their packages must admit that the effort is worth it. The service has many advantages, including 100 percent national coverage (versus 90 per cent for most carriers) and the ability to delivery to Post Office Boxes.

While you’re busily updating and adjusting your shipping system, just keep reminding yourself that “with change comes opportunity.”

In fact, there are opportunities to increase productivity and add flexibility, especially for shippers who send most of their packages via parcel carriers. Now is a good time to take a fresh look at how you utilize the USPS and then create a better approach.

Creating a better, more balanced approach takes surprisingly little effort.

Step one is to gain an understanding of the three ways to ship parcels via USPS. They are Postal Meter, Manifesting and Internet Postage services such as Endicia. Then take a look at your mail usage and determine which of the three, or which combination of the three is best for you.

Other than licking stamps, the most obvious way to ship USPS is postal meter. Meters are pretty straight forward. Pay for a meter and crank out postage. The biggest downside is that meters should be integrated into your parcel shipping system and require considerable adjustment when rearranging your shipping floor or upgrading your system.

Another way to ship USPS is to add a manifesting component to your shipping system. This is an easily integrated approach that adds flexibility to your shipping. When USPS is integrated into a company’s overall shipping and customer service system, employees no longer have to fill out shipping bills by hand, And unlike hand-addressing packages, manifesting systems can verify customer addresses. But adopting USPS manifesting involves applying for a government account. You also must meet minimum volumes.

The latest way to ship USPS is through Internet Postage services. These services charge per transaction, but do not present any integration issues. Nor are their any government applications or volume or weight minimums to meet. This is an attractive option for companies that extend the rate-shopping and visibility benefits of their parcel-shipping software to all departments of a company. All USPS shipments via Internet Postage services require delivery confirmation.

Now lets talk about combos. A well-balanced approach is to use manifesting when your USPS volumes are sufficient and Internet Postage when they aren’t. That way you have a very flexible shipping system with no integration issues that is capable of eliminating Internet Postage fees during high volume periods.

Or you can use meter and manifest. Once you pay for the meter, there are no transaction fees. This approach works well if your shipping floor does not get rearranged very often because integrating postal meters into shipping systems can be challenging.

No matter which approach or combination you use, the key is to fully utilize the advantages of USPS, and that includes making sure it becomes part of your rate shopping. Postal Service rates can be attractive, not to mention Saturday delivery at no extra cost.

Published in MAIL Magazine