Glossary of Postal Terms
178 Publication 32
PRESORTED PRSRT A price-specific marking that is combined with
the required basic class or product marking and,
in some cases, with another price-specific
marking to indicate eligibility for a presorted
category. The marking can also be abbreviated
PRSRT.
PC
Presorted First-
Class Mail
®
A nonautomation price category for a First-Class
Mail mailing that consists of at least
500 addressed mailpieces and is sorted and
prepared according to mailing standards. This
mail is not required to bear a barcode.
PC
presorted mail A form of mail preparation, required to bypass
certain postal operations, in which the mailer
groups pieces in a mailing by ZIP Code or by
carrier route or carrier walk sequence (or other
recommended separation).
PC
PRESORTED
STANDARD
PRSRT STD The Standard Mail class marking that is used on
the face of a mailpiece to indicate to USPS the
service level to be provided and, when
combined with other price-specific markings, to
show the product or price category claimed. The
marking can also be abbreviated PRSRT STD.
PC
Presort First-Class
Mail
®
Measurement
A system for commercial letters that uses
Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) technology to
measure Presort First-Class Mail service
performance. USPS-collected data for letters
are provided to an independent, external
contractor who combines data for flats from
External First-Class Measurement (EXFC) and
data for parcels (with USPS Tracking service)
from internal measurement systems to calculate
service performance. National and area level
results are posted quarterly for the public on
usps.com.
CA
presort level The degree to which mail is sorted by ZIP Code
or ZIP Code ranges or carrier routes to the mail
processing facility or delivery unit that serves the
delivery address of the mail. Not every presort
level is available for every mail class or product.
Not every presort level corresponds to a specific
price. In general, the finer the sortation, the
lower the price (e.g., Standard Mail pieces
sorted by the same 5-digit ZIP Code such as
20008 are considered more finely sorted than
pieces for the same 3-digiti ZIP Code prefix
such as 200 and thus receive a lower price). The
principal presort levels, starting with the finest
level, include: (a) firm, (b) carrier route,
(c) 5-digit, (d) 5-digit scheme, (e) merged 5-digit,
(f) merged 5-digit scheme, (g) 3-digit, (h) unique
3-digit, (i) 3-digit scheme, (j) origin/optional
3-digit(s), (k) SCF, (l) origin/optional SCF,
(m) ADC/AADC, (n) ASF/NDC, (o) DNDC, (p)
DSCF, (q) NDC presort, (r) ONDC presort, (s)
mixed (NDC, ADC, AADC, etc.), and (t) residual
(pieces, bundles, sacks).
PC
presort mailing fee (See mailing fee
.) PC
price The postage rate for any category of a mail class
or product as well as some services.
(Compare with
fee
.)
PC
Term
Abbreviation/
Acronym Definition
Cross-
Reference Function