USPS First-Class Mail Slowing Down… Or Is It Me?

Stopwatch Man Waiting for First-Class Mail

Does it seem like your First-Class letters don’t travel as quickly as they used to? Well, it’s not just your imagination. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has been intentionally and systematically slowing down First-Class letters in order to reduce costs and create efficiencies in their mail handling operations.

This slowing down process has been rolling out for several months now and will continue to be noticed as postal facilities consolidate and the new plans take shape. The most obvious change occurred in January of this year (2015) when the USPS eliminated next day delivery of First-Class mail. This change has effected almost everyone who receives First-Class mail.

Judging by the number of phone calls we’ve already received about this, it’s not necessarily what any of us expected. If there is an upside, the USPS still quotes a delivery service standard for First-Class mail of 3 days (from and to) anywhere in the first 48 U.S. States. (But don’t quote us on this; we are still a little skeptical).

Here’s a good overview published by the USPS in September of 2011; it’s pretty clear and easy to read, and spells out their elimination of next day First-Class mail: USPS Frequently Asked Questions – Service Standards

If you want to dive into all the glorious details in a far-less user friendly document, you can review the implementation plan in the USPS Final Federal Register 39 CFR Part 121. This document spells out the specifics of the USPS implementation process. Phase one began on July 1, 2012, and phase two began on February 1, 2014.

In January of this year, the USPS posted a revised interactive service level map on their website in order for mailers to graphically see the service standards for various types of mail originating at your nearest post office. Follow the link to do some experimenting of your own based on your location. For LetterStream customers, use 850 PHOENIX AZ as your Originating point.

Keep in mind that the USPS service standards are not service guarantees. You know… “results may vary“.

In summary, your next day delivery of First-Class letters is probably gone for good, and we are likely to see additional days of transit built in as the USPS consolidates facilities. Editor’s note: Just between you and me and Mr. Stopwatch here; I’d caution you to not expect faster service if your letters already take 4 to 5 days for delivery.

Official USPS And LetterStream 2015 Holiday Schedule

We’ve updated our USPS Holiday Calendar with the latest information from the USPS. In addition, we’ve added important USPS early closing days which are not typically spelled out on the USPS Postal Holidays web page.

We’ve placed this information along with LetterStream’s holiday schedule on a Google Calendar so you can have all the information at your fingertips on your smartphone, tablet or Google account.

If you are already synced to the LetterStream calendar, awesome! Your job here is done. If not, see the instructions below.

One more important mention; most USPS retail counters close early on both Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, so make sure you call ahead and/or plan accordingly. In conjunction, LetterStream will also be closing early on both of those days.

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Click on the “+Google Calendar” button below to subscribe with your Google account.

(*Click here for instructions on how to sync Google Calendar with a mobile device.)

USPS First-Class Stamp Cost – Unchanged For 2015

2015 USPS first-class stamp price

January is the month that the United States Postal Service (USPS) has been using to introduce prices increases in recent years. However, for 2015 the USPS has no intentions of raising the rate of a First-Class stamp.

First Class Stamp Cost Will Not Go Up

On January 15, 2015 the USPS published a press release about pricing titled “Forever Stamp Prices Unchanged“. The title might be a bit misleading as they are actually talking about the price of *any* First-Class stamp that you purchase for First-Class 1 ounce letters, not just Forever Stamps. Late in the press release the USPS specifically says:

Maintains single-piece stamp prices at 49 cents.

Keep in mind the USPS is requesting authorization to raise the price of other letter fees, including the cost for additional ounces (from $.21 to $.22), the cost of international letters (from $1.15 to $1.20) and the cost of postcards (from $.34 to $.35). “Requesting authorization” means that these price changes need to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission before becoming official.

If approved, the changes will take affect on April 26, 2015.

Merry Christmas And Happy Holidays From LetterStream!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!

From your friends at

This holiday season we want to wish you lots of love, time with family, hot chocolate, and of course… all your mail delivered on time. We are thankful for your support in 2014, and we look forward to serving you well in the coming year as well.

Please note that according to the USPS, most post offices will be closing at 12:00 noon on Christmas Eve (Wed. Dec. 24th) and New Year’s Eve (Wed. Dec. 31st). Be sure to drop mail in blue collection boxes by noon on those days as well, as the USPS will be picking up mail early.

See LetterStream’s holiday hours below.

Happy Mailing!

-The LetterStream Team

LetterStream Holiday Hours

Porridge Papers – Paper Made By Craftsmen

This is a great video about the making of paper. Not only does it capture the art and craft of paper-making, it is a well-produced video that portrays the essence of community and determination.

The story of one man (and his family and community) determined to create great paper the old-fashioned way, from the excess paper of envelopes.

So grab a cup of coffee, find a quite place, and take in this inspiring video…

This awesome short film was curated by Windstream… We couldn’t help but love that name. 😉

It’s part of a series of videos produced for the Tumblr blog Locally Crafted. In addition, the film was directed by Kevin Osgood, brother-in-law to one of our very own LetterStream employees.

Nicely done Kevin!

How To Export Mailing Addresses Out Of Your Software

Export Addresses Thought Bubble

Getting an address list out of your software for the purpose of sending a mailing can be a confusing task at times, but we will attempt to decode things just a bit.

You have probably been entering your customer names and addresses into your accounting software or management software. You might even have names in a CRM (customer relationship management) package like Act! or an email program like Outlook. Wherever you enter names and addresses, there is generally a way to get them back out in order to send a mailing.

The process of getting your mailing list out of your software is called “exporting” or an “export“. If you know this simple term you can search the Internet or your software help files for more clues on the subject. Most software packages that allow you to enter names and addresses generally have an export function of some kind.

As it relates to software (not a website or web service), the process is usually as easy as clicking on the “File” menu on the upper left of the menu bar, then choosing “Export“. (The reason we excluded websites and web services is because the standard “File” menu doesn’t exist with websites, and most websites have their own unique way to export data.)

When exporting your data, there are sometimes a wide variety of file formats that you can save your file to. We recommend exporting your data to a .csv file, otherwise known as a “comma separated values” file. The nice thing about a csv file is that it can easily be opened by Excel or other spreadsheet programs, and it can be loaded into other applications as well.

But the best feature of the csv file format is that it can easily be loaded to the LetterStream website for creating a mailing.

The export process discussed here isn’t an exhaustive solution to all software packages and websites, but just know that the magic word is “export”.

If you’d like to share your specific method for getting address data out of your software, feel free to contact us and let us know. We will post it in the help pages of the LetterStream website.

The History Of Paper

On Paper by Nicholas Basbanes

Paper… it’s a powerful thing. Almost every important document ever composed was written on paper. Great empires were built on principles written on paper; music, plays, poetry, laws, business agreements, commerce, novels, treaties, blueprints, the list goes on and on.

A good book on the subject is “On Paper” by Nicholas A. Basbanes published by Random House. Basbanes details the 2,000-year history of paper, including how it is made and how it is used. His book has a rating of 4.6 out of 5.0 stars on Amazon.com and promises to be a good read.

We caught an entertaining interview with Basbanes on the Diane Rehm Show the other day which launched us into our search for his book. It would be nice and appropriate to say we bought the paperback, but there are other ways to read a good book these days. 😉

Unlike so many other landmark breakthroughs … we know today with some degree of certainty when paper was first made and where it emerged.

So there you go. You were wondering what you were going to do with all that time that LetterStream saves you…

And now you can get your paper fix without licking all those envelopes.

Do You Have A Backup Facility For Your Mailing Operations?

Critical Mail Backup

While most of our customers choose to outsource their entire outbound mail operations to LetterStream, there are some that are unable to reassign staff or who are hesitant to return leased equipment due to financial burdens that might be incurred.

Whatever the reason not to outsource completely, we have a solution in keeping with our mission of being the best mail solutions partner. We have created a hot backup mailing facility program to allow businesses to keep their own mailing operations up and running, and increase their speed and reliability by using LetterStream when more mailing power is needed.

The program is simple to implement and is fairly inexpensive considering you have all the power of LetterStream print and mail operations at your finger tips. This includes a fleet of high speed printers, a mail preparation and inserting department, and barcode tracking of every mailing project. LetterStream is fast and accurate, and our prime location in Scottsdale, AZ protects us from most of the world’s natural disasters and extreme weather. So if your operations are down because of snow or ice or flood or earthquake… chances are we are still fully staffed and fully operational, and can get your mail out the door and on its way.

For our east coast friends, LetterStream being in the MST time zone results in a few extra hours each day to get your critical mail jobs out the door. We can handle a wide variety of business and transactional mail including letters and flats, checks and invoices, and certified and registered mail.

Contact us to learn more about how LetterStream can keep your mailing operations up-and-running, in any situation.

"Business Closed"

Business Closed Google Image Results

I was shocked to discover that my business closed the other day. For some reason I had assumed I wouldn’t be the last to know.

Well, that’s not exactly how it turned out, but it sure threw me. I was tracking a test piece of USPS Certified Mail that I sent to my office. And right there in the USPS tracking history were the words “Business Closed“. Wow, what a bummer.

Business Closed Certified Mail Tracking Status

When I see the words “Business Closed” on a piece of mail it reminds me of “Moved – Left no forwarding”, or “No longer at this address” or “No receptacle”. Those words conjure up “Out of Business” and, well, “Business Closed“. After all, the screenshot above is what Google found when I did an image search for “Business Closed”. Looks like they came to the same conclusion.

Seeing those words on a piece of mail to my own office caused me to wonder what sort of financial position we must have been in to just up and close our doors in the middle of the night.

Turns out all is fine (except for maybe the choice of words the Postal Service uses when tracking Certified Mail). Here is the explanation for this new tracking status: “Business Closed” simply means that the mail carrier arrived outside of the normal business hours. In our case, the mail carrier attempted to deliver a certified letter on a Saturday when we were closed for the day (key word, ‘day‘).

So when you see the words “Business Closed” in your tracking history, simply translate it to “No one at the office today, will try tomorrow“. Personally, I was happy to know that I can continue showing up and writing little tidbits about First-Class and Certified Mail on this blog.

*To track a certified letter, go to www.LetterStream.com and find the “Certified Mail Tracking” section on the lower right side of the page.

LetterStream on the Air – Money Radio Interview

David Patterson, founder and president of LetterStream, will be interviewed on the radio on Thurs., May 1, 2014. He will be heard for a 5-minute segment of the “Business for Breakfast” program on Money Radio.

“Business for Breakfast“, hosted by Ken Morgan & Julie Dougherty-CFP, airs weekday mornings from 6-8 am on Money Radio 1510 AM, and is also heard on 99.3 FM.

David will be talking about how easy it is to get USPS First-Class and Certified Mail out the door on the LetterStream website.

*Be sure to tune in from 7:24-7:29 am to hear how LetterStream and OnlineCertifiedMail can work for you.