Update on Post Office Closusres

For our customers that are in the Tennessee and Arkansas or areas that ship to Tennessee and Arkansas.

A tornado that ripped through Tennessee yesterday destroyed the Castalian Springs Post Office. All operations have moved to the Gallatin, TN, Post Office 37066. All drop shipments for the Castalian Springs Post Office should be directed to the Gallatin Post Office located at 380 Maple St., Gallatin, TN, 37066.

Service updates for Jackson, TN
North Side Station, Jackson, TN 38305

Window services and the Post Office Box section at the North Side Station at 161 West University Parkway in Jackson, TN, 38305, are closed because there are no lights in the lobby or box area. Residential and business deliveries will take place.

Service updates for Gassville, AR
Gassville, AR 72635

The lobby of the Gassville Post Office, 94 Highway 126 N, Gassville, AR, 72635, sustained extensive tornado damage. Operations have been relocated to the Mountain Home Post Office, AR, 72653. All drop shipments for the Gassville Post Office should be directed to the Mountain Home Post Office located at 975 Coley Dr, Mountain Home, AR, 72653.

Slowing Economy

Bush said earlier today, "it's clear our economy has slowed," just hours after a government report showed a decline in payrolls for the second straight month. Many companies and other organizations have been feeling the burdens of a slowing economy. Some reports state that more companies are laying off people than they have in the last five years. Other companies are doing their best to keep their employess by cutting their costs.

One large cost that is constantly burdening companies and other organizations is the cost of mailings and other similar marketing ploys. Two websites that can help overcome these burdens is www.zipcodedownload.com and www.qualifiedaddress.com. Zip Code Download's and Qualified Address' products can help save companies and organizations thousands and thousands of money is supported by it's parent company Exact Wave.

So, while many companies are cutting employees because of a slowing economy begin cutting costs so that employess don't have to go through the lay-off pains that may be imminent. With an economy that is slowing and moving closer and closer to a recession begin making the best decisions for you and your company by visiting www.zipcodedownload.com and www.qualifiedaddress.com.

Stamp Prices To Increase

Stamp prices will increase 1 cent as well as some other price changes (see chart below). Over the past few years we have seen an increase in stamps and mailing costs as electronic emailing and transfers have become much more popular and we will continue to see the cost of snail mail stamps and supplies increase.

As the costs of snail mail increase it is important not to waste your money, time, and other resources on mail that may never get to your clients. To learn more about how you can save money and time on your mailings visit www.qualifiedaddress.com and zipcodedownload.com.

Changes will be effective May 12, 2008.

Selected Prices & Services	Current	New (Effective May 12)
First-Class Mail Letter (1 oz.)	41¢	42¢
First-Class Mail Letter (2 oz.)	58¢	59¢
Postcard	26¢	27¢
Large Envelope (2 oz.)	97¢	$1.00
Money Orders (up to $500)	$1.05	$1.05
Certified Mail	$2.65	$2.70
First-Class Mail International Letter (1 oz. to Canada and Mexico)	69¢	72¢
First-Class Mail International Letter (1 oz. to other countries)	90¢	94¢

Size and Scope of USPS

We deliver to every home and business in the United States. Every American has access to our services and pays the same postage regardless of where they live or work. We …
Process and deliver more than 213 billion pieces of mail — letters, cards, ads, bills, payments and packages — every year.
· Nearly 703 million pieces per day
· More than 29 million pieces per hour
· More than 488,000 pieces per minute
· More than 8,000 pieces per second
· Deliver mail to more than 300 million people at 146 million homes, businesses and PO Boxes in every state, city and town, and in Puerto Rico, Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
· Add 1.8 million new addresses each year to our delivery network — equivalent to the number of addresses in a city the size of Chicago.
· Serve more than 9 million customers daily at nearly 37,000 Post Offices.
· Have annual operating revenue of nearly $73 billion.
· Are the second-largest employer in the United States.
· Employ nearly 700,000 career employees.
· Pay nearly $2 billion in employee salaries and benefits every two weeks.
· Do not receive tax dollars for operations. We are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sale of postage and products to pay expenses.
· We handle more than 46 percent of the world's card and letter mail volume — delivering more mail to more addresses to a larger geographical area than any other post in the world.
· We move mail using planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, bicycles, hovercrafts, subways and even mules.
· We operate the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world with more than 216,000 vehicles driving more than 1.2 billion miles each year and using nearly 121 million gallons of fuel.
· When fuel costs increase one penny, our costs increase $8 million.
· Each letter carrier delivers an average of nearly 2,900 pieces of mail a day to more than 500 addresses.
· In 2006, we processed and delivered 25.9 billion pounds of mail — 85 million pounds per day.
· About 14 percent of the nation’s population moves every year, generating more than 45 million address changes.
· We add an average of 3,500 new deliveries every day.
· We forward more than 2 billion pieces of mail a year.
· Rural carriers drive 3.4 million miles daily to deliver to 37 million addresses.
· We issue nearly 900,000 money orders per day.
· Automated Postal Centers (APCs) are self-service kiosks that provide customers with access to the most frequently purchased postal products and services.
· Customers can purchase stamps at:
· More than 33,000 commercial retail outlets.
· 17,000 banking and credit union ATMs.
· 2,500 APCs.
· Thousands of vending machines located nationwide.
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

These words, inscribed at the top of the James A. Farley building in New York City, are considered to be the motto of the Postal Service. In fact, it isn't a motto at all. The phrase is the translation of an ancient Greek work of Herodotus describing the Persian system of mounted carriers, c. 500 B.C.

Source: http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm

Address Verification Software Stops Customer/Consumer Frustration

How many of you have had a shipping problem? I'm guessing a few of you have, if not all of you. One of the reasons you may have had problems with shipping is that you accidentally mistyped your address.

Qualified Address helps business and companies disolve this problem with their address verification software. Qualified Address Scrubbing formats addresses according to the postal services standards. The software abreviates addresses, appendeds missing data, and updates rural addresses to city-street adresses. To see an example of the address verification software please click here.

This product is important, especially to the consumers of these products. There is nothing more frustrating than not receiving a shipment on the expected date all because they made a simple address mistake. Do your customers/comsumers a huge favor and supply the services of Qualified Address' address verification software today.

Marshall Islands and Micronesia

The other day I went to buy some pants for what I thought was about $40 dollars only to learn when I went to pay for it that they were only 12! Maybe the same kind of thing will happen to you come November 19, 2007 because on that day mail addressed to the Marshall Islands as well as to the states of Micronesia will no longer be considered as international mail but as domestic, meaning much lower prices! It's always a happy day when you have to spend less money than you realized.

That's why Exact Waves new product, Qualified Address, is so important--it can literally help you save money every day so that every day is happy day. To learn more about how Qualified Address can save you money click here.

LACSLink and Rural Routes Converted to 9-1-1 Addresses

The Post Office loves acronyms. That's why Qualified Address has products with CASS, LACSLink, and DPV in their names. Other products and services that you might hear connected with the USPS are NCOA, PAVE, and MASS. Even 'ZIP' in ZIP Code is an acronym for "Zoning Improvement Plan." It can seem like the post office has its own language sometimes.

Some of these acronyms are more interesting and confusing than others. One of the questions we get a lot is, "What is LACSLink?" 'LACS' is an acronym for "Locatable Address Conversion System." A "Locatable Address" has reference to a 9-1-1 system. It means that addresses are named and numbered in such a way that shortens response times to emergencies.

In many areas of the country, rural route addresses have been used to deliver mail in the past. As these areas adopt 9-1-1 systems, the rural route addresses are replaced by locatable addresses. For a few years, the Post Office will continue to deliver mail to the rural route, but eventually it will be returned as "Undeliverable As Addressed" to the mailer. That's where LACSLink comes into play.

LACSLink is a system that converts addresses that have been renamed or renumbered into locatable addresses. This is an invaluable service for those who send out bulk mail because you might otherwise lose contact with many of your contacts.

Qualified Address offers LACSLink processing with all its products - including its Address Entry Pro API. LACSLink is also required for all CASS Software.