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Mail Delivery (aka the flight of the bumble bee)



> It has been brought to my attention that SAA members in Southern
> California, specifically Irvine and Los Angeles, are not receiving SAA
> mailings in a timely fashion (or in some instances, not at all). I have
> registered a complaint again with the Chicago office of the United States
> Postal Service and continue to be both frustrated and vexed by the service
> it provides (or doesn't provide for that matter).
>
> For the record, here is the path taken by SAA newsletters, ballots, and
> other mass mailings sent via BULK MAIL to the membership. (NB: This
> EXCLUDES the journal, which is mailed third class.) The materials are
> delivered to the mailing house along with a download of the SAA mail list
> (about 3,600 individual and institutional members). The mail list is input
> into a mail manager system, which sorts down addresses by zip code. Plus
> 4s are added if missing from a zip code. A minimum of 50 pieces going to
> one zip code is required for automation rates. Such rates translate to a
> savings through pre-sort.  The mail house ink jets addresses on to the
> mail pieces and also adds bar codes so that the mail can navigate through
> the USPS automated system.  The mail house places the sorted mail on
> trays, then tags, sleeves and binds the trays. The trays are then delivers
> on skids to the main post office in downtown Chicago.
>
> The post office removes the trays from the skids and sends them through a
> scanner that reads the tags. The tags indicate which Bulk Mail Center
> around the country the mail will go to. The trays are then put with other
> trays going to the same Bulk Mail Center, loaded on a trailer, and driven
> to that regional location.
>
> At the regional Bulk Mail Centers, the trays are unloaded and the mail
> pieces are broken down by local post offices. Individual pieces of mail
> are run through a scanner and sorted out by routes for that particular
> post office, then given to a carrier and delivered.
>
> So how long SHOULD this whole process take?  The Chicago post office
> reports that once the bulk mail enters the mail stream it takes
> approximately 2 DAYS TO 2 WEEKS for delivery. HOWEVER, there are NO
> mailing standards for bulk mail. That means it can take much longer and
> often does. The reason is that bulk mail depends on the volume of 1st
> class mail, which takes priority. Basically, if there is lots of 1st class
> mail to deliver, the bulk mail languishes at every step of the way (at the
> main post office, at the Bulk Mail Centers, at the local post offices).
>
> There is no easy solution to the ongoing problem with the USPS. We have
> done random checks of the SAA mail list to make sure the names of those
> who have had problems receiving their mail are on the list. With each bulk
> mailing, SAA receives a report filed by the mail house with the post
> office certifying the number of pieces being mailed and matches that
> against the number of labels delivered to the mail house.
>
> While members have the option of paying an additional fee to receive the
> newsletter via 1st class mail, it remains a cost prohibitive alternative
> as a mode of delivering all SAA mass mailings.
>
> Online delivery of select SAA products and services may be a viable
> solution.
>
> Teresa Brinati
> Director of Publishing
> Society of American Archivists
> 527 S. Wells Street, 5th Floor
> Chicago, IL 60607-3992 USA
> 312/922-0140  Fax 312/347-1452
> tbrinati@archivists.org
> www.archivists.org
>

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