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Quick Service Guide 201
Discount Letters and Cards
Physical Standards for Discount Letters and Cards
May 2007
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Overview
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Card Dimensions
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Minimum
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Maximum
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Length
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5 inches
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6 inches
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Height
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3-1/2 inches
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4-1/4 inches
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Thickness
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0.007 inch
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0.016 inch
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Letter Dimensions
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Minimum
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Maximum
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Length
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5 inches
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11-1/2 inches
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Height
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3-1/2 inches
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6-1/8 inches
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Thickness
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0.007 inch
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1/4 inch
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Mailpieces are classified by shape and by the way they are prepared. These classifications are based on how efficiently mailpieces can be processed on Postal Service equipment. The Postal Service classifies letters and cards into one of three categories: machinable, nonmachinable, and automation. For the purposes of determining reliability or machinability, the length is the dimension parallel to the address as read (601.1.4).
Machinable Letters and Cards (201.1.0)
If you prepare your letters and cards so that they have an accurate address and can be processed on Postal Service equipment, your mail is "machinable" and eligible for "presort" rates. Machinable mailpieces must meet specific standards, including size, shape, and weight.
Maximum weight: First-Class Mail, machinable letters and Standard Mail machinable letters: 3.3 ounces.
Machinable letters must not meet any of the nonmachinable characteristics (201.2.0).
Dimensions:
- Minimum: 5 inches long, 3-1/2 inches high, and 0.007 inch thick.
- Maximum for First-Class Mail card rates: 6 inches long, 4-1/4 inches high, and 0.016 inch thick.
- Maximum for letters and other cards: 11-1/2 inches long, 6-1/8 inches high, and 1/4 inch thick.
- Rectangular, with four square corners and parallel opposite sides. Letter-size, card-type mailpieces made of cardstock may have finished corners that do not exceed a radius of 1/8 inch.
Nonmachinable Letters (201.2.0)
Maximum weight: First-Class Mail nonmachinable letters 3.5 ounces; Standard Mail nonmachinable letters; 3.3 ounces.
- Presorted First-Class Mail letters are subject to a $0.17 nonmachinable surcharge if they meet any of the characteristics in 201.2.1. The nonmachinable characteristics do not apply to pieces mailed at card rates.
- Standard Mail letters that weigh 3.3 ounces or less and have one or more of the nonmachinable characteristics in 201.2.1 are subject to the nonmachinable letter rates in 243.1.2.
- Standard Mail letters that weigh more than 3.3 ounces and are prepared as nonmachinable letters are mailable at Not Flat-Machinable rates.
Dimensions: see machinable letters and cards above.
Examples of a nonmachinable letter include:
- It has an aspect ratio (length divided by height) of less than 1.3 or more than 2.5 (a square envelope has an aspect ratio of 1, making it nonmachinable).
- It is more than 4-1/4 inches high or more than 6 inches long and is less than 0.009 inch thick.
- It has clasps, strings, buttons, or similar closure devices.
- It is too rigid.
- It has a delivery address parallel to the shorter side of the mailpiece.
- It contains items such as pens, pencils, or keys that create an uneven thickness.
Additional restrictions apply to self-mailers and booklets.
Automation Letters and Cards (201.3.0)
If your letter-size mailpiece is machinable and displays the correct delivery point barcode or Intelligent Mail barcode, you may qualify for lower, "automation" rates. A letter or card meets automation standards and qualifies for automation rates if it meets the specific addressing, barcoding, and design standards.
For additional information, see:
- Quick Service Guide 201a, Designing Letters and Cards for Automated Processing.
- Quick Service Guide 201b, Using Tabs, Wafer Seals, and Glue Strips.
Maximum weight:
- First-Class Mail automation letters: 3.5 ounces.
- Periodicals automation letters: 3.3 ounces.
- Standard Mail automation letters and Enhanced Carrier Route letters: 3.5 ounces.
- See 201.3.13.4 for heavy letter mail weighing over 3 ounces.
Shape: rectangular. Aspect ratio (length divided by height): 1.3 to 2.5 (201.3.3).
Dimensions:
- Minimum: 3-1/2 inches high, 5 inches long, and either 0.007 inch thick if not more than 4-1/4 inches high and 6 inches long; or 0.009 inch thick if more than 4-1/4 inches high or 6 inches long, or both.
- Maximum for First-Class Mail card rates: 4-1/4 inches high, 6 inches long, and 0.016 inch thick.
- Maximum for letters and other cards: 6-1/8 inches high, 11-1/2 inches long, and 1/4 inch thick.
Length is the dimension parallel to the address as read (601.1.3).
All letter-size reply cards and envelopes (business reply, courtesy reply, and meter reply mail) provided as enclosures must meet the physical standards for automation letters and cards in 201.3.14.
Quick Service Guides
First-Class Mail
See Quick Service Guides:
230b Nonmachinable Letters
230c Machinable Letters and Cards
230d Automation Letters and Cards
Standard Mail
See Quick Service Guides:
240a Nonmachinable Letters
240b Machinable Letters
240c Automation Letters
240d Enhanced Carrier Route Letters
Periodicals
See Quick Service Guides:
707d Nonautomation Letters
707f Automation Letters
For the specific DMM standards applicable to this category of mail, consult the DMM sections referenced above and the general sections within each DMM module.
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