ADDRESSING YOUR MAIL - Prepared by the Southeast New Mailing Services And/Or Address Lists

Recommended Standard Address Format

Non-address data: CPRS 03672 a

l 0 ADDRESSING

Information/Attention: MR S O’NEILL PRES 1

Recipient: SEAN O’NEILL INC

Delivery Address: 4321 MAPLE ST STE 342 N

- YOUR MAIL

P Post Office, State, ZIP code: OAKTON MD 12345-6789 a

o e i

F P U P

STARTING FROM THE BOTTOM, ADDRESSES GO GUIDELINES FOR PREPARING YOUR MAIL FROM GENERAL TO SPECIFIC. FOR EFFICIENT PROCESSING AND DELIV-

For efficient processing of addresses on USPS automation ERY BY THE UNITED STATES POSTAL SER- equipment the following is recommended: VICE (USPS.)

STANDARD ADDRESS FORMAT Whether you are mailing one million letters for a MACHINE-PRINTED ADDRESS corporation or one greeting card to a friend, the ALL LINES LEFT JUSTIFIED SIMPLE TYPE STYLE (SAN SERIF FONT) quality of the print and address content can 10-12 POINT TYPE SIZE greatly affect the efficiency of processing and ALL UPPER CASE CHARACTERS delivery by the United States Postal Service. NO PUNCTUATION USE POSTAL ABBREVIATIONS UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS: DO THIS: NOT THIS: POSTAL CUSTOMER All letter-size mail (typical cards, flyers and

MR S ONEILL MR S ONEILL small to medium-size envelopes) is sorted on SEAN OIL INC SEAN OIL INC machinery** by the use of a POSTNET Delivery- STE 342 4321 MAPLE ST Point Barcode. That barcode represents the 4321 MAPLE ST STE 342 (ste below street) ZIP+4 code and delivery-point numbers as- OAKTON MD 12345-6789 OAKTON MD 12345-6789 signed by the USPS to each valid delivery ad- NEVER DO THIS: dress in the country. It allows the mail to be sorted into groupings for each specific point in MR S ONEILL the sequence in which the mail carrier delivers SEAN OIL INC mail - even as finite as individual suites, units, 4321 MAPLE ST STE 342 (too many spaces) (full line of space) apartments, or companies within a building. It is OAKTON MD 12345-6789 (too many spaces) called Delivery-Point Sequencing (DPS.) If the barcode is not previously applied by the mailer, Keep address on label/within window away from the edge. the machinery must locate the intended delivery

address and apply the appropriate barcode for 1/8” SPACE that address on the mail. Therefore, it is critical MR S ONEILL AROUND to this process that mailers use the correct, valid SEAN ONEILL INC ADDRESS IS delivery-point information (especially apartment, 4321 MAPLE ST STE 342 PREFERRED OAKTON MD 12345-6789 suite or unit numbers) when putting an address on a letter. ** Put simply, there are 2 machine-systems on Print Quality and Color: which letter-size mail is processed:

The OCR (optical character reader which “reads” the ad - MLOCR (multi-line optical character reader) - dress on your mail) performs best with black ink on a white locates an address on the mail, recognizing background. Although certain color combinations are ac- characters and numbers, matches it to the ceptable, it cannot read the address if there is not enough USPS address data of ZIP+4 codes and sprays contrast between the ink and paper. Keep the ink as dark as possible (but not bold) and the background as light as a barcode in lower right clear area. possible (pastel colors are ok.) Avoid printing the address - BCS (barcode sorter) - reads barcodes on on paper with background patterns such as those found on mail and sorts it to the appropriate ZIP code checks. area. WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP THE USPS MACHINERY PROCESS YOUR MAIL State/Territory Abbreviations:

PERSONAL MAIL (Cards, Letters and Bill payments): Alabama AL Montana MT - apply a machine (preferable) or hand-printed address using the standardized address format on this Alaska AK Nebraska NE pamphlet. American Samoa AS Nevada NV - include the correct ZIP+4 code using the ZIP code Lookup tool at www.usps.com (See below.) Arizona AZ New Hampshire NH Arkansas AR New Jersey NJ Go to: WWW.USPS.COM California CA New Mexico NM Colorado CO New York NY ENTER THE ADDRESS Connecticut CT North Carolina NC Search By Address >> Search By City >> Search By Co. >> Find a ZIP + 4® Code By Address Results Delaware DE North Dakota ND Dist of Columbia DC Northern Mariana Is MP Find a ZIP Code by entering an address. You Gave Us Florida FL Ohio OH (You can also search for a partial address, such as “Main Street, Fairfax, VA”) 181 CORLISS ST Georgia GA Oklahoma OK ROOM 108 Guam GU Oregon OR * Required Fields PROVIDENCE RI 181 Corliss Street Hawaii HI Palau PW * Address 1 Address 2 Room 108 Apt, Floor, Suite, etc. Idaho ID Pennsylvania PA * City Lookup Another ZIP Code™ Providence Illinois IL Puerto Rico PR

Indiana IN Rhode Island RI * State RI Find State Abbreviation Full Address in Standard Format: Iowa IA South Carolina SC ZIP Code Kansas KS South Dakota SD GET THE RESULTS 181 CORLISS ST RM 108 Kentucky KY Tennessee TN Submit >> PROVIDENCE RI 02904-2699 Louisiana LA Texas TX Maine ME Utah UT 1 Smith St Marshall Islands MH Vermont VT Keep return address in Providence RI postage upper-most left corner - stamp PLACE ON MAILPIECE Maryland MD Virginia VA ABOVE logo. Massachusetts MA Virgin Islands VI Michigan MI Washington WA Keep address higher Minnesota MN West Virginia WV than 5/8” from the JOHN CUSTOMER Mississippi MS Wisconsin WI bottom of the mail, 181 CORLISS ST RM 108 Missouri MO Wyoming WY and always to the PROVIDENCE RI 02904-2699 lower right of the Locator and Directional Abbreviations: return address. 5/8” CLEAR AREA FOR USPS BARCODE Avenue AVE Lake LK Boulevard BLVD Lane LN BUSINESS MAIL (Cards and letters mailed in volume): Court CT Mountain MTN - apply a machine-printed address using the standardized address format in this pamphlet. Center CTR Parkway PKWY Drive DR Place PL - include the correct ZIP+4 code using the ZIP code Lookup tool at www.usps.com (See above.) Expressway EXPY Road RD - have your mailing list processed** to ensure: Heights HTS Station STA -- correct ZIP+4 codes using CASS (Coding Accuracy Support System) product. Highway HWY Street ST -- current address corrections using NCOA (National Change of Address) and other MoveUpdate Island IS Turnpike TPKE Junction JCT Valley VLY programs to avoid unnecessary forwarding of mail. -- valid USPS-deliverable addresses by using DPV (Delivery Point Validation) Service which tells Apartment APT North N you which addresses are ones to which the USPS does not deliver. Building BLDG East E - correct suite information for business addresses using the Suite Link Product, a new product used in Floor FL South S Suite STE West W conjunction with CASS/MASS. Unit UNIT Northeast NE Room RM Southeast SE ** For more information contact the USPS National Customer Support Center (NCSC) at 800-238-3150. Department DEPT Northwest NW ** See the USPS website: http://www.usps.com/ncsc/ Southwest SW ** For vendors providing these services, search your local business telephone listings or web browser for ADDRESSING YOUR MAIL - prepared by the Southeast New mailing services and/or address lists. England Business Mail Entry - 2007