Middlesex Community College

Glossary of Terms

Automated Mailing - A mailing in which Mail Services will use its automated equipment to pre-barcode the mail and meet addressing, readability, and other requirements which allows for a postage reduction

BRM - Business Reply Mail

Bulk Mail - Mail that is rated for postage partly by weight and partly by the number of pieces in the mailing.

Endorsement - An authorized marking on a piece of mail that shows handling instructions, a special service, or a request for an auxiliary service.

Flats - The general term for flat-size mail, so called because the large mail is sorted without bending it so that the mail remains flat.

Flat-size mail - A piece of mail that exceeds one of the dimensions for letter-size mail (11-1/2 inches long, 6-1/8 inches high, 1/4 inch thick) but that does not exceed the maximum dimension for the mail processing category (15 inches long, 12 inches high, 3/4 inch thick). Dimensions are different for automation rate flat-size mail eligibility. Flat-size mail may be unwrapped, sleeved, wrapped, or enveloped.

Girth - The distance around something; the circumference

Letter-size mail - A term defining a mail processing category including cards which do not exceed any of the dimensions for letter-size mail (that is, 11-1/2inches long, 6-1/8 inches high, 1/4 inch thick).

Zone - A number that expresses the distance that a zone rate piece of mail must travel from point of entry to point of delivery. It is based on the air mileage along a great circle line between three-digit ZIP Code prefix areas of dispatch and receipt. This mileage range is converted to a zone number. The USPS uses eight numbered postal zones and one local zone for computing postage on mail.

* For a complete list of terms and acronyms please visit the Official USPS glossary