DMM Revision: New Minimum Value for Treatment as Dead Mail

Effective January 27, 2013, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) 507.1.9 to update the minimum value for treating undeliverable articles as dead mail.

Current standards require that matter deposited in the mail that is undeliverable and cannot be returned to the sender is treated as dead mail and forwarded to the Mail Recovery Center (MRC).

This revision serves to align the minimum value for treatment as dead mail from $10 to $25 in the DMM with the current threshold provided in the Postal Operations Manual, which contains USPS® policy and procedures for handling and disposing of dead mail.

Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM)

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500 Additional Mailing Services

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507 Mailer Services

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1.0 Treatment of Mail

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1.9 Dead Mail

1.9.1 Basic Information

Dead mail is matter deposited in the mail that is undeliverable and cannot be returned to the sender. A reasonable effort is made to match articles found loose in the mail with the envelope or wrapper and to return or forward the articles. The disposition of dead mail items is as follows:

(Revise the text of item 1.9.1c as follows:)

c. Undeliverable articles of $25 or more in value are treated as dead mail.

via Policies, Procedures, and Forms Updates.