wranglers
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posted on July 12, 2001 12:31:57 AM
Got a bulletin today from the post office that in early July they would have free DC on their USPS web site. there were no particulars about how it would work only that it would be provided for free so watch for it.
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avaloncourt
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posted on July 12, 2001 09:24:59 AM
You got a bulletin today that something would be available in early July? This is mid-July now.
Endicia.com has been providing free DC for some time now because it's an electronic submission and not the retail option.
Can you give more specifics on the content of the bulletin with links to appropriate USPS pages if they have any in the bulletin.
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petertdavis
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posted on July 12, 2001 09:26:53 AM
Free DC would impress me more, whether it's from Endicia or direct from USPS, if the postal workers ever bothered to scan them in. They don't bother on the ones you pay for, why would anyone think they'll bother on the free ones either.
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avaloncourt
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posted on July 12, 2001 09:30:29 AM
Right now I have destination scan failures on Endicia DC printed barcodes of about 4 per hundred.
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dervari
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posted on July 12, 2001 09:43:11 AM
I think the scan "failures" are people failures. My guess is that they're used to seeing that bright green sticker and since Endicia puts the code on the label, the delivery person misses it and you don't get a destination scan.
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sun818
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posted on July 12, 2001 09:55:06 AM
Delivery confirmation is free if you can connect to the USPS Web Site like Endicia does, or FTP a data file to the USPS site. There are some prerequisites, see Publication 91, Confirmation Services Technical Guide
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wbbell
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posted on July 12, 2001 11:30:50 AM
Technically, they have free DC now. You can download the information and the software from their website. You have to incorporate their stuff into your own XML web application to be able to use it.
Endicia.com is much easier. 
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gravid
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posted on July 12, 2001 06:54:32 PM
It should be easy to make a similar green color print out to catch the eye of the postal person if it is not a copyrighted color.
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Triggerfish
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posted on July 12, 2001 07:15:57 PM
Yeah, better check with VERO to make sure you aren't using a color that belongs to somebody else!
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wbbell
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posted on July 12, 2001 08:25:40 PM
gravid had a good idea, reminded me of another thing I saw recently.
We got a package recently with DC on it (which was the bright green USPS DC) and someone had stuck an additional bright orange about 2" round label which said "SCAN ME" on it in huge letters.
I asked for these labels at my local post office and they'd never seen it before. But uline sells blank fluorescent color round labels, so that might be something to try.
[ubb]
[ edited by wbbell on Jul 12, 2001 08:26 PM ]
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ericahayes
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posted on July 12, 2001 08:53:07 PM
Endicia charged me .12c for a DC tonight
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avaloncourt
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posted on July 12, 2001 10:05:31 PM
The free DC we are referring to is Priority Mail. Standard Mail (B) costs 12 cents.
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RichieRich
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posted on July 12, 2001 10:20:40 PM
I am sure there are many reasons DC's are not always scan.
#1 The postal carrier with a walking route does not like to carry the gun!
#2 His/Her gun was not properly charged and is dead.
#3 The guns to not work properly in extreme temperatures - too hot, too cold.
#4 Believe it or not - not every carrier is issued a scanning gun!
After all these are goverment employees with goverment issued equipment. What you you expect!
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rgrem
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posted on July 13, 2001 02:22:04 AM
DC is not necessarily always "scanned in", for many reasons. It is not tracking per se, so I don't know why that matters. However they do a pretty good job of delivery scanning, which is the whole objective, anyway, and has worked well for me.
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paintpower
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posted on July 13, 2001 05:05:25 AM
I have a question. When using Endicia, does my post office still have to scan in the barcode when I take the package to the post office? I thought that it was already entered into the postal system when you asked for DC from Endicia. If that is so, then it just needs to be scanned at the delivery end. I've just started using Endicia so I'm still a little fuzzy on everything.
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tomwiii
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posted on July 13, 2001 05:28:47 AM
paintpower: the answer is: NO!, your PO does not (and should not attempt to) have to scan in your barcode -- it is done via the net when ya print. If ya watch closely when you print, you'll see a quick blurb to the USPS go by when you print your postage!
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avaloncourt
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posted on July 13, 2001 08:20:36 PM
It took me a few days for my PO to get the point but now they know that everything is already in the system.
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