LIVE FROM MTAC: Confirm mail tracking plan takes shape

The U.S. Postal Service’s Confirm program, which enables mailers to track delivery of bulk mail online, is being tested by five mailers, said Paul Bakshi, the USPS executive cochairing the Mailers Technical Advisory Committee group developing Confirm during the Nov. 6 MTAC meetings. “We’ve developed a test concept and are sharing those results with the five mailers,” he said on Nov. 6. “Based on feedback from them, we’ll revise the plan.” That plan currently calls for the pilot test to launch next March, results to be evaluated by July, and a formal rate case for Confirm to come next September, Bakshi said. In her discussion of Confirm during MTAC, USPS manager of customer service management Janet Tonner said the biggest obstacles in the program are start-the-clock and stop-the-clock data mechanisms used for monitoring delivery speed. The USPS is developing a pilot test to use Confirm and assess date accuracy for delivery times. The agency has enlisted five or six first class mailers to watch closely the acceptance of their mail in postal facilities to get the most accurate delivery information.