Use of IMb for First-Class Mail Letters’ Processing Costs

The Postal Service implemented use of Intelligent Mail barcodes (IMb) in September 2006, to sort and track individual letters, cards, and flats. The technology offers greater versatility by allowing many services to be requested and embedded in one barcode. The Postal Service obtains reports related to IMb data from various systems, including its data analytics platform, the Informed Visibility (IV) system. Our objective was to assess whether the Postal Service can leverage IMb data in the IV system to enhance the accuracy and reliability of mail processing costs for First-Class Mail letters.