An optional information line is a line above the
postal address
An address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used to give the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along w ...
on mail in the United States. The lines are usually seen on
bulk mail
Bulk mail broadly refers to mail that is mailed and processed in bulk at reduced rates. The term is sometimes used as a synonym for advertising mail.
The United States Postal Service (USPS) defines bulk mail broadly as "quantities of mail prepar ...
to indicate the sorting and separation that allows the mail to have a lower postal rate.
Examples of bulk mail that have information lines include
First-Class Mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...
,
periodical
A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simply a periodical) is a published work that appears in a new edition on a regular schedule. The most familiar example is a newspaper, but a magazine or a journal are also example ...
s,
USPS Marketing Mail, and bound printed matter.
Possible optional information lines include the optional endorsement line (OEL), an
address change service (ACS) participant code, carrier route information, and a mailer's keyline.
Optional endorsement line
Examples of OEL include:
Carrier route information
The carrier route information specifies which route at that Post Office handles the mail. The route consists of a type or prefix followed by a three-digit number. Route prefixes and types are:
* "B" for "
post office box section"
* "C" for "carrier route"
* "G" for "
general delivery unit"
* "H" for "
highway contract route Star routes is a term used in connection with the United States postal service and the contracting of mail delivery services. The term is defunct as of 1970, but still is occasionally used to refer to Highway Contract Routes (HCRs), which replaced t ...
"
* "R" for "
rural route"
The number after the prefix on some mail may consist of the last two digits of the
ZIP Code followed by the 3-digit route number.
References
External links
* {{cite web , url = http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/169/what-does-car-rt-presort-mean-on-junk-mail , title = What does "CAR-RT PRESORT" mean on junk mail? , first = Cecil , last = Adams , author-link = Cecil Adams , work =
The Straight Dope
"The Straight Dope" was a question-and-answer newspaper column written under the pseudonym Cecil Adams. Contributions were made by multiple authors, and it was illustrated (also pseudonymously) by Slug Signorino. It was first published in 1973 in ...
, date = 1983-07-29 , publisher =
Sun-Times Media , access-date = 2017-05-01
Identifiers
Mail sorting
Postal addresses in the United States
United States Postal Service