Northern Virginia Begins First Phase of FSS Processing and Delivery


The first Northern Virginia Flats Sequencing System kickoff was held at the Reston Carrier Annex Friday, November 30, 2007. Reston has been selected as the first delivery site to receive FSS processed flats from the first FSS machine deployed at the Dulles Processing and Distribution Center.

The new FSS machine will be capable of sorting flats in delivery sequence at a rate of 16,500 pieces per hour. The FSS is scheduled to operate 17 hours per day with the capability of sorting 280,500 pieces per day to more than 125,000 delivery addresses. One hundred FSS machines are scheduled for deployment throughout the US in 2008.

During the first phase of the FSS rollout, teams from USPS Delivery Programs and the NALC will be visiting Reston to work with carriers and local managers to establish new methods and procedures for the safe and efficient delivery of the new delivery sequenced flat mail. FSS Programs Managers and the Northern Virginia FSS Coordinator will continue to monitor FSS processing to ensure that the highest accuracy and efficiency is obtained from the new flats sequencing equipment.

During the kickoff event, District Manager Mike Furey thanked the Reston employees for their participation as the first delivery unit to receive sequenced flats. He asked the carriers and local managers to provide feedback and suggestions that were critical to the success of the FSS program as it rolls out on a national level. Mike Furey explained that, like any other business, we must find the most efficient way to compete in our market. “As we roll out delivery sequenced flats, change is inevitable”; “what changes will occur, we just don’t know right now”. He told the carriers that they could anticipate an immediate reduction in overtime as the FSS would reduce case time while increasing carrier street time. “In the future, as we complete FSS implementation, we will adjust routes accordingly”. “We may have to extend routes or even move some people to other delivery units”. Mike Furey also discussed the plan to use transitional employees during the FSS implementation period as we transition to the FSS flats processing environment. .

USPS Delivery Operations Manager Phil Knoll and NALC City Delivery Director Dale Hart were present to discuss the USPS/NALC joint effort to explore alternative work methods for handling mail in an FSS environment. Both discussed their mission in determining the most efficient, safe an effective manner to handle and deliver sequenced flats. Presentations included carrier work methods, vehicle loading configurations and quality assurance. Both Phil Knoll and Dale Hart emphasized the need for the cooperation and feedback of carriers to make the program successful.

USPS FSS Program Manager Rosa Fulton and Northern Virginia FSS Coordinator Paul Mitchell answered technical questions from the audience regarding flats sequence quality, tray-container arrangement and the configuration of flats arriving in the trays with bound edges aligned on the right side. They discussed the challenges involved in the design of the FSS as the design had to incorporate various types of flat mail and specific addressing placement requirements of catalog mailers vs. the magazine industry. Carriers were asked to work with the new FSS trays and workflows during the initial evaluation period. This would allow them time to provide more accurate feedback and analysis to FSS team members.

In closing the event, Mike Furey asked carriers to continue to provide their customers with the excellent service they have been providing. He discussed the customer satisfaction ratings from Northern Virginia customers and asked carriers to be the professionals that they have proven to be in the past.
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