2009 Holiday Mail Schedule

Welcome to Holiday Mail Delivery! November & December can be great times to utilize mail. Many dealers have large events in the weeks leading up to Christmas as consumers are already in "shopping mode." Others find the beginning of Winter to be a fantastic opportunity to send out service offers as people look to get their vehicles ready for snow and icy conditions. Here are some things to keep in mind as you plan your 4th Quarter mail campaigns. With all the interruptions in mail delivery press dates can come much earlier than expected! Upcoming Postal Holidays ("Drop Date" = SCF date, or the day we deliver mail to the regional post office for delivery)

• Please keep in mind that Nov-Dec are the two busiest months in the Postal Facilities because of Holiday cards & packages. Expect all mail to run slightly slower than usual.
• Wednesday, Nov 11--Veteran's Day. Post office closed.
• Wednesday, Nov 25--Day before Thanksgiving. This is not an official postal holiday but over the past couple of years we've noticed individual postal facilities being closed or closing early.
• Thursday, Nov 26--Thanksgiving. Post office closed.
• Friday, Nov 27--Day after Thanksgiving. Not an official Postal Holiday. Some mail could move this day if delivered prior to Thanksgiving. Because every other vendor on the planet is closed this day (FedEx, UPS, etc) we will not be able to drop mail for any jobs on this day.
• Thursday, Dec 24--Christmas Eve. No mail drops. Typically not a whole lot of mail is delivered this day but it varies by area.
• Friday, Dec 25--Christmas Day. Post offices closed.
• Thursday Dec 31-New Year's Eve. Mail drops available in some areas, slow mail delivery is typical.
• Friday Jan 1--New Year's Day. Post offices closed.

Upcoming Press Timelines (Varies based on how many days ship and product, this is a general rule of thumb-call for exact press dates)

11/16-11/21 Sales, to press by 11/5 11/23-11/28 Sales, to press by 11/11 11/30-12/5 Sales, to press by 11/17 12/7-12/12 Sales, to press by 11/23 12/14-12/19 Sale, to press by 12/2 12/21-12/26 week of Christmas, press by 12/9 12/28-1/2 Sale, to press by 12/14.

I know that's a lot of info. The bottom line is, if you're planning to do sales Nov-early January please let us know. We can then let you know what press dates would be applicable for different scenarios. Katy Peat is the Diva that specializes in deadlines and turn times. Feel free to contact her directly to discuss options: kpeat@triauto.com, direct: 317-644-5779.

Happy Holidays!!

"Bulk Mail" confusion

In the last 10 years mail delivery has changed drastically. I started at Tri-Auto in 2004. At that time we were one of the very few automotive mail providers in the country using bulk mail postage. Most of the 'big guys' were still using First Class because bulk was unreliable and required maximum effort to even figure out the system. Fast forward to 2009 and my guesstimate is 90% of anyone using saturation automotive mail is mailing in this way (you can obviously also use it for non saturation mail as well). Among this camp there are two ways of getting the mail into homes. They are most commonly referred to as "SCF Delivery" and "DDU Delivery." So just what do those acronyms mean!?

• SCF - Sectional Center Facility. Mail comes in to these large postal hubs and is the dispersed to the...
• DDU - Destination Delivery Unit. ...or your local post office. Postmen and Postwomen deliver the mail from this location.

The difference in the two types of delivery is where the mail is being dropped off. Companies choose which location they "drop" the mail to for different reasons. After numerous conversations with the Post Office we've found dropping at the SCF level to be the most reliable. We were just given stats that 85-90% of DDU's now no longer have the sorting equipment necessary for our type of mail, so if the mail is delivered to them they are just sending it back to the SCF to be sorted anyway. We figure we'll cut out the middle business and just send straight to the SCF where it can be sorted and sent out correctly the first time. On the flip side, I know there are many companies who deliver to the DDU-and all of our systems are different so they may have just discovered another work around. Hopefully this helped to clear up the difference in mail delivery-it's all "bulk" in the end but the additional follow up and attention to detail is what makes all the difference on whether or not your mail is in homes on time. Check here for more info on how we attempt to control our mail AND things YOU can do to ensure your mail is delivering as reliably as possible.