MAILING AND

SHIPPING

CHAPTER 21
HANDLING INCOMING MAIL

• SORTING MAIL • ROUTING MAIL

• OPENING MAIL • PREPARING MAIL
• TIME- STAMPING FOR
MAIL PRESENTATION
• ANNOTATING
MAIL
• SORTING
Preli minary Organization before openi ng and readi ng incoming mail :
1. Telegrams Special Deli v ery

Registered Mail

Certified Mai l

Ai rmai l
2. Regular first-class mail
- requires prompt attention
- in many companies must be answered within 48 hours

3. Personal letters and mail marked Confidential

- should be left unopened unless the secretary has been instructed
otherwise
4. Interoffice Communications
5. Large envelopes marked Letter enclosed or Letter attached
6. Airmail packages
7. Parcel post packages
8. Third-class mail package
- advertising, merchandise, circulars and other printed material
9. Magazines and catalogs

If mail arrives for someone who is no longer with the company, the
• OPENING MAIL
TOOLS IN OPENING A LETTER:
- LETTER OPENER - RED PENCIL
- STAPLER - TRANSPARENT TAPE
- PAPER CLIPS
Steps in opening a mail:
1. Tap the lower edges of the envelope on the desk so that the contents will fall to the bottom and will not be cut when envelope are slit.
2. Place the envelope face down with all flaps in the same direction and slit each top edge with a quick stroke of letter opener.
If a personal or confidential letter is opened
inadvertently the secretary does not remove it from
the envelope but marks the front of it OPENED BY
MISTAKE adds her initials, reseals the envelope with
cellophane tape.
• TIME STAMPING MAIL
It is important to know the exact time the mail received in an office, this small machine can be used to stamp the time and date on each incoming communication.

When sender has omitted a date from his letter the incoming date notation helps to fix the time period to which the letter refers.
• ANNOTATING MAIL
She glances at the letters for enclosure notations or other indications of enclosures. If
enclosure is noted but cannot be found she writes ENCLOSURE MISSING on the letter and
then makes a reminder on her calendar to write a letter of inquiry.

• ROUTING MAIL
When the secretary knows that a particular piece of mail should go to someone other than her
employer , she prepares it for routing whether she is going to show it to her employer first or
send it along immediately.

• PREPARING MAIL FOR PRESENTATION

Before presenting the mail to the executive, secretary separates from the incoming mail, all inquiries,
orders, or routine correspondence that she can answer for him.
If the volume of mail is heavy, the secretary can divide it into several folders labeled with some indication
of the importance of each folder such as :
Folders of mail presentation:
- RUSH
- REGULAR
- READ

RUSH folder
- on the top require immediate action
- Telegrams - Airmail letters
- Special delivery - Registered and Certified mail

REGULAR folder will be arranged as follows:

- Unopened personal mail
- Other first-class letters, the most pleasant on top
- Interoffice or Intracompany mail

READ folder
- executive’s later attention
Dispatching Mail
secretary must be prepared to dispatch mail after the mailroom has closed for the day

• Preparing Correspondence • Reducing Mailing Costs

for Mailing • Using Stamps or Postage
• Using the Zip Code Meters
• Sources of Postal Information • Postcards
• Postal Regulations for
Envelopes
• Preparing Correspondence for Mailing
- After the letters have been typed, envelopes addressed and the letters signed.
- secretary again checks that every letter requiring a signature has one
- check the inside address on the letter and the address on the envelope are the same
- Make certain that all enclosures are with the proper letters.
- If an enclosure is letter size – not stapled to the letter.
- enclosure of this size consisting of two or more pages are stapled together – paper clips are not
used
- the enclosure is folded in the same manner as the letter and is inserted in the last fold of the letter
- when an enclosure is smaller than the letter, it is stapled to the upper left corner of the letter
- often an enclosure is larger than the letter, pamphlets, catalogs, price lists, and other printed matter
- First Class – if the enclosure is lightweight the secretary places it and the letter in a large
Manila envelope
- secretary marks the envelope First Class otherwise it would go as third class mail
- when heavy enclosures are sent frequently secretary obtains a supply of specially manufactured
envelopes for them
• Using the Zip Code
(ZIP) Zoning Improvement Program
- for speeding mail delivery
- the code is a five-digit number
ex: 10036
Post Office Branch
New York
(New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware)

first digit – refers to a section of the United States of America

second digit
third digit refers to a specific city
last two digits – to the post office branch in the city

January 1, 1967 –all organizations that send out mail in bulk are required to include the Zip Code on all pieces of mail.
• Sources of Postal Information
1. Postal Manual
- is the basic source of postal information, because it contains much more information than
the ordinary user needs
loose –leaf supplementary service
- is also maintained so that the user can keep up with current information and changes

2. The Directory of Post Offices

- which lists all post offices, can also be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents

3. Postal Regulations for Envelope

- Post Office Department prefers white
- paper should be strong enough to withstand normal handling
- Post Office accepts only rectangular envelopes
5. Using Stamps or Postage Meter
- secretary can save time by purchasing stamps in rolls by
tearing sheets of stamps into long strips

- postage meters, which must be leased from a manufacturer whose

product has been approved by the post office, will stamp the
mail with the postage , the postmark, the date, and an
advertisement

- meter stamps can be used on any class of mail

-the meter user must use a stamp design that has been approved
by the post office, and the stamp must be positioned in the
upper right corner of the envelope, address label, or tag

-metered mail must be arranged face up and must be bundled

together by class so that it will not become mixed with the regular
mail at the post office