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Saturation mail: EDDM, Marriage Mail and walk sequence

Businesses reach most or all of the addresses on a carrier route with saturation mail, sorted in walk sequence, the order the carrier delivers. Every Door Direct Mail sends it addressed to Postal Customer, and Marriage Mail combines several advertisers in one piece. Walk-sequence address lists come from Computerized Delivery Sequence, for mailers whose own lists qualify through Electronic Address Sequencing.

Updated November 4, 202664 sources

Questions

How does USPS Every Door Direct Mail work?

With EDDM, a business picks neighborhoods in the EDDM Online Tool, addresses each piece to Postal Customer, and carriers deliver one to every address there. EDDM Retail takes at least 200 and up to 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP Code, with a USPS.com account and no mailing permit. EDDM BMEU takes more, paid with a bulk mail permit at a Business Mail Entry Unit.

What are the USPS Every Door Direct Mail size requirements?

An EDDM Retail piece is a flat of 3.3 ounces or less, longer than 10-1/2 inches, higher than 6-1/8 inches or thicker than 1/4 inch. Like every flat, it is no more than 15 inches long, 12 inches high or 3/4 inch thick. An EDDM BMEU piece must meet the USPS Marketing Mail flats size requirements, which the Mailpiece Size Checker in the EDDM Online Tool checks.

Can EDDM be in an envelope?

Yes, if the envelope is flat-size: EDDM BMEU takes flats, and flat-size mail may be unwrapped, sleeved, wrapped or enveloped. The piece still has to meet the USPS Marketing Mail flats size requirements.

How much does USPS Every Door Direct Mail cost?

As of October 4, 2026, an EDDM Retail flat of up to 3.3 ounces costs $0.260 a piece. An EDDM BMEU flat up to 4 ounces costs $0.309, or $0.259 entered at the delivery unit whose carriers serve its routes. Qualifying marriage mailpieces sent by EDDM, though not by EDDM Retail, can claim the Marriage Mail Incentive, a 20% discount as of July 12, 2026.

Can you do EDDM yourself?

Yes: in the free EDDM Online Tool, a business picks its routes, calculates the postage and prepares the postage statement itself. With EDDM Retail, it prints the EDDM Retail indicia, a postage payment mark, above and to the right of each address block. It takes the bundles, with a completed PS Form 3587, to the Post Office for the chosen ZIP Code.

What is USPS Marriage Mail?

Marriage Mail is direct mail in which marketing service companies combine advertisements from several companies into one mailpiece, cutting each advertiser's cost. Qualifying marriage mailpieces get a discounted price, the Marriage Mail Incentive. Plus One adds an advertising card to a host Marriage Mail saturation letter or flat.

Can I purchase an address list from the Postal Service?

No: USPS is barred from providing name or address lists, so a mailer creates its own list or buys one from an address list vendor. A list holding at least 90 percent of a ZIP Code's possible deliveries can qualify for Computerized Delivery Sequence, which returns it in walk sequence.

How much does the EAS service cost?

Electronic Address Sequencing costs $0.70 per correction under the Mail Classification Schedule: each undeliverable address removed from a list, and each missing or new address added to it. USPS's EAS FAQ puts it as the EAS rate per record, for each address removed from the list and each one added.

Will I have to pay for EAS if the ZIP Code does not qualify for CDS?

Yes: customers pay for the Electronic Address Sequencing service provided, and payment is due 30 days from the invoice date whatever the results. A ZIP Code that did not prequalify costs nothing, and one that failed at the address level pays only to remove nonexistent addresses.

How it fits together

Saturation mail is built on the carrier route, the addresses one carrier delivers to. Mail sorted in walk sequence, the order the carrier delivers, gets a price generally lower than nonsequenced mail. The saturation price needs pieces for most of a route's active addresses, and the high density price at least 125 pieces per route. Both are offered in USPS Marketing Mail, the class once called Standard Mail.

Saturation mail can go out without an address list, since it may use simplified addressing. Every Door Direct Mail uses a simplified address such as Postal Customer and reaches every household or business on a delivery route. Marriage Mail shares one piece among several advertisers, and USPS gives qualifying pieces the Marriage Mail Incentive price.

An addressed saturation mailing needs its list in walk sequence. USPS provides no lists, but Computerized Delivery Sequence puts a mailer's own list in walk sequence and keeps it updated. The list qualifies through Electronic Address Sequencing when it holds at least 90 percent of a ZIP Code's possible deliveries.

DSF2, a USPS address product, checks whether each address is a known record in the USPS delivery file. Processing by a DSF2 licensee is another approved way to put a list in walk sequence. The licensee takes each address's walk sequence number from Enhanced Line of Travel, or eLOT, an address product that sorts lists in approximate carrier sequence.

Carrier routes and walk sequence

A carrier route is the addresses one carrier delivers to. In common usage, it is one of these:

  • a city route
  • a rural route, served by a rural carrier
  • a highway contract route
  • a Post Office Box section
  • a general delivery unit

Carrier route is also a presort level, in which every piece in a bundle or container goes to the same route.

Walk sequence is the order in which a carrier delivers mail for a route, and most carrier route presort mail requires it. An address's place in that order is its delivery sequence number.

Line-of-travel sequence is looser: it orders a route's ZIP+4 codes as the carrier serves them, not each address. Within each ZIP+4 code, the addresses are marked as ascending or descending. Mail at carrier route basic prices needs line-of-travel sequence unless it is in walk sequence. Mail in either order is sequenced mail, which gets a price generally lower than nonsequenced mail.

Must
LOT information must be updated within 90 days before the mailing date.

A mailer must update its line-of-travel information within the 90 days before the mailing date.

Carrier Route

Also called CR, Carrier Route Identifier, Carrier Route Id

“(1) The addresses to which a carrier delivers mail. In common usage, carrier route includes city routes, rural routes, highway contract routes, Post Office Box sections, and general delivery units. (2) A presort level in which all pieces in the bundle or container are addressed for delivery to the same city route, rural route, highway contract route, Post Office Box section, or general delivery unit. (3) A price category available for some mail classes or products prepared at a carrier route presort level.”

rural route

Also called RR

“A delivery route served by a rural carrier.”

line-of-travel sequence

Also called LOT sequence

“LOT sequence is not an exact walk sequence but a sequence of ZIP+4 codes arranged in the order that the route is served by a carrier.”

walk sequence

“The order in which a carrier delivers mail for a route. This order is required for most carrier route presort mail.”

sequenced mail

“Mail sorted and made up by a mailer in the order in which the carrier delivers mail on a route (either in line-of-travel sequence or walk sequence) and for which the mailer receives a specific price that is generally lower than nonsequenced mail.”

Delivery Sequence Number

“The number indicating the position of an address on a carrier route.”

Saturation and high density prices

Saturation and high density are carrier route prices for mail prepared in walk sequence. The saturation price needs mail to at least 90 percent of a route's active residential addresses, or 75 percent of all its active possible deliveries. The high density price needs at least 125 pieces per route. The high density plus price needs at least 300 pieces per carrier route, sorted together in sequence.

An active delivery point is one that is occupied, or vacant less than 90 days. A possible delivery is any stop to which a carrier could make a delivery.

USPS Marketing Mail has high density and saturation letters, and high density and saturation flats and parcels, among its products. It was called Standard Mail until its rename on January 22, 2017. A saturation piece shows ECRWSS with its class marking, to show it qualifies for the saturation price.

A simplified address is an alternative addressing format for identical mail to every customer on a rural route or highway contract route. It puts a name such as Postal Customer in place of a complete delivery address. It also serves every Post Office Box customer at an office without city carriers. On a city route, commercial mail may use one only on these pieces:

  • flat-size USPS Marketing Mail pieces
  • flat-size Periodicals pieces
  • flat-size Bound Printed Matter pieces
  • Periodicals nonstandard parcels

The mailing needs a complete distribution, to each active residential delivery or each active delivery on the route. Official mail from federal, state and local government agencies may also use one on a city route.

For pieces with a simplified address, the postage statement records the delivery statistics file or other method the mailer used. The Delivery Statistics Product counts the Post Office Boxes and business and residential deliveries on city, rural and highway contract routes for every ZIP Code. As of September 2026, USPS plans to extend IV-MTR bundle visibility to saturation mail and EDDM, which use simplified addressing, in a later release.

simplified address

“An alternative addressing format used when delivery of identical mail is requested to every customer on a rural route or highway contract route, or to all Post Office Box customers at a Post Office without city carrier service. Instead of listing the addressee’s name and address, the mailer may use “Postal Customer." The format may also be used for certain types of mailpieces on a city route and to Post Office Boxes in offices with city delivery service when a complete distribution is made to each active residential delivery or each active delivery on the route or to the box section. Government agencies may also use this format for official mail sent to all stops on city routes and Post Office Boxes at Post Offices with city delivery service. In such cases, these formats may be used: “Postal Customer,” “Residential Customer,” and “Business Customer,” depending on the coverage type requested.”

ECRWSS

“A price-specific marking that is combined with the required basic marking (i.e., class marking) to indicate eligibility for the Standard Mail saturation price category.”

active delivery point

“A delivery point that is currently occupied or vacant less than 90 days.”

saturation price

“A carrier route price for Standard Mail and Periodicals letters and flats that requires preparing the mail in walk sequence, with mail to 90% or more of the active residential addresses or 75% or more of the total number of active possible delivery addresses per route receiving this mail.”

high density price

“A carrier route price for Standard Mail and Periodicals pieces that requires preparing the mail in walk sequence, with a minimum of 125 Standard Mail pieces per route required and a minimum of 125 Periodicals pieces per route required except for Periodicals In-County prices, which require a minimum number of pieces equal to 25% of the total active possible deliveries.”

possible delivery

“Any stop to which a carrier could make a delivery. A possible delivery could be an active delivery point, a vacant address (designated as such if vacant for more than 90 days and flagged in the address database), or a Post Office Box throwback (designated in the address database as an address that receives free Post Office Box service at a Post Office that has no carrier delivery service or at a Post Office in which the address is within a quarter mile of the Post Office).”

Every Door Direct Mail

Every Door Direct Mail, or EDDM, lets a business target areas of its local market without names and addresses on the mailpieces. It targets residences and businesses by carrier route, so it serves local mailings, regional initiatives and national campaigns. It works on city and rural routes, at carrier route prices for certain USPS Marketing Mail, Periodicals and Bound Printed Matter pieces.

EDDM Retail, for smaller mailings, takes at least 200 and up to 5,000 pieces per day per ZIP Code. It needs no mailing permit, and its mailer pays online or at the Post Office. EDDM BMEU takes more than 5,000, paid with a bulk mail permit at the Business Mail Entry Unit where the permit is held. Saturation Mail prices apply to EDDM BMEU.

The free EDDM Online Tool shows a target area's delivery routes and the households on each, for up to five 5-digit ZIP Codes per mailing. It also prints the facing slips and postage statements. Printers and mail service providers also build EDDM orders, in mail management software that holds the same ZIP Code and carrier route data. Each piece goes to every address on the chosen routes, addressed to a generic name such as Postal Customer. An EDDM BMEU piece shows ECRWSS in the address area or in or below its permit indicia.

Marriage Mail and Plus One

Marriage Mail combines advertisements, such as coupons or sales notices, from several companies into one mailpiece. Sharing the piece cuts the mailing's cost for each advertiser. The Mail Owner is the business that combines its clients' advertisements into one piece.

The Marriage Mail Incentive is a discounted price on Saturation and High Density Plus marriage mail letters and flats. It covers EDDM mailings but not EDDM Retail. As of July 12, 2026, it is a 20% discount on qualifying pieces. Each piece carries at least 4 advertisers and weighs no more than 2 oz. The Mail Owner sends at least 10 qualifying mailings in each 12-month cycle.

Plus One is an advertising card sent with a host Marriage Mail saturation letter or flat. The host mailing must be at least 90% Saturation, with the rest High Density or High Density Plus. The card goes to the same delivery points as its host. As of October 4, 2026, a Plus One card costs $0.126 a piece, up from $0.12 in July 2025. On the postage statement, the cards go on a line of their own under Carrier Route Automation Letters, in Section C for a letter host and Section F for a flat host.

Walk-sequence address lists

USPS is bound by Title 39, which keeps it from providing name or address lists to anyone. A mailer creates its own list or buys one from an address list vendor.

Computerized Delivery Sequence, or CDS, is an updating service USPS performs on a mailer's own list. Its file holds addresses confirmed by Delivery Point Validation, including 911-converted ones, in walk sequence. Updates come weekly or bimonthly, and the weekly ones cost nothing extra. CDS gives mailers access to walk sequence saturation discounts.

A list qualifies for CDS only through Electronic Address Sequencing, or EAS. It must hold 90 to 110 percent of the possible deliveries in a ZIP Code, or in each address group it covers.

Must
Customers attempting to qualify for CDS using EAS must have address lists containing at least 90 percent — but not greater than 110 percent — of the total possible deliveries in a ZIP Code.

A list sent through EAS to qualify for CDS must hold at least 90 percent, and no more than 110 percent, of the ZIP Code's possible deliveries.

Enhanced Line of Travel, or eLOT, is an address product that sorts lists in approximate carrier sequence of delivery, not exact walk sequence. It gives each range of ZIP+4 codes on a route a sequence number and an ascending or descending code. Licensed DSF2 processing is another approved way to put mail in walk sequence without a simplified address. A DSF2 licensee must get each address's walk sequence number from eLOT.

Some delivery points on a route get no mail. A no-stat delivery point is a building under construction, demolished or blighted, or a rural route address without mail for 90 days or longer. A vacant delivery point was active in the past but is not occupied, generally for 90 days or more.

The CDS file marks vacant addresses with its Address Vacant Indicator. No-stat addresses come in a separate CDS No-Stat file, sold only to CDS customers for an additional charge. It includes eLOT at no additional charge, to merge the no-stat records into a list in sequence. The file lets a mailer begin mailing a new delivery point when its occupant asks.

A CDS customer that rents or leases its list can include seed addresses, fictitious addresses USPS creates for it. Address sequencing finds the seeds when another party submits the list.

no-stat delivery point

“A business or dwelling under construction, demolished, blighted or otherwise identified as not likely to become active for some time, or a rural route address that has not been receiving mail for 90 days or longer. No-stat and vacant tables are part of the Delivery Point Validation product.”

vacant delivery point

“A delivery point that was active in the past but is currently not occupied (generally not occupied for 90 days or more) and not receiving mail delivery. It does not include businesses or homes under construction, demolished, or otherwise identified as unlikely to become active.”

Enhanced Line of Travel

Also called eLOT, eLine-Of-Travel

“The eLOT product allows mailers the ability to sort their mailings in approximate carrier-casing sequence.”

CDS No-Stat

“CDS No-Stats are delivery points in the database that currently do not receive delivery.”

seed address

“Seed addresses are fictitious addresses created by USPS and provided to USPS® CDS customers.”

What goes wrong

  • In Mail.dat, a job fails validation when its saturation pieces have no walk sequence records.
  • A Mail.dat job at saturation, high density or carrier route prices can't carry an address coding date more than 90 days before its mailing date.
  • A Weekly CDS customer that skips updates gets out-of-sequence carrier route information, which could affect its postage discounts.
  • EAS stops processing a list when the addresses submitted exceed 110 percent of the possible deliveries.
  • A seed address in a submitted list disqualifies every ZIP Code and address group that holds it.
  • Failing to qualify a ZIP Code through EAS in three attempts in 12 months bars further attempts on it for one year.
  • A Mail Owner with fewer than 10 qualifying Marriage Mail mailings in a cycle is charged the entire incentive claimed in that cycle.

Index: 27 entries

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System (1)

File (1)

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Terms (16)

Sources