Carrier Route Software & Data FAQs
What is a Carrier Route?
A Carrier Route is a group of addresses that a mail carrier can
deliver to in a single day. Carrier Routes are assigned codes by the
United States Postal Service to aid in sorting and delivery of mail.
The codes are nine digits: 5 numbers for the ZIP Code, one letter
for the Carrier Route type and three numbers representing the
Carrier Route number.
The letters stand for:
* B = post office box
* C = city delivery
* H = highway contract
* L = landmark areas
*
R = rural route delivery
* V = void area (non-delivery)
What is the difference
between ZIP Codes, ZIP+4 Codes and Carrier Routes?
Carrier Routes "roll up" into ZIP Codes. There are an average of 15
ZIP Codes per Carrier Route. The boundary lines of Carrier Route and
ZIP Codes do not cross or intersect. There are many more ZIP+4s than
Carrier Routes. ZIP+4s may represent, for instance, one side of a
street.
Why Should I Target Direct Mail and Bulk
Mail Efforts by
Carrier Routes?
-
When you perform "saturation mailing" to at least
90% of the addresses in a Carrier Route, you can save between 50-60%
on your mailing costs.
-
"Birds of a Feather Flock Together". By mailing to
more people in any given neighborhood, you can reach more of your
target market.
-
By mailing to Carrier Routes rather than ZIP Codes,
you can eliminate areas where you will not likely get a response.
-
When you better target your audience, you can
increase your response rate.
-
Greater return on investment. Reduced mailing costs
and higher response rates lead to greater ROI.
Who uses Carrier Routes for
Direct Marketing and Bulk Mailing?
Anyone or any company that buys or sells lists for direct marketing
or public communication can benefit from
using Carrier Routes. You can more accurately determine list size
and have more targeted, effective lists.
What are Carrier Route
Maps?
Carrier Route maps are maps that show the boundaries of Carrier
Routes. Using Carrier Route maps lets you see where Carrier Routes
are located in relation to your target market.
CarrierRouteViewer lets you quickly create Carrier Route maps
around any location in the U.S. Color-coded shading will help you
visualize your target market and see at a glance the number of
residences in a Carrier Route.
Can I get Carrier Route Maps through the USPS?
No. You need to go to a commercial vendor such as
SpatialPoint and use our CarrierRouteViewer
to create maps?
Why should I buy software to create my own
Carrier Route maps? Why not just order maps from a service?
Using your own software such as
CarrierRouteViewer allows you to quickly look a number of
different possibilities for target areas and get quick counts of the
number of address units in any area. Plus you can add features the
the maps such as points-of-interest, ZIP Code boundaries and more.
When you order maps from a mapping service you have to wait plus you
may not get what you want and changes cost extra money. Having
CarrierRouteViewer is like having an essential marketing and
communication tool in your pocket.
What is the source of the Carrier Route
data in CarrierRouteViewer?
TeleAtlas, one of the most respected sources for geographic, map and
postal data in the the world, supplies a file called Dynamap®/Carrier
Routes. It identifies the boundaries of USPS carrier routes
nationwide, from the smallest walked by a city postal worker to the
largest driven by a rural highway carrier. Dynamap/Carrier Routes
reflects the latest USPS changes as well as nationwide street
additions and changes.
Dynamap®/Carrier Routes is a cartographic representation of more
than 300,000 United States Postal Service (USPS) Carrier Routes and
ZIP Code areas. Primarily, these carrier routes are designated to
residential areas. Changes, additions, and deletions from the most
recent comprehensive Dynamap street network are used to create and
update the boundaries.
This is a quarterly released product that primarily identifies the
residential boundaries of postal carrier routes in the United
States, ranging from the smallest walked route by a city postal
worker to the largest driven route by a rural carrier. When this
information is combined with Carrier Route level demographics and
customers' own database, target markets can be easily and clearly
defined, maximizing resources and minimizing costs.
In addition to the Carrier Route Boundaries, this product also comes
with ZIP Code Boundaries and two tables of ZIP Code Centroids.
About SpatialPoint:
Your MapPoint Experts
SpatialPoint focuses on Microsoft MapPoint technology platforms to
help customers solve problems where location is critical and can
provide competitive advantages. CarrierRouteViewer is one of many
applications we have developed that our customers use to increase
revenues, decrease costs and gain a competitive advantage. SpatialPoint has built a successful, customer-focused business. We
stay on the leading edge of technological developments and nurture a
strong positive relationship with Microsoft and other vendors. We
are a responsive and nimble organization that insists on providing
superior customer service and support.
Visit the SpatialPoint home
page to learn more. |
