Maponics Blog

U.S. Postal Service Overhaul Captured in Latest Maponics ZIP Code Data Release

by Zephyr on November 19, 2009 at 7:20PM

After its eighth consecutive quarter of significant financial losses, the U.S. Postal Service announced that it would begin a massive re-evaluation of its delivery infrastructure in February of this year (http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2009/pr09_015.htm ). Aiming to cut billions in ongoing costs, the USPS planned to look at:

• consolidating facilities (post offices, sorting centers, etc.)
• reducing staff (mostly by not filling open positions)
• reorganizing the areas covered by postal carrier routes* and ZIP Codes (to increase efficiency, and address facility closings and staffing reductions)
• changing mail delivery schedules and post office retail hours

The result of this postal reorganization has been higher quarterly ZIP Code and carrier route change rates, especially in the second half of 2009.  As an example, in the three month period between this Maponics ZIP Code data release and the last one in August, 12% of all Cook County, IL ZIP Codes have been changed**.  And since the February Maponics data release, 22% of these ZIP Codes have been changed.

The table below shows the % of ZIP Codes that have been changed since Maponics’ February ZIP Code data release for the five Cook County postal towns*** with the most ZIP codes.

What type of on-the-ground alterations cause ZIP Code data changes? Here are some announcements issued by the USPS that pertain specifically to Cook County postal reorganization:

• One major Chicago-area delivery infrastructure change still on the table is a consolidation of outgoing mail operations between the Palatine Processing and Distribution Center (in Cook County) and the Carol Stream Processing and Distribution Center (in Dupage County). This could affect as many as 600 ZIP Codes and 1-200 postal worker positions:
  http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/localnews/il/2009/il_2009_0908.htm
  http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/localnews/il/2009/il_2009_0610.htm

• The USPS has even been selling Chicago-based assets, in order to reduce recurring costs:
  http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/localnews/il/2009/il_2009_0827.htm

Most of the Chicago area ZIP Code data changes seen in the last quarter were the result of ZIP Code and carrier route delivery area reconfigurations. But the image above shows an example of ZIP coverage area change in Henry County, IL that is the result of a postal branch closure. In this case, the Ophiem, IL post office was closed, and the surrounding ZIP Codes (including 61413, pictured) were expanded to pick up the delivery area no longer served by the Ophiem post office.

It is expected that the U.S. Postal Service reorganization will continue well into 2010. In fact, there are currently 437 post offices still under evaluation for closure. This week, Maponics issued a press release discussing the record number of changes we’re seeing in our postal data.  You can read that announcement here, or learn more about our ZIP code data here.

Some definitions:

*   Carrier Route: the building block of a ZIP Code.  The U.S. Postal Services assigns the same carrier route code to a subgroup of addresses within a ZIP Code to aid in mail sorting and delivery.  Typically, a carrier route represents the geographical area to which an individual mail carrier delivers every day.

**   ZIP Code Change: the addition or deletion of a ZIP Code, or significant change to a ZIP Code’s delivery area (the addition or deletion of one or more carrier routes that make up a ZIP Code).

***   Postal Town Name: the town name the U.S. Postal Service associates with a given ZIP Code.

Announcing Our New Full Suite of ZIP Code Data!

by Zephyr on July 14, 2009 at 5:17PM

We’ve been working hard to expand our ZIP Code data product line, and are excited to announce the launch of a new full suite of Maponics ZIP Code data today!

Trusted by the Giants

DHL, UPS, FedEX, the United States Postal Service and other mailing industry businesses have come to depend on us for postal maps, data and information, as have direct marketing giants Pitney Bowes MapInfo and D&B (Dunn and Bradstreet).

In fact, Maponics is the only company the USPS.com refers to for business mapping of ZIP Code data and information.

What’s in the New ZIP Code Data Suite?

This new suite offers excellent options for companies looking for a ZIP Code data provider that they can trust to be in the market for the long term, especially for those concerned with accuracy, price, support and licensing flexibility.

Specific datasets now available include:

• 5-digit ZIP Code boundaries
• ZIP+4 data (9-digit ZIP Code data)
• Postal carrier route boundaries
• ZIP+2 boundaries
• ZIP Code-to-neighborhood correspondence data
• 3-digit ZIP Code data
• Custom postal map data

What Sets Our ZIP Code Data Apart

All Maponics postal data is updated quarterly, based upon monthly data feeds from the United States Postal Service and other sources. Unlike many providers, our postal boundaries follow streets, which allows for more precise decision making when viewing these polygons on a map.

In addition, we do not over-generalize our ZIP Code data the way some suppliers do when they:

• drop ZIP Codes that are hard to map.

• give point ZIP Codes (for example, those assigned to P.O. boxes) non-existent polygonal boundaries, because it is easier than dealing with the reality that the U.S. Postal Service has both point ZIP Codes, and ZIP Codes with delivery areas that can be represented as polygons.

As a result of our rigorous data creation methodology, Maponics ZIP Code data is the most complete and accurate on the market, capturing all U.S. ZIP Codes, not just those that are easy to capture.

Learn More

Maponics ZIP Code datasets can be delivered in one of many file formats, including shapefile, TAB and KML, or on a transactional basis via the Maponics Spatial API.  They are easily integrated into ESRI, Pitney Bowes MapInfo and other GIS systems, as well as into web-based applications.

Interested in finding out more about this new suite of ZIP Code data, or want to receive sample data?  Contact us at 800.762.5158 or email info@maponics.com.