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When someone sends a letter,
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it enters a system already at work
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that most people never get to see.
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The United States Postal Service processes
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hundreds of millions of mail pieces every day.
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The Postal Service delivers almost half the world's mail
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to over a hundred and fifty million addresses,
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through a network of thousnads of post offices.
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These offices are supplied by a network of hundreds of
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Processing and Distribution Centers around the nation.
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The Postal Service separates mail into three categories:
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letters, flats, and packages.
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Small pieces of mail like letters, bills, and post cards
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are all processed by the same set of machines.
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Processing letters begins with culling,
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or filtering out mail that cannot be handled by
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machines down the line due to size, shape or weight.
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Letters then enter the Advanced Facer-Canceller System.
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This machine uses specialized cameras
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to take pictures of envelopes as they speed by.
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These pictures are used by the computer
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to find the stamp,
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locate the address,
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read the handwriting,
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and compare the address
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against a database of known addresses.
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It faces the letter in the right direction,
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sprays it with a unique ID tag
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and cancels the stamp with a postmark.
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The letters are then transferred
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to the Delivery Barcode Sorter.
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Postal workers feed the letters
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into this machine by hand.
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This machine sorts letters into "delivery point sequence,"
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or the order that postal carriers
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will deliver them along their routes.
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After letters are sorted,
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they are moved to the loading dock.
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Customers often bring large bundles of
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magazines to distribution centers for processing.
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The Postal Service refers to magazines,
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catalogs, and similar items as "flats."
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Large bundles of flats must be weighed and verified
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before they are processed.
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They are them taken to a preparation area.
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There, they are separated and readied for processing.
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After they are prepared,
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bins of flats go into the Flats Sequencing System,
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a machine the length of a football field.
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The flats travel along a conveyor system to a feeder,
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where they are removed from the bins
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and sent one by one to the scanning system.
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A high-speed camera captures image of flats
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to identify their delivery addresses.
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A computer interprets the scanned addresses
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and sends sequencing information
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to the machine's robotics system.
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The flats are then sorted
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into delivery order for postal carriers.
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Sorted flats are then transferred to trays
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and automatically loaded onto carts.
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They are then moved to the loading dock.
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Packages can be particularly difficult
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to process be machine
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because they come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes.
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The Automated Package Processing System
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is uniquely equipped to deal with this kind of mail.
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Packages are spread out
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as they moce along a series of belts and rollers.
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As the packages enter the scanning and imaging tunnel,
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the machine reads their addresses.
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It determines the package dimensions...
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and weight.
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Checks for proper postage
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and scans the barcode,
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updating the package's tracking information.
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The packages then travel along a conveyor,
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before being kicked off into bins by destination.
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Packages are then moved to the loading dock,
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where they are loaded on to trucks
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along with letters and flats going to the same post offices.
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As morning approaches,
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drivers deliver the sorted mail
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to the appropriate post offices.
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After the mail arrives,
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postal workers separate it for pickup.
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Carriers gather the sorted letters, flats, and packages
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to take out on their routes.
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Mail delivery connects people and businesses
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all across the country.
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Everyday technology keeps mail flowing
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through this constantly moving network.
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All systems...
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at work.