(a) Letter is a message directed to a specific person or address and recorded in or on a tangible object, subject to the following:

(1) Tangible objects used for letters include, but are not limited to, paper (including paper in sheet or card form), recording disks, and magnetic tapes. Tangible objects used for letters do not include (i) objects the material or shape and design of which make them valuable or useful for purposes other than as media for long-distance communications, unless they are actually used as media for personal and business correspondence, and (ii) outsized, rigid objects not capable of enclosure in envelopes, sacks, boxes or other containers commonly used to transmit letters or packets of letters.

(2) Message means any information or intelligence that can be recorded as described in paragraph (a)(4) of this section.

(3) A message is directed to a “specific person or address” when, for example, it, or the container in which it is carried, singly or with other messages, identical or different, is marked for delivery to a specific person or place, or is delivered to a specific person or place in accordance with a selective delivery plan. Selective delivery plans include delivery to particular persons or addresses by use of detached address labels or cards; address lists; memorized groups of addresses; or “piggy-backed” delivery with addressed articles of merchandise, publications, or other items. Selective delivery plans do not include distributions of materials without written addresses to passersby on a particular street corner, or to all residents or randomly selected residents of an area. A message bearing the name or address of a specific person or place is a letter even if it is intended by the sender to be read or otherwise used by some person or persons other than or in addition to the addressee.

(4) Methods by which messages are recorded on tangible objects include, but are not limited to, the use of written or printed characters, drawing, holes, or orientations of magnetic particles in a manner having a predetermined significance.

(5) Whether a tangible object bears a message is to be determined on an objective basis without regard to the intended or actual use made of the object sent.

(6) Identical messages directed to more than one specific person or address or separately directed to the same person or address constitute separate letters.

(7) The following are not letters within the meaning of these regulations: 1

(i) Telegrams.

(ii) Checks, drafts, promissory notes, bonds, other negotiable and nonnegotiable financial instruments, stock certificates, other securities, insurance policies, and title policies when shipped to, from, or between financial institutions.

(A) As used above, checks and drafts include documents intrinsically related to and regularly accompanying the movement of checks or drafts within the banking system. “Checks” do not include materials accompanying the movement of checks to financial institutions from persons who are not financial institutions, or vice versa, except such materials as would qualify under § 310.3(a) if “checks” were treated as cargo. Specifically, for example, “checks” do not include bank statements sent to depositors showing deposits, debits, and account balances.

(B) As used above, financial institutions means:

(1) As to checks and drafts: banks, savings banks, savings and loan institutions, credit unions, and their offices, affiliates, and facilities.

(2) As to other instruments: institutions performing functions involving the bulk generation, clearance, and transfer of such instruments.

(iii) Abstracts of title, mortgages and other liens, deeds, leases, releases, articles of incorporation, papers filed in lawsuits or formal quasi-judicial proceedings, and orders of courts and of quasi-judicial bodies.

(iv) Newspapers and periodicals.

(v) Books and catalogs consisting of 24 or more bound pages with at least 22 printed, and telephone directories. Separate letters of less than 24 bound and 22 printed pages bound to other material do not qualify for this exclusion. In determining whether separate letters have been bound to other material, the following factors will be considered, along with any other relevant factors: Whether the parts are visually similar; whether the parts were printed and bound together at the same time and by the same process; whether the binding serves an important purpose and has been a longstanding practice; and whether the same individual reads all parts of the bound document. Ordinarily, books and catalogs deal with matters of interest to, and are intended for, a substantial number of recipients. In addition, books generally contain a substantial number of pages. Accordingly, this exclusion will not apply when the nature of the message conveyed, the limited numbers of published copies and of recipients, the limited number of pages, or other relevant factors suggest that it is not appropriate to treat the material as a book or catalog. An item distributed privately, or privately and by mail, to fewer than 25 separate persons or places will generally not be treated as a book or catalog falling within this exclusion.

(vi) Matter sent from a printer, stationer, or similar source, to a person ordering such matter for use as his letters. This exclusion applies whether or not the printer, stationer, or similar source is owned by or affiliated with the person who orders such matter for use as his letters.

(vii) Letters sent to a records storage center exclusively for storage, letters sent exclusively for destruction, letters retrieved from a records storage center, and letters sent as part of a household or business relocation.

(viii) Tags, labels, stickers, signs or posters the type-size, layout or physical characteristics of which indicate they are primarily intended to be attached to other objects for reading.

(ix) Photographic material being sent by a person to a processor and processed photographic material being returned from the processor to the person sending the material for processing.

(x) Copy sent from a person to an independent or company-owned printer or compositor, or between printers and compositors, and proofs or printed matter returned from the printer or compositor to the office of the person who initially sent the copy.

(xi) Sound recordings, films, and packets of identical printed letters containing messages all or the overwhelming bulk of which are to be disseminated to the public. The “public” does not include individuals residing at the place of address; individuals employed by the organization doing business at the place of address (whether or not the actual place of employment is the place of address); individuals who are members of an organization, if an organization is located at the place of address; or other individuals who, individually or as members of a group, are reasonably identifiable to the sender.

(xii) Computer programs recorded on media suitable for direct input. For the conditions under which the Private Express Statutes are suspended for data processing materials, see § 320.2.

(b) Packet means two or more letters, identical or different, or two or more packets of letters, under one cover or otherwise bound together. As used in these regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, “letter” or “letters” includes “packet” or “packets”.

(c) Person means an individual, corporation, association, partnership, governmental agency, or other organization or entity.

(d) Post routes are routes on which mail is carried by the Postal Service, and includes post roads as defined in 39 U.S.C. 5003, as follows:

(1) The waters of the United States, during the time the mail is carried thereon;

(2) Railroads or parts of railroads and air routes in operation;

(3) Canals, during the time the mail is carried thereon;

(4) Public roads, highways, and toll roads during the time the mail is carried thereon; and

(5) Letter-carrier routes established for the collection and delivery of mail.

(e) Private carriage, private carrier, and terms of similar import used in connection with the Private Express Statutes or these regulations mean carriage by anyone other than the Postal Service, regardless of any meaning ascribed to similar terms under other bodies of law or regulation.

(f) The Private Express Statutes are set forth in 18 U.S.C. 1693-1699 and 39 U.S.C. 601-606 (1970).

(g) The term identical printed letters includes letters that differ only in name, address or serial number.

(a) It is generally unlawful under the Private Express Statutes for any person other than the Postal Service in any manner to send or carry a letter on a post route or in any manner to cause or assist such activity. Violation may result in injunction, fine or imprisonment or both and payment of postage lost as a result of the illegal activity (see § 310.5).

(b) Activity described in paragraph (a) of this section is lawful with respect to a letter if:

(1)(i) The letter is enclosed in an envelope or other suitable cover;

(ii) The amount of postage which would have been charged on the letter if it had been sent through the Postal Service is paid by stamps, or postage meter stamps, on the cover or by other methods approved by the Postal Service;

(iii) The name and address of the person for whom the letter is intended appear on the cover;

(iv) The cover is so sealed that the letter cannot be taken from it without defacing the cover;

(v) Any stamps on the cover are canceled in ink by the sender; and

(vi) The date of the letter, or of its transmission or receipt by the carrier, is endorsed on the cover in ink by the sender or carrier, as appropriate; or

(2)(i) The activity is in accordance with the terms of a written agreement between the shipper or the carrier of the letter and the Postal Service. Such an agreement may include some or all of the provisions of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, or it may change them, but it must:

(A) Adequately ensure payment of an amount equal to the postage to which the Postal Service would have been entitled had the letters been carried in the mail;

(B) Remain in effect for a specified period (subject to renewals); and

(C) Provide for periodic review, audit, and inspection.

(ii) Possible alternative arrangements may include but are not limited to:

(A) Payment of a fixed sum at specified intervals based on the shipper's projected shipment of letters for a given period, as verified by the Postal Service; or

(B) Utilization of a computer record to determine the volume of letters shipped during an interval and the applicable postage to be remitted to the Postal Service.

(c) The Postal Service may suspend the operation of any part of paragraph (b) of this section where the public interest requires the suspension.

(d) Activity described in paragraph (a) of this section is permitted with respect to letters which:

(1) Relate to some part of the cargo of, or to some article carried at the same time by, the conveyance carrying it (see § 310.3(a));

(2) Are sent by or addressed to the carrier (see § 310.3(b));

(3) Are conveyed or transmitted without compensation (see § 310.3(c));

(4) Are conveyed or transmitted by special messenger employed for the particular occasion only, provided that not more than twenty-five such letters are conveyed or transmitted by such special messenger (see § 310.3(d)); or

(5) Are carried prior or subsequent to mailing (see § 310.3(e)).

(a) Cargo. The sending or carrying of letters is permissible if they accompany and relate in all substantial respects to some part of the cargo or to the ordering, shipping or delivering of the cargo.

(b) Letters of the carrier. (1) The sending or carrying of letters is permissible if they are sent by or addressed to the person carrying them. If the individual actually carrying the letters is not the person sending the letters or to whom the letters are addressed, then such individual must be an officer or employee of such person (see § 310.3(b)(2)) and the letters must relate to the current business of such person.

(2) The fact that the individual actually carrying the letters may be an officer or employee of the person sending the letters or to whom the letters are addressed for certain purposes does not necessarily mean that he is an officer or employee for purposes of this exception. The following factors bear on qualifications for the exception: the carrying employee is employed for a substantial time, if not fulltime (letters must not be privately carried by casual employees); the carrying employee carries no matter for other senders; the carrying employee is a regular salaried employee and shares in all privileges enjoyed by other regular employees (including employees not engaged primarily by the letter carrying function), including but not limited to salary, annual vacation time, absence allowed for illness, health benefits, workmen's compensation insurance, and retirement benefits.

(3) Separately incorporated carriers are separate entities for purposes of this exception, regardless of any subsidiary, ownership, or leasing arrangement. When, however, two concerns jointly operate an enterprise with joint employees and share directly in its revenues and expenses, either of the concerns may carry the letters of the joint enterprise.

(c) Private hands without compensation. The sending or carrying of letters without compensation is permitted. Compensation generally consists of a monetary payment for services rendered. Compensation may also consist, however, of non-monetary valuable consideration and of good will Thus, for example, when a business relationship exists or is sought between the carrier and its user, carriage by the carrier of the user's letter will ordinarily not fall under this exception; or, when a person is engaged in the transportation of goods or persons for hire, his carrying of letters “free of charge” for customers whom he does charge for the carriage of goods or persons does not fall under this exception.

(d) Special messenger. (1) The use of a special messenger employed for the particular occasion only is permissible to transmit letters if not more than twenty-five letters are involved. The permission granted under this exception is restricted to use of messenger service on an infrequent, irregular basis by the sender or addressee of the message.

(2) A special messenger is a person who, at the request of either the sender or the addressee, picks up a letter from the sender's home or place of business and carries it to the addressees home or place of business, but a messenger or carrier operating regularly between fixed points is not a special messenger.

(e) Carriage prior or subsequent to mailing. (1) The private carriage of letters which enter the mail stream at some point between their origin and their destination is permissible. Except as provided in paragraph (e)(3) of this section, however, the carriage of letters from a place where they have been opened, read, separated, or otherwise utilized, does not fall within this exception even though such letters had previously been in the mail stream. Similarly, the carriage of letters to a place where they will be consolidated or otherwise utilized does not fall within this exception even though they will subsequently enter the mail stream.

(2) Examples of permitted activities are the pickup and carriage of letters which are delivered to post offices for mailing; the pickup and carriage of letters at post offices for delivery to addressees; and the bulk shipment of individually addressed letters ultimately carried by the Postal Service.

(3) The private carriage of letters from branches of an organization to a location for preparation for mailing does not constitute a consolidation. The private carriage of letters from an organization's point of mail delivery to its branches in the locality does not constitute a separation.

Private carriers are cautioned to make sure that their carriage of matter is lawful within the definition, exceptions, suspension, and conditions contained in this part and in part 320 of this chapter. They should take reasonable measures to inform their customers of the contents of these regulations so that only proper matter is tendered to them for carriage. Carriers should desist from carrying any matter when the form of shipment, identity of sender or recipient, or any other information reasonably accessible to them indicates that matter tendered to them for carriage is not proper under these regulations.

(a) Upon discovery of activity made unlawful by the Private Express Statutes, the Postal Service may require any person or persons who engage in, cause, or assist such activity to pay an amount or amounts not exceeding the total postage to which it would have been entitled had it carried the letters between their origin and destination.

(b) The amount equal to postage will be due and payable not later than 15 days after receipt of formal demand from the Inspection Service unless an appeal is taken to the Judicial Officer Department in accordance with rules of procedure set out in part 959 of this chapter.

(c) Refusal to pay an unappealed demand or a demand that becomes final after appeal will subject the violator to civil suit by the Postal Service to collect the amount equal to postage.

(d) The payment of amounts equal to postage on violation shall in no way limit other actions to enforce the Private Express Statutes by civil or criminal proceedings.

An advisory opinion on any question arising under this part and part 320 of this chapter may be obtained by writing the Law Department, U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC 20260. A numbered series of advisory opinions is available for inspection by the public in the Library of the U.S. Postal Service, and copies of individual opinions may be obtained upon payment of charges for duplicating services.

Amendments of the regulations in this part and in part 320 may be made only in accordance with the rulemaking provisions of the Administrative Procedure Act.

The definitions in § 310.1 apply to part 320 as well. 1

(a) The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a) (1) through (6) and § 310.2(b) (1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes for data processing materials defined in paragraph (c) of this section on the terms detailed in paragraph (b) of this section, subject to the operating requirements in § 320.3.

(b) The suspension referred to in paragraph (a) of this section is for data processing materials conveyed (1) to a data processing center, if carriage is completed within 12 hours or by noon of the addressee's next business day and if data processing work is commenced on such materials within 36 hours of their receipt at the center; or (2) back from the data processing center to the address of the office originating the incoming materials, if carriage is completed within 12 hours or by noon of the addressee's next business day, and if data processing work was commenced on the incoming materials within 36 hours of their receipt at the center. For purposes of the time limitations for completion of delivery referred to in the preceding sentence, delivery of shipments between a domestic point and a foreign point shall be deemed to begin at the time materials of foreign origin are received at the international gateway city or end at the time materials of domestic origin leave the international gateway city. This suspension does not apply to carriages from or to originating offices that are neither part of the firm owning the data processing center nor data processing customers of the firm owning the data processing center.

(c) For purposes of this suspension, (1) “addressee's next business day” means the first calendar day, stated in his local time, on which he conducts business, following the calendar day of dispatch, stated in the sender's local time; (2) “data processing” means electro-mechanical or electronic processing and includes the recording of data by electro-mechanical or electronic means for further processing; and (3) “data processing materials” means materials of all types that are sent exclusively for data processing and are ready for immediate data processing, but only if they are produced recurringly in the course of the normal business operations of the office originating them or receiving them back from the processing center. The performance of clerical work which is merely preparatory and incidental to the commencement of data processing is not, for purposes of this suspension, inconsistent with the requirement that the materials be sent exclusively for data processing and be ready for immediate data processing.

(a) Carriers intending to establish or alter operations based on the suspension granted pursuant to § 320.2 shall, as a condition to the right to operate under the suspension, notify the Private Express Liaison Officer, Customer Services Department, U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC 20260, of their intention to establish such operations not later than the beginning of such operations. Such notification, on a form available from the Private Express Liaison Office, shall include information on the identity and authority of the carrier and the scope of its proposed operations.

(b) Carriers operating under the suspension granted pursuant to § 320.2 are responsible for making sure that their carriage of matter under the suspension meets all conditions contained in § 320.2. (See § 310.4.) The containers or covers of any matter carried under the suspension must be made available for examination upon request by a properly identified postal inspector. Carrier records—either in the form of notations on the containers or covers of any matter carried under the suspension granted pursuant to § 320.2 or in the form of records kept by employees of the actual times they make delivery or pickup stops—must be sufficient to show that the delivery of such matter was completed within the applicable time limitation prescribed in § 320.2. The provisions of this paragraph shall not restrict the Postal Service in the exercise of search powers conferred upon it by law.

(c) The filing of notifications under this section does not relieve the operator of responsibility for assuring that its operations conform to applicable statutes and regulations.

(d) Failure to comply with the notification requirements of this section and carriage of material or other action in violation of other provisions of this part and of part 310 are grounds for administrative revocation of the suspension as to a particular carrier for a period of not less than one year, in a proceeding instituted by the General Counsel, following a hearing by the Judicial Officer Department in accordance with the rules of procedure set out in part 959 of this chapter.

The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a) (1) through (6) and § 310.2(b) (1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes to permit colleges and universities to carry in their internal mail systems the letters of their bona fide student or faculty organizations to campus destinations. This suspension does not cover the letters of faculty members, students, or organizations other than bona fide student or faculty organizations of the carrying college or university. Colleges and universities choosing to provide their student or faculty organizations access to their internal mail systems are responsible for assuring that only letters of bona fide student or faculty organizations addressed to campus destinations are carried. (See § 310.4.) For purposes of this suspension, “internal mail systems” are those which carry letters on, between, and among the various campuses of a single college or university and which operate in accordance with the Letters of the carrier exception in 39 CFR 310.3(b).

The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a) (1) through (6) and § 310.2(b) (1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes for documents, sent by a shipper or an ocean carrier from a foreign origin to a United States ocean-carrier port city destination or from a United States ocean-carrier port city origin to a foreign destination, that would be excepted under § 310.3(a) if the documents accompanied the cargo. This suspension covers only shipments to or from ports where the cargo to which the documents relate is actually loaded on, or unloaded from, an ocean vessel. For purposes of this suspension “foreign origins” or “foreign destinations” means origins or destinations outside the contiguous 48 states.

(a) The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a) (1) through (6) and § 310.2(b) (1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes for extremely urgent letters if the conditions of either paragraph (b) or (c) of this section, and of the other paragraphs of this section, are met.

(b)(1) For letters dispatched within 50 miles of the intended destination, delivery of those dispatched by noon must be completed within 6 hours or by the close of the addressee's normal business hours that day, whichever is later, and delivery of those dispatched after noon and before midnight must be completed by 10 A.M. of the addressee's next business day. For other letters, delivery must be completed within 12 hours or by noon of the addressee's next business day. The suspension is available only if the value or usefulness of the letter would be lost or greatly diminished if it is not delivered within these time limits. For any part of a shipment of letters to qualify under this paragraph (b), each of the letters must be extremely urgent.

(2) Letters sent from the 48 contiguous states of the United States to other jurisdictions of the United States or to other nations are deemed “delivered” when they are in the custody of the international or overseas carrier at its last scheduled point of departure from the 48 contiguous states. Letters sent from other jurisdictions of the United States or from other nations into the 48 contiguous states are deemed “dispatched” when they are in the custody of the domestic carrier, having been passed by United States Customs, if applicable, at the letters' point of arrival in the 48 contiguous states.

(3) Except as provided in this paragraph (b)(3), the times and time limits specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section are not applicable to any locations outside the 48 contiguous states. The times and time limits specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section are applicable to letters dispatched and delivered wholly within Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico or a territory or possession of the United States. The regulations provided in paragraph (b)(2) of this section relating to the delivery and dispatch of letters are applicable by analogy to letters shipped between these jurisdictions and other nations.

(c) It will be conclusively presumed that a letter is extremely urgent and is covered by the suspension if the amount paid for private carriage of the letter is at least three dollars or twice the applicable U.S. postage for First-Class Mail (including priority mail) whichever is the greater. If a single shipment consists of a number of letters that are picked up together at a single origin and delivered together to a single destination, the applicable U.S. postage may be computed for purposes of this paragraph as though the shipment constituted a single letter of the weight of the shipment. If not actually charged on a letter-by-letter or shipment-by-shipment basis, the amount paid may be computed for purposes of this paragraph on the basis of the carrier's actual charge divided by a bona fide estimate of the average number of letters or shipments during the period covered by the carrier's actual charge.

(d) The sender must prominently mark the outside covers or containers of letters carried under this suspension with the words “Extremely Urgent” or “Private Carriage Authorized by Postal Regulations (39 CFR 320.6)” or with a similar legend identifying the letters as carried pursuant to this suspension. In addition, each outside container or cover must show the name and address of the carrier, and the name and address of the addressee. Carrier records must be sufficient to show that the delivery of the letters was completed within the applicable time limitations, if carried under the authority of paragraph (b) of this section, and must be made available for inspection at the request of the Postal Service. The required records may be either in the form of notations on the containers or covers of any letters asserted to be carried under this suspension, or in the form of records kept by employees of the actual times they pick up and deliver such materials.

(e) Violation by a shipper or carrier of the terms of this suspension is grounds for administrative revocation of the suspension as to such shipper or carrier for a period of one year in a proceeding instituted by the General Counsel, following a hearing by the Judicial Officer Department in accordance with the rules of procedure set out in Part 959 of this chapter. The period of the revocation may be reduced or be extended for not to exceed one additional year by the Judicial Officer, depending on such mitigating or aggravating factors as the extent of the postal revenue lost because of the violation and the presence or absence of good faith error or of previous violations. The failure of a shipper or carrier to cooperate with an authorized inspection or audit conducted by the Postal Inspection Service for the purpose of determining compliance with the terms of this suspension shall be deemed to create a presumption of a violation for the purpose of this paragraph (e) and shall shift to the shipper or carrier the burden of establishing the fact of compliance. Revocation of this suspension as to a shipper or carrier shall in no way limit other actions as to such shipper or carrier to enforce the Private Express Statutes by administrative proceedings for collection of postage (see § 310.5) or by civil or criminal proceedings.

(f) The following examples illustrate the application of this suspension.

(a) The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a) (1) through (6) and § 310.2(b) (1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes for advertisements enclosed with merchandise in parcels or accompanying periodicals under the following circumstances:

(1) The advertisements must not be marked with the names or addresses of the intended recipients.

(2) The advertisements must be incidental to the shipment of the merchandise or the periodical.

(i) An advertisement is incidental to the shipment of the accompanying merchandise or the periodical when the merchandise or the periodical has been ordered by or would otherwise be sent to the recipient even without the accompanying advertisement.

(ii) Notwithstanding § 320.7(a)(2)(i), an advertisement is not incidental to the merchandise when the pertinent circumstances, such as the nominal value of the merchandise, its shipment on an unsolicited basis, or its status as a sample, reasonably indicate that the shipper's primary purpose is the conveyance of the advertisement itself and that the merchandise is merely an adjunct to the advertisement.

(b) An item is an advertisement if its primary purpose is to cause or induce the purchase of goods or services from the shipper or others.

(a) The operation of 39 U.S.C. 601(a)(1) through (6) and § 310.2(b)(1) through (6) of this chapter is suspended on all post routes to permit the uninterrupted carriage of letters from a point within the United States to a foreign country for deposit in its domestic or international mails for delivery to an ultimate destination outside the United States.

(b) This suspension shall not permit the shipment or carriage of a letter or letters out of the mails to any foreign country for subsequent delivery to an address within the United States.

(c) Violation by a shipper or carrier of the terms of this suspension is grounds for administrative revocation of the suspension as to such shipper or carrier for a period of one year in a proceeding instituted by the General Counsel in accordance with part 959 of this chapter. The failure of a shipper or carrier to cooperate with an inspection or audit authorized and conducted by the Postal Inspection Service for the purpose of determining compliance with the terms of this suspension shall be deemed to create a presumption of a violation for the purpose of this paragraph (c) and shall shift to the shipper or carrier the burden of establishing the fact of compliance. Revocation of this suspension as to a shipper or carrier shall in no way limit other actions as to such shipper or carrier to enforce the Private Express Statutes by administrative proceedings for collection of postage (see § 310.5) or by civil or criminal proceedings.

These suspensions may be revoked or amended in accordance with § 310.7. No revocation of the suspension provided in § 320.2 will curtail operations of particular carriers existing at the time of the revocation to a level of operations (in dollar or volume terms, whichever is larger) lower than that antedating the revocation in a particular market served prior to the revocation. Should the suspension referred to in § 320.2 be revoked, carriers, as a condition to continuing operations under this section, will be required to provide reasonably complete and accurate data to support estimates of past operating levels in particular markets.