We just got this in an email. If this is a duplicate, please ignore...
Dear Customer,
On May 14 2007, the United States Postal Service(r) will implement changes for Domestic Mail. In response to these changes, a new Domestic Rates Application Program Interface (API), RateV3, will be released by USPS Web Tools(r).
A staging environment will be available to test the new API on April 19th. Please go to:
http://stg-production.shippingapis.com/
RateV2 will still be available after the release of RateV3, and will suffice unless rates need to be calculated for Large Priority Mail packages. USPS is introducing a new dimensional weight pricing model for Large Priority Mail pieces. Dimensional weighting is a mechanism that converts the cubic size of a piece into a weight. If a large box is very light, it will be charged as a higher-weight piece, based on the International Air Transport Association (IATA) standard. This change only affects Priority Mail pieces larger than 1 cubic foot, and traveling to destinations within zones 5-8. The Rate V3 API still requires dimensions if an item is large, regardless of the zone.
To capture the dimensional weight for Large Priority Mail pieces, RateV3 will require three new dimension tags for rectangular Priority Mail pieces: Length, Width, and Height; and four new dimension tags for non-rectangular pieces: Length, Width, Height, and Girth. Shippers will specify in the existing Container tag whether a Large Priority Mail piece is rectangular or non-rectangular.
RateV3 also implements changes to First Class Mail. A new tag, First Class Mail Type, will be used to specify whether a First Class Mail piece is a letter, flat, or parcel. Today, First Class Mail pieces are charged identical rates, regardless of the type of package. With the change, the postage for each type of First Class Mail piece will more accurately reflect the processing costs for each. The Machineable tag will also be applied to First Class Mail, in addition to Parcel Post.
An example of an XML request of the Rate V3 is:
<RateV3Request USERID="000AAAAA9999">
<Package ID="1ST">
<Service>FIRST CLASS</Service>
<FirstClassMailType>LETTER</FirstClassMailType>
<ZipOrigination>44106</ZipOrigination>
<ZipDestination>90210</ZipDestination>
<Pounds>0</Pounds>
<Ounces>0.75</Ounces>
<Size>REGULAR</Size>
<Machinable>false</Machinable>
</Package>
<Package ID="2ND">
<Service>PRIORITY</Service>
<ZipOrigination>44106</ZipOrigination>
<ZipDestination>20770</ZipDestination>
<Pounds>5</Pounds>
<Ounces>8</Ounces>
<Container>NONRECTANGULAR</Container>
<Size>LARGE</Size>
<Width>15</Width>
<Length>30</Length>
<Height>15</Height>
<Girth>55</Girth>
</Package>
<Package ID="3RD">
<Service>ALL</Service>
<ZipOrigination>90210</ZipOrigination>
<ZipDestination>20770</ZipDestination>
<Pounds>8</Pounds>
<Ounces>32</Ounces>
<Container>RECTANGULAR</Container>
<Size>LARGE</Size>
<Width>15</Width>
<Length>30</Length>
<Height>15</Height>
<Machinable>true</Machinable>
</Package>
</RateV3Request>
If you have any questions, concerns or technical inquiries, please contact the USPS Internet customer Care Center via email at [email protected] or phone 1-800-344-7779.
Sincerely,
Patti Mason
Manager, USPS.com
