In a
postalMail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal...
systemSystem is a set of interacting or interdependent entities forming an integrated whole....
, a
delivery point (sometimes
DP) is a single mailbox or other place at which
mailMail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal...
is delivered. It differs from a
street addressAn address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...
, in that each address may in fact have several delivery points, such as an
apartmentAn apartment, or flat, is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building, especially if it consists of many apartments for rent...
flat,
officeAn office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty...
departmentDepartmentalization refers to the process of grouping activities into departments.Division of labour creates specialists who need coordination. This coordination is facilitated by grouping specialists together in departments....
, or other room. Such a building (mainly only residential) is often called a multiple-dwelling unit (MDU) by the
USPSThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
.
In the
US Postal SystemThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
, a
delivery point is a specific set of digits between 00 and 99 assigned to every address.
In a
postalMail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal...
systemSystem is a set of interacting or interdependent entities forming an integrated whole....
, a
delivery point (sometimes
DP) is a single mailbox or other place at which
mailMail, or post, is a method for transmitting information and tangible objects, wherein written documents, typically enclosed in envelopes and also small packages are delivered to destinations around the world. Anything sent through the postal system is called mail or post.In principle, a postal...
is delivered. It differs from a
street addressAn address is a collection of information, presented in a mostly fixed format, used for describing the location of a building, apartment, or other structure or a plot of land, generally using political boundaries and street names as references, along with other identifiers such as house or...
, in that each address may in fact have several delivery points, such as an
apartmentAn apartment, or flat, is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building. Such a building may be called an apartment building, especially if it consists of many apartments for rent...
flat,
officeAn office is generally a room or other area in which people work, but may also denote a position within an organization with specific duties attached to it ; the latter is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to the location of one's duty...
departmentDepartmentalization refers to the process of grouping activities into departments.Division of labour creates specialists who need coordination. This coordination is facilitated by grouping specialists together in departments....
, or other room. Such a building (mainly only residential) is often called a multiple-dwelling unit (MDU) by the
USPSThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
.
United States Postal Service usage
In the
US Postal SystemThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
, a
delivery point is a specific set of digits between 00 and 99 assigned to every address. Combined with the
ZIP + 4The ZIP code is the system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service . The letters ZIP, a backronym for Zone Improvement Plan, are properly written in capital letters and were chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
code, the delivery point provides a unique identifier for every deliverable address served by the USPS.
The delivery point digits are almost never printed on mail in
human-readableA human-readable medium or human-readable format is a representation of data or information that can be naturally read by humans.In computing, human-readable data is often encoded as ASCII or Unicode text, rather than presented in a binary representation...
form; instead it is
encodeEncode may refer to:* Can be related to "Code"* Encode ApS, a Danish software company* ENCODE, the ENCyclopedia Of DNA Elements...
d in the
POSTNET delivery point barcodePOSTNET is a barcode symbology that is used by the United States Postal Service to assist in directing mail. The ZIP Code or ZIP+4 code is encoded in half- and full-height bars...
(DPBC) or as part of the newer
Intelligent Mail BarcodeThe Intelligent Mail barcode is a 65-bar code for use on mail in the United States. The hope is that it may provide information and benefits to both mailers and postal officials....
(IMB). The DPBC makes automated mail sorting possible, including ordering the mail according to how the carrier delivers it (walk sequence).
The two-digit delivery point number is combined with an additional
check digitA check digit is a form of redundancy check used for error detection, the decimal equivalent of a binary checksum. It consists of a single digit computed from the other digits in the message....
in the DPBC. This digit is used by Barcode Sorters (BCS) to check if the ZIP, ZIP + 4, or Delivery Point ZIP codes contain an error. In a database, storing the ZIP + 4 code in a 10 character field (with the hyphen) allows easy output in the address block, and storing the check digit in a 3-digit field (instead of calculating it) can allows automatic checking of the validity of the ZIP+4 and Delivery Point fields (in case one had been changed independently.) In order to receive the appropriate barcode discount, the delivery point digits and the +4 extension must be verified using an up-to-date,
CASSCASS enables the United States Postal Service to evaluate the accuracy of software that cleans and matches addresses...
or DPV certified program.
Since each
city blockA city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
or section of a rural route has a different +4 extension, and address numbers generally increase by 100 per block, the delivery point is typically the last two digits of the address. In the early days of DPBC, it was acceptable to determine the delivery point in this fashion, but since
suiteA suite is the location of a business within a shopping mall or office building. The suite's number also serves as a sort of address within an address for purposes of mail delivery and pickup.Suite is written in short hand for postal addresses, "Ste"....
and other secondary designations are assigned unique delivery points—which cannot be determined without the CASS/DPV database—this is no longer possible. The delivery point is usually redundant for
post office boxA post office box is a uniquely-addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office station....
es, since they are typically assigned their own ZIP + 4 code, but must, none the less, be assigned a complete DPBC for full postal discounts.