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USPS PLANET

The USPS Postal Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique (PLANET) symbology was developed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to identify, sort, and track pieces of mail automatically. It was typically used in conjunction with the USPS Postal Numeric Encoding Technique (USPS POSTNET) symbology.

In 2009, POSTNET was superseded by the USPS Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb), and PLANET was superseded by IMb in 2013.

The USPS offers a subscription service to mailers, called Confirm, that enhances the mail tracking process. PLANET is one component of the Confirm system. Two service types are available: Destination Confirm (which generates mail processing data for outgoing mail) and Origin Confirm (which generates data for incoming reply mail). Mailers can use one or both service types.

PLANET is defined in USPS Publication 197 Confirm Service Featuring OneCode Confirm.

Symbol Structure

The symbol comprises the following elements, depending on which Confirm service type is used:

Destination Confirm Service

Leading quiet zone
Start bar, also called a frame bar, which is a single tall bar
Two-digit Service Type ID
Five-digit Subscriber ID (assigned by USPS)
Six-digit Mailer's Use (defined by the mailer)
Check digit
Stop bar, also called a frame bar, which is a single tall bar
Trailing quiet zone

Origin Confirm Service

Leading quiet zone
Start bar, which is a single tall bar
Two-digit Service Type ID
Nine-digit or 11-digit Customer ID (Mailer's Use)
Check digit
Stop bar, which is a single tall bar
Trailing quiet zone

PLANET encodes data by varying the height of the bars in the barcode. All of the bars and spaces are the same width. Each character contains five bars, of which three are tall and two are short.

Character Set

Check Digit

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