OT: Post Office terminology "Accountables"

CaptHenway

Dumb question of the week:
Was chatting with my lady friend who happens to deliver mail, and she mentioned that she had a lot of "Accountables" today. This was explained to mean any mail that the carrier is accountable for, such as Registered, Insured, Certified, etc. She even said that they have an "accountables cart" that they use to bring the stuff out of the vault in the morning to distribute to the carriers.
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Has anybody ever heard this term used by your USPS people?
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Would y'all mind asking your mail people if they use the term? I am curious if it is a USPS-wide term, or just a regional usage.
Thanks.
TD

coindeuce

I've overheard the term used more than once in local postal clerk conversations. I believe it is the official blanket terminology for numbered articles.

OnlyGoldIsMoney

The staff at my Post Office uses the term "accountable" several times every week when describing my mail.

Sometimes when I am having an especially busy day its difficult to break away during business hours to drive the 5 miles to check my P.O. Box. I will call and ask if they have any "accountables" for me. They will quickly check and tell me if they have anything requiring a signature, scan or is just too large for the P.O. Box. If they are holding "accountables" I make sure to stop by before they close for the day.

LindeDad

My carrier said it's anything with a bar code on it. As he told me awhile back when I was printing the smaller sized labels they were haveing problems accounting for them. Back to the bigger labels so their antiquited scanners can read the bar codes.