[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 39, Volume 1]
[Revised as of July 1, 2003]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 39CFR310.2]

[Page 157-158]
 
                        TITLE 39--POSTAL SERVICE
 
                 CHAPTER I--UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
 
PART 310--ENFORCEMENT OF THE PRIVATE EXPRESS STATUTES--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 310.2  Unlawful carriage of letters.

    (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 Sec. 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.

[[Page 158]]

    (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 Sec. 310.3(a));
    (2) Are sent by or addressed to the carrier (see Sec. 310.3(b));
    (3) Are conveyed or transmitted without compensation (see 
Sec. 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 
Sec. 310.3(d)); or
    (5) Are carried prior or subsequent to mailing (see Sec. 310.3(e)).

[39 FR 33211, Sept. 16, 1974, as amended at 45 FR 77029, Nov. 21, 1980]