In today's world, machines handle most of the mail that the United States Postal Service (USPS) delivers.  This makes it very important to optimize the addressing of your envelopes for a machine to read.  This allows the USPS to sort the mail faster and get your letter to it's destination quicker.

• Print or type addresses with black ink. Place the address horizontally in the center of the envelope and keep each line of the address flush left.
• Use capital and lowercase letters. Omit periods, commas, and apostrophes to separate the city, state and ZIP Codes, because optical scanners and bar code sorters work better when they don't have to read punctuation.
• Use standard abbreviations, such as ST for street and DR for drive. Always provide apartment and suite numbers, adjacent to or above the street address line — never below.
• Always use correct ZIP Codes or the correct ZIP+4, if known. (You can check this on usps.com.)
• When using an attention line, place it on top of the address block.
• Leave a 1/8 inch area in the lower right-hand corner of the envelope blank, because that's where the optical scanner sprays the bar code.
• Always include a return address on all letters and packages.