A change in procedures at Eastern Upper Peninsula Post Offices will affect customers who use postage meters. Customers are now asked to deposit metered mail with the postmaster or an employee at the retail counter inside the post office, rather than depositing it in drop boxes, to facilitate speedier handling of the mail, said St. Ignace Postmaster Billy Norton.

Metered mail will be separated from other mail deposited that day, allowing it to bypass the cancellation process and be processed immediately. All northern Michigan mail goes through a processing plant at Gaylord, Mr. Norton said, and then is disseminated to local post offices and individual letter carriers. Staff at the Gaylord processing plant requested the change in procedure at all northern Michigan post offices, including all those in the EUP.

About 20 customers regularly send metered through the St. Ignace Post Office, Mr. Norton said, accounting for between 800 and 1,200 pieces of mail per day.