Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST®)

The Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST®) system allows mailers to provide advanced notification of drop shipment and origin entered mailings into postal facilities. FAST provides business mail owners, preparers, and schedulers enhanced visibility of their scheduled mailings at each facility. To make an appointment, log in to your FAST account.

Who is FAST for?

FAST is for business mail owners, preparers, and schedulers.

Description

FAST provides a single, integrated customer service and product visibility for all mail classes. With FAST, mailers are able to track their shipments, receive advanced notification of redirections, submit and manage recurring appointment requests online, and have joint scheduling capabilities.

FAST interfaces with a number of systems to improve visibility for both Postal and customer users. Surface Visibility is used to collect real-time data by scanning shipments as they move through the appointment closeout process. Surface Visibility is one of several systems that is utilized on the dock to provide appointment closeout information.

For more information, visit the FAST website. To make a FAST appointment, log in to your account.

To access FAST, customers must register through the Business Customer Gateway.

Featured Resources

Presentations
04/01/2011
FAST® Overview

This presentation gives a detailed overview of the Facility Access and Shipment Tracking system including all of its components.

FAQs
01/03/2022
Facility Access & Shipment Tracking (FAST) - Frequently Asked Questions

This one page document answers some common FAST FAQ and provides important FAST-related links and contact information.

Data Files
01/01/2014
FAST® Origin Entry Facilities

This origin entry spreadsheet lists all origin entry facilities as of January 2014.

Contact Lists
01/23/2017
FAST®: Facility Contact List

Get the latest contact information for USPS FAST® facility members!

User Guides
11/01/2011
FAST®: Customer User Guide (Origin Entry)

This guide describes how to use the FAST Origin Entry functions.

User Guides
11/01/2011
FAST® Customer User Guide (Drop Ship)

This guide describes how to use the FAST functions.

USPS Mail XML Tech Spec Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST)

Technical Specifications
03/11/2021
FAST Mail.XML 14.0A Technical Specification

Postal Service Technical Specifications for FAST.

Tech Guides
03/11/2021
FAST Mail.XML 16.0 Technical Specification

Postal Service Technical Specifications for FAST.

FAST® Release Notes

Release Notes
10/21/2018
PostalOne! R47.4.1.0 & FAST R39.2.0.0 Pre-Release Notes Change 2.0 (Posted 10-11-2018)

On Sunday, October 21, 2018 from 3 AM CT to 9 AM CT, the United States Postal Service will deploy the following system release

FAST® Job Aids

User Guides
Customer/Supplier Agreements: eDoc Association Job Aid

The Customer Supplier/Agreements-eDoc Association Job Aid contains useful information around correctly mapping CSA information from FAST to eDocs.

User Guides
Joint Scheduling Job Aid

Joint Appointment Scheduling is a capability in FAST® to allow multiple owners to own their specific pieces of the appointment scheduling process.

User Guides
Mail Direction Search Report

The Mail Direction Search Report is used to search for default drop entry points and redirections.

User Guides
Preferred Publication Job Aid

The Preferred Publication Group is an area which allows users to select and save their regularly used publications.

User Guides
Creating Drop Ship Appointments Guide

The Creating Drop Ship Appointment guide contains instructions to help the user create drop ship appointments in FAST. This guide provides users with step-by-step directions for creating one-time and recurring drop ship appointments.

User Guides
Creating Origin Entry Appointments Guide

The Origin Entry Appointments guide contains instructions to help the user create Origin Entry appointments in FAST. This guide provides users with step-by-step directions for creating one-time and recurring Origin Entry appointments.

User Guides
Facility Profile Information

The Facility Profile in FAST provides users the capability to view Facility related information.

User Guides
Managing Drop Ship Appointments Guide

The Managing Drop Ship Appointments guide contains instructions to help the user manage their drop ship appointments in FAST. This guide provides users with step-by-step directions for managing one-time and recurring drop ship appointments.

User Guides
Managing Origin Entry Appointments Guide

The Managing Drop Ship Appointments guide contains instructions to help the user manage their Origin Entry appointments in FAST.

User Guides
Facility Access and Shipment Tracking (FAST®) Appointment Container Association Quick Reference Guide

The FAST Appointment Container Association Quick Reference Guide contains instructions to help the user understand the appointment container association process, Full-Service appointment scheduling options and best communication approach for their business process.

User Guides
Appointment Shell Job Aid

The Appointment Shell job aid contains instructions to help the user understand the impact of creating and cancelling appointment shells.

User Guides
Formatting and Printing Reports Job Aid

The Formatting and Printing Reports job aid contains instructions to help the user properly format and print the FAST reports.

User Guides
Resolution and Internet Browser Settings

The Resolution and Internet Browser settings document will help the user adjust their screen resolution and browser settings.

User Guides
Web Services Overview

The Web Services Overview document contains introductions to the features and benefits associated with Web Services.

User Guides
Retrieving 99M Barcode Data from Mail.XML Job Aid

This job aid contains overview information for users on how to query their 99M barcode data through Mail.

FAST® Enhancements

Presentations
09/15/2016
Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow

This document provides information on the Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow.

Presentations
09/15/2016
Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow (Transportation Company in English)

This document provides information on the Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow Transportation Company (in English).

Presentations
09/15/2016
Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow (Transportation Company in Spanish)

This document provides information on the Driver Version of Drop Ship Work Flow Transportation Company (in Spanish).

Presentations
09/15/2016
FAST® System Enhancement: Locale Key

The Facility Access & Shipment Tracking (FAST®) system enables mailers to lookup up facilities through the Facility Profile page.

Related Products

Drop Shipment Management System (DSMS)

The Drop Shipment Management System (DSMS) program allows authorized users to streamline the Plant-Verified Drop Shipment (PVDS) process through consolidating PVDS documentation from multiple jobs and mailing locations in electronic files. 

eInduction

The electronic Induction (eInduction) process simplifies the induction of drop shipments and expedited plant load mailings by leveraging existing eDoc, Intelligent Mail Container barcode (IMcb), and handheld scanner technologies to verify payment and preparation of commercial mail containers.

Mailer Identifier (MID)

The Mailer Identifier (MID) is a field within the Intelligent Mail barcode that is used to identify mailers. MIDs are assigned by the USPS® to a Mail Owner, Mailing Agent or other service providers who request them.

Flats Sequencing System

The USPS® is deploying a new technology that will boost efficiencies in the processing, distribution, and delivery of flats–the Flats Sequencing System (FSS). FSS will automatically sort flat-sized mail into delivery point sequence at high speeds. The efficiencies gained by employing FSS are influencing many changes within both the Postal Service® and the mailing industry.

Contact

For questions about FAST, contact the USPS Help Desk via email fast@usps.gov or telephone 877-569-6614 (choose option 2). Or visit the FAST website.