What the dataset holds
The Postal Service describes it as "a secure dataset of approximately 160 million permanent change-of-address (COA) records constructed from names and addresses of individuals, families, and businesses who have filed a change-of-address with the Postal Service". Access runs through licensees rather than the public: full service providers receive 48 months of change-of-address data weekly and limited service providers receive 18 months, per postalpro.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28.
The 95-day rule, in the standard's own words
The Postal Service defines the move update standard as "a means of reducing the number of mailpieces in a mailing that require forwarding or return by the periodic matching of a mailer's address records with change-of-address orders received and maintained by the Postal Service". Mailers claiming presorted or automation First-Class prices and USPS Marketing Mail prices have to show their list was updated within 95 days before the mailing date, and three methods are preapproved: Address Change Service, the change-of-address dataset itself, and ancillary service endorsements, per postalpro.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28.
None of this reaches a parcel in transit
Once a label is printed the piece is handled individually: it gets forwarded, or it comes back, and the sender learns about it from a tracking scan. Shippers who apply a package barcode and want separate address corrections on forwarded parcels have to request Address Change Service, per DMM 204 at pe.usps.com, checked 2026-07-28. Our own checkout screens format and whether the delivery point exists, not whether the person still lives there, so a confirmation from the recipient remains the only reliable defense against a stale address.
