DropCert
Proof-of-mailing and drop certification for regulated print — independent evidence of when mail entered the postal stream.
DropCert — Proof-of-Mailing Certification
A third-party system that certifies what was mailed, when it was released, and when it entered the postal or carrier stream — producing a defensible artifact for customers and regulators.
Not logistics. Not USPS software. Proof of execution.
The Problem
Regulated mail has statutory deadlines. Healthcare open enrollment notices. Financial disclosures. Election materials. When a printer’s customer asks “did it mail on time?” the answer today is a screenshot, a vendor statement, an invoice dated after the fact, or “we dropped it on Tuesday.”
That is weak evidence. When deadlines are binary and misses cause regulatory exposure, weak evidence is risk.
Disputes hinge on a single question: when exactly did the mail enter the stream? And right now, nobody has a neutral, timestamped answer.
How It Works
DropCert captures a chain of custody at the moment mail leaves the printer’s control.
1. Release declaration. At the moment mail leaves the printer or mailing vendor, the system records the job ID, quantity, mail class, intended drop date, and carrier or USPS entry point. Captured as a structured, timestamped event.
2. Carrier acknowledgment. The mail house or logistics partner confirms receipt — quantity, date, time. One click. Structured response. Silence is logged.
3. USPS artifact attachment. If available, eDoc submission IDs, PostalOne! confirmations, and IMb sample ranges are attached to the record. Attached, not parsed — the evidence speaks for itself.
4. Proof-of-Mailing Certificate. The system generates a certificate documenting who released, who received, when, what was claimed, what was acknowledged, and what evidence exists. This is the artifact that gets sent to customers, auditors, or counsel.
What It Is Not
DropCert does not track delivery. It does not integrate deeply with USPS. It does not manage logistics or optimize routes. It captures custody transfer, records acknowledgment, and produces evidence. That is a narrow surface — deliberately.
Why This Exists
MIS systems are inward-facing. USPS tools are not neutral for disputes. No one in the chain wants to own blame documentation. A third party can.
If the sentence “here is independent proof of when the mail entered the stream” reduces customer anger or legal risk, this is not a toy.
Who It’s For
COOs and operations directors at $10–50M commercial printers handling regulated mail. And the compliance, legal, and risk teams at their customers who already fear disputes about timeliness, release responsibility, and whose delay caused the miss.
Status
Concept. Architecture and market validation in progress.