PLANET Generator
USPS PLANET code used to track inbound reply mail in postal sorting operations.
How PLANET is structured
PLANET — Postal Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique — is the USPS symbol that confirmed delivery of business reply mail. Each digit is drawn as five bars, two tall and three short, with a tall frame bar at each end of the symbol. The payload is a two-digit service type followed by a customer identifier, and the length is fixed by USPS definition rather than chosen freely on the label.
PLANET check digit
The final digit is a check digit chosen so that the sum of every digit in the symbol, including the check digit, is a multiple of ten — the same arithmetic POSTNET uses. A single misread bar produces a digit string that fails that test, which is how the sorter rejects a damaged symbol rather than routing on bad data.
PLANET compared with POSTNET
POSTNET uses the identical five-bar structure but carries the delivery ZIP Code instead of a tracking identifier, so the two were used together on the same mailpiece. The Intelligent Mail barcode replaced both by carrying tracking and routing in one symbol with four bar states instead of two heights. Compare the POSTNET generator page for the same breakdown of structure, check digit and use cases.
Common PLANET problems
The digits were encoded as a USPS PLANET symbol for mailing
On this page the digits are drawn through the site's Code 128 encoder so you can check the payload and layout. A mailpiece that has to pass a USPS sorter needs a symbol produced by a USPS-compliant mailmarking service.
The check digit does not complete the multiple of ten
PLANET validates on that rule, so a payload whose last digit was typed by hand fails at the sorter. Compute the check digit from the service type and customer identifier instead of copying it from a previous mail run.
The symbol is expected to work with current USPS services
USPS retired PLANET for business mail in favour of the Intelligent Mail barcode. Use it for internal tracking or historical data, and generate IMb for anything entering the mail stream today.
Where PLANET is used
- Business reply and courtesy reply mail tracking on archived mailpieces
- Confirm service applications in legacy postal workflows
- Digitising and re-printing historical mailing records
Not sure this is the right symbology? The barcode format guide groups every supported 1D and 2D format by industry with its character set and limits.