PLANET (Postal Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique) barcodes were used by the United States Postal Service as part of their Confirm service to help mailers track their mail. They have been replaced by Intelligent Mail barcodes.

PLANET barcodes are similar to POSTNET barcodes in that they are both “two-state” barcodes with only short or tall bars. Both PLANET and POSTNET barcodes start and end with tall bars. The two barcode types also encode data in sets of 5 bars. PLANET symbols are the inverse of POSTNET symbols. Where postnet has tall bars, PLANET has short bars. Where POSTNET has short bars, PLANET has tall bars.

 

PLANET barcodes encode data in groups of five bars of which two bars are short bars, and the other three are tall bars.

PLANET barcodes encode 11 or 13 characters plus one checksum character. Thus, PLANET barcodes appear to have 12 or 14 characters. All PLANET barcodes include a checksum character that is a single digit number which, when added to the sum of the other digits, results in a whole number that is a multiple of 10.

PLANET barcodes have two formats, Destination Confirm and Origin Confirm.

Destination Confirm PLANET barcodes encode the following information:

• Service Type ID: The first 2 digits of the barcode. Represents the service and the shape or class of mail. Can be any of the following values:
  • 40 — First-Class Mail letters.
  • 41 — First-Class Mail flats.
  • 42 — Standard Mail letters.
  • 43 — Standard Mail flats.
  • 44 — Periodicals letters.
  • 45 — Periodicals flats.
  • 46 — First-Class Mail cards.
  • 47 — Standard Mail cards.
  • 22 — Residual Mail items.
• Subscriber ID: 5 digits used to identify the subscriber.
• Mailing ID: 4 or 6 digits to be used by the mailer for their own purposes.
• Checksum digit: The 12th or 14th digit in the barcode. Used to detect and correct errors.

 

Origin Confirm PLANET barcodes encode the following information:

• Service Type ID: The first two digits of the barcode. Represents the service and the shape or class of mail. Can be any of the following values:
  • 50 — Courtesy reply letters.
  • 51 — Courtesy reply flats. 
  • 52 — Business reply letters. 
  • 53 — Business reply flats. 
  • 54 — Business reply cards. 
  • 56 — QBRM letters.
  • 57 — QBRM cards.
  •  58 — Courtesy reply cards.
  •  21 — Miscellaneous items.
• Customer ID: 9 or 11 digits used to help identify the customer or the reply mailpiece itself.
• Checksum digit: The 12th or 14th digit in the barcode. Used to detect and correct errors.