System for relieving overburdened postal sorting equipment

A method and system is provided for collecting relatively small batches of mail that, alone, would not qualify for mailing at a pre-sorted postage rate and pooling them together with others for pre-sorting into a qualified batch of pre-sorted mail. The inventive method involves transporting mail in a traceable container to a holding facility where it is pooled with others for pickup and processing by a mail pre-sorting business. The mail may be metered at a reduced program rate. The system creates a cooperative of participating mail senders working together to earn a lower effective postage rate. The method further provides a solution to the technical problem of postal sorting equipment that is overburdened by medium-sized batches of unsorted mail. The solution identifies and diverts such batches for processing at a separate facility before the batch is tendered to the postal service.