USPS 4th Quarter Begins with Continued Service Performance Improvements

The U.S. Postal Service reported initial fourth-quarter service delivery performance data that showed continued improvement from the third quarter across all First-Class, Marketing and Periodical mail categories.

Fourth quarter service performance for July 1 through July 9 included:

• First-Class Mail: Delivered 90.6 percent of First-Class Mail on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of more than 3 percentage points from the third quarter.
• Marketing Mail: Delivered 91.6 percent of Marketing Mail on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with third quarter performance.
• Periodicals: Delivered 84.7 percent of Periodicals on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of more than 5 percentage points from the third quarter.

Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan for financial sustainability and service excellence seeks to meet or exceed its goal of 95 percent on time service performance against delivery standards across all mail and shipping product classes as all elements of the plan are implemented.

The Postal Service’s recent service delivery improvements have been, in part, the result of a strategic shift to more ground deliveries, decreasing the agency’s reliance on the limited cargo capacities of third-party air carriers.

The Postal Service is preparing for the higher delivery demands of the 2021 holiday peak season through increased hiring of delivery and plant personnel, the leasing of millions of additional square feet of sortation facilities, and the installation of new processing equipment to accommodate higher volumes and customers’ evolving mail and package delivery needs.

The Postal Service also said it anticipates a slight decline in service performance for the period of July 10 to July 17, reflecting the seasonal effects associated with periods following the Independence Day federal holiday. Service performance is expected to remain above third quarter levels.

Service performance is defined by the Postal Service from acceptance of a mailpiece into our system through delivery, measured against published service standards.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.