Quarterly Performance for Periodicals
Service Variance
Mailpieces Delivered Between 01/01/2012 and 03/31/2012

Overview

Starting in FY12 Q1, service performance for Periodicals is measured via the Intelligent Mail® Accuracy and Performance System (iMAPS) using the documented arrival time at a designated postal facility to start the measurement clock, and an Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMb™) scan by an external, third-party reporter to stop the clock. Mail piece tracking from IMb™ in-process scans is used in conjunction with the external data to extrapolate results to the entire volume of Periodicals with Full Service Intelligent Mail®. Data collected by the Postal Service™ are provided to an independent, external contractor to calculate service measurement and compile the necessary reports.

The external contractor determines service performance based on the elapsed time between the start-the-clock event recorded by the Postal Service™ and the stop-the-clock event recorded by anonymous households and small businesses that report delivery information directly to the contractor. The service measure consists of two parts: (1) how long mail pieces take to get through processing, and (2) how long mail takes from the last processing scan to delivery. The second portion is used as a delivery factor differential to determine the percent of all Periodicals delivered on the last processing date versus the percent delivered after the last processing date. Service performance is measured by comparing the transit time to the service standards to determine the percent of mail delivered on time.

Limitations

Data for Q2 were limited to mail passing service performance business rules. One of those requirements is that mail must have both a valid start-the-clock date and at least one automated processing scan. Periodicals which were not processed on automated sorting equipment, such as carrier route bundles going to non FSS zones, are excluded from measurement according to the business rules and current system capabilities for measurement.

Performance Highlights

The national Periodicals service performance was 65.8 percent on time, a decline of 12.1 percentage points in FY12 Quarter 2 compared to the same period last year, FY11 Quarter 2. It should be noted that results from FY11 were measured through the Red Tag/DelTrak Systems which had a limited number of publications included in measurement and relied upon very different business rules. Pacific Area led the nation with 72.5 percent on time in FY12 Q2.

In FY12 Q2, 86.4 percent of Periodicals were delivered within the service standard plus one day, 93.3 percent within the service standard plus two days, and 96.1 percent within the service standard plus three days.