Quarterly Performance for USPS Marketing Mail™
Mailpieces Delivered Between 04/01/2017 and 06/30/2017

Overview

As of FY 2017 Quarter 2, Standard Mail® was renamed to USPS Marketing Mail™.

For USPS Marketing Mail™ Letters and non-Saturation flats, the service performance measurement system of U.S. Postal Service® uses 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 for the population of USPS Marketing Mail™ using Full-Service Intelligent Mail®. Data collected by U.S. Postal Service® are provided to an independent, external contractor to calculate service measurement and compile the necessary reports. The system used for this reporting is called the Intelligent Mail® Accuracy and Performance System (iMAPS).

The methodology for estimating performance for USPS Marketing Mail™ Letters and non-Saturation flats was modified slightly beginning in FY 2017 Quarter 1. The application of the last mile profile was changed from stratification by the type of final processing operation that occurred to stratification by the number of days remaining to meet service standard after final processing occurred. This methodology change was made to improve the accuracy of the performance estimates as the new methodology better accounts for the relationship between time spent in last mile and time spent in processing.

The external contractor determines service performance based on the elapsed time between the start-the-clock event recorded by U.S. 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 USPS Marketing Mail™ 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 USPS® service standards to determine the percent of mail delivered on time.

The Service Performance Measurement (SPM) application of the Full-Service Seamless Acceptance and Service Performance system (SASP) serves as the data source for iMAPS. SPM captures data from all Full-Service Intelligent Mail® and applies business rules for service measurement before sending data to iMAPS.

The service performance measure for Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) Entry Saturation flats involves the identification of major weekly Saturation mailings within delivery units. Delivery of these mailings is captured with a scan made by carriers at the completion of delivery of all pieces on the route. Service performance is measured by comparing the delivery date to the end date of the mailer requested in-home window to determine the percent delivered on time. Data from anonymous households reporting the receipt of these Saturation mailings are used to validate the accuracy of the carrier scans.

The service performance measurement system for Every Door Direct Mail – Retail® (EDDM Retail®) uses the documented arrival time of a mailing at a retail unit to start the clock, using the point-of-sale scan when mail is handed to U.S. Postal Service®, and an Intelligent Mail® parcel barcode (IMpb®) scan by a USPS® carrier to stop the clock. The delivery of bundles of EDDM Retail® pieces is captured with a scan made by carriers at the delivery unit upon distribution for delivery. Service performance is measured by comparing the total transit time of mailpiece bundles to the service standard to determine the percent delivered on time.

Results for DDU Entry Saturation flats and EDDM Retail® are combined with other Destination Entry Standard Mail in the Destination Entry scores in this report.

The service performance measure for USPS Marketing Mail™ Parcels with USPS Tracking® serves as a proxy for measuring service performance for USPS Marketing Mail™ Parcels.

Limitations

Due to limited automated processing for USPS Marketing Mail™ Flats, the service performance results may not be representative of all USPS Marketing Mail™ Flats performance. While Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) entered Saturation flats and EDDM Retail® flats have been included this quarter, significant gaps in the coverage of non-Saturation/non- EDDM Retail® DDU Entry mail still remain and are excluded from the measurement.

Results for USPS Marketing Mail™ Parcels, which represent less than 0.1 percent of all USPS Marketing Mail™, are not included in the overall USPS Marketing Mail™ results.

The delivery factor for USPS Marketing Mail™ Letters was created using USPS Marketing Mail™ Letters with IMB® received by external reporters. Data for the delivery factor of USPS Marketing Mail™ Flats were based on a combination of USPS Marketing Mail™ Flats and Bound Printed Matter Flats with Intelligent Mail® barcodes as well as External First-Class Mail® (EXFC) Measurement System test flats received by external reporters. The EXFC and Bound Printed Matter Flats data were used to supplement the limited USPS Marketing Mail™ Flats data available during this period.

A small volume, estimated at less than 1% of total volume in measurement across all commercial mail classes, had known data issues in the SASP system in FY 2017 Quarter 3. These issues included mail pieces mis-categorized between Full Service and Basic, missing mail scans, inaccurate facility reference data, inaccurate Start-the-Clock information, and inaccurate data exclusion.

Performance Highlights

In FY 2017 Quarter 3, national Destination Entry mail achieved a historic high performance with 95.3 percent on time, 0.1 points higher when compared to the same period last year, and 99.5 percent delivered within service standard plus three days. The Western Pennsylvania Performance Cluster led the nation in Destination Entry performance with 98.2 percent on time. Sixty-five out of 67 districts achieved an on time performance at or above the performance target of 91.0 for Destination Entry mail.

End-To-End Entry National performance was the second highest in history with 72.3 percent on time, 1.0 points higher when compared to the same period last year. In FY 2017 Quarter 3, 93.4 percent of End-To-End Entry USPS Marketing Mail™ was delivered within the service standard plus three days. The Alaska District had the highest End-To-End Entry score with 92.7 percent on time.