Quarterly Performance for USPS Marketing Mail®
Mailpieces Delivered Between 07/01/2018 and 09/30/2018

Overview

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 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 mail piece 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.

Service performance measurement was suspended for mail originating from or destined to Caribbean District in FY 2018 Quarter 1 and FY 2018 Quarter 2 due to the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria. Measurement resumed in FY 2018 Quarter 3.

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 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 IMB® 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.

Performance Highlights

National Destination Entry mail achieved 94.4 percent on time in FY 2018 Quarter 4, which is 0.5 points higher than the same period last year. For Destination Entry mail, 99.5 percent was delivered within service standard plus three days. The Honolulu Performance Cluster led the nation in Destination Entry performance with 98.3 percent on time. Fifty-nine out of 67 districts achieved an on-time performance at or above the performance target of 91.8 for Destination Entry mail.

End-To-End Entry national performance was 73.3 percent on time, which is 2.5 points higher than the same period last year. In FY 2018 Quarter 4, 95.1 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 92.9 percent on time.

For FY 2018 annual national scores decreased compared to FY 2017, with Destination Entry performance decreasing by 2.1 points and End-to-End decreasing by 3.4 points, scoring at 91.6 and 66.4, respectively. The FY 2018 annual score for Destination entry was 0.2 points lower than the annual target of 91.8.