WASHINGTON — The United States Postal Service reported new delivery performance metrics for the ninth week of the fiscal year 2023 first quarter. For the sixth consecutive week, the average time to deliver a mailpiece or package across the postal network was 2.5 days.

FY23 first quarter service performance scores covering Oct. 1 through Dec. 2 included:

• First-Class Mail: 91.9 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 1.2 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. The current data reflects a year over year increase of 0.9 percentage points compared to the same period in the FY22 peak holiday season. 
• Marketing Mail: 94.1 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a slight decrease of 0.7 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter. The current data reflects a year over year increase of 1.9 percentage points compared to the same period in the FY22 peak holiday season. 
• Periodicals: 86.0 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, a decrease of 1 percentage point from the fiscal fourth quarter. The current data reflects a year over year increase of 3.4 percentage points compared to the same period in the FY22 peak holiday season. 

The Postal Service is in a strong position to handle the holiday mailing and shipping rush underway. The organization recently completed the installation of 137 new package sorting machines across its network which will expand daily package processing capacity to 60 million. This brings the organization’s total to 249 new processing machines since the launch of the Delivering for America plan in March 2021 and are part of a $40 billion investment in the postal network.

The Postal Service’s preparedness for the holiday season reflects strategic investments and operational precision improvements made as part of the Delivering for America plan. Additional holiday hiring initiatives include stabilizing the USPS permanent workforce by converting 100,000 workers to full time since the beginning of 2021(with more than 41,000 part time workers converted to full time since January 2022), and actively hiring an additional 20,000 seasonal employees.

2022 Holiday Shipping Deadlines Fast Approaching

The Postal Service recommends the following mailing and shipping deadlines for expected delivery by Dec. 25 to domestic addresses and Air/Army Post Office/Fleet Post Office/Diplomatic Post Office (APO/FPO/DPO) addresses*:

Dec. 9   — APO/FPO/DPO (all ZIP Codes) Priority Mail and First-Class Mail
Dec. 16 — APO/FPO/DPO (except ZIP Code 093) USPS Priority Mail Express Military service
Dec. 17 — USPS Retail Ground service
Dec. 17 — First-Class Mail service (including greeting cards)
Dec. 17 — First-Class packages (up to 15.99 ounces)
Dec. 19 — Priority Mail service
Dec. 23 — Priority Mail Express* service

Alaska

Dec. 17 — Alaska to/from Continental U.S. — First-Class Mail and Priority Mail
Dec. 21 — Alaska to/from Continental U.S. — Priority Mail Express

Hawaii

Dec. 17 — Hawaii to/from mainland — First-Class Mail and Priority Mail
Dec. 21 — Hawaii to/from mainland — Priority Mail Express

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