Quarterly Performance for Single-Piece First-Class Mail®
Mailpieces Delivered Between 01/01/2016 and 03/31/2016

Overview

Since 1990, the Postal Service™ has contracted with a third party vendor to measure First-Class Mail® service performance independently and objectively via the External First-Class Mail® measurement system (EXFC). EXFC is an external sampling system measuring the time it takes from deposit of mail into a collection box or lobby chute until its delivery to a home or business. EXFC measures the transit time for single-piece rate First-Class™ cards, letters, and flat envelopes and compares this actual service against service standards. EXFC continuously tests service in 892 three-digit ZIP Code™ areas among which virtually all Single-Piece First-Class Mail® originates and destinates.

Service performance for Single-Piece First-Class Mail® parcels has been combined with EXFC performance to formulate these combined Single-Piece First-Class Mail® results. Single-Piece First-Class Mail® parcel service is measured using an internal USPS® system. This system measures transit time from the time of mailing at a Post Office™ until the time of delivery for parcels for which a customer requested USPS Tracking™ service. Actual transit time is then compared against First-Class Mail® service standards.

Performance Highlights

National Single-Piece First-Class Mail® results in FY16 Quarter 2 were 93.9 percent on time for Two-Day and 80.2 percent on time for Three-To-Five-Day. Nationally, at least 98.9 percent of mail across all service standards was delivered within the service standard plus three days in FY16 Quarter 2. Two-Day national performance was 3.5 points higher compared to the same period last year and Three-To-Five-Day performance was 17.1 points higher compared to the same period last year.

In FY16 Quarter 2 at the district level, there were 4 districts that scored at or above the performance target of 96.50 for Two-Day. Honolulu had the highest Two-Day performance at 97.3 percent on time. Two-Day performance improved for all 7 areas and for 60 out of 67 districts compared to the same period last year. For Three-To-Five-Day results in FY16 Quarter 2 at the district level, Oklahoma had the highest performance at 86.8 percent on time. Three-To-Five-Day performance improved across every district and area compared to the same period last year.

Note: On January 5, 2015, the Postal Service™ began to implement Phase 2 of its plan to rationalize the processing network. This change revised the service standards for Single-Piece First-Class Mail to eliminate the Overnight service standard, which had previously been applied to pieces originating and destinating within the same Sectional Center Facility area. Starting January 5, 2015, Single-Piece First-Class Mail has a service standard between two and five days, with the majority falling into either two or three days.