United States Postal Service®

Quarterly Performance for Periodicals

Service Variance
Mailpieces Delivered Between 10/01/2018 and 12/31/2018

Quarter I
FY2019

Overview

Beginning FY2019 Q1, service performance for Periodicals is measured through the USPS internal measurement system. The system uses documented arrival time at a designated postal facility to start the clock, and an Intelligent Mail® barcode (IMB®) scan by postal personnel at delivery for randomly selected delivery points to stop the clock. Mail piece tracking from IMB® in-process scans is used in conjunction with the sampling data to extrapolate results for the entire volume of measurement eligible Full Service Intelligent Mail. The transit time from the start-the-clock through final automated processing is the Processing Duration leg, and the transit time from final automated processing until delivery is the Last Mile. Total transit time was calculated for the mail and compared with the appropriate service standard for the product to determine the service performance.

Scores prior to FY2019 Q1 were calculated and compiled by an independent external contractor. The system used for this reporting was called the Intelligent Mail® Accuracy and Performance System (iMAPS). The external contractor determined 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 consisted 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 was 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 was measured by comparing the transit time to USPS® service standards to determine the percent of mail delivered on time.

Limitations

A system sampling issue occurred for delivery sampling in FY2019 Q1 and impacted the data. Seven districts were impacted on October 9th. To address the sampling anomaly, a proxy methodology was used to replace missing or scarce data for impacted dates with historical data from the impacted districts.

Sampling occurred within every district at collection and delivery during the quarter in all eligible 3-Digit ZIP Code areas. However, the Caribbean District was highly impacted by technical issues and low mail volumes during the quarter, resulting in limited delivery sampling data available for the district.

Performance Highlights

National Periodicals service performance was 82.2 percent on time, which is 0.1 points higher than the same period last year. Eastern Area led the nation with 87.2 percent on time in FY2019 Quarter 1.

In FY2019 Quarter 1, 92.3 percent of Periodicals were delivered within the service standard plus one day, 95.8 percent within the service standard plus two days, and 97.4 percent within the service standard plus three days. Individual areas achieved at least 89.2 percent delivery within the service standard plus one day, and as much as 98.2 percent within three days.

Area Percent Within
+1-Day
Percent Within
+2-Days
Percent Within
+3-Days
Capital Metro 89.2 93.8 96.1
Eastern 94.7 97.1 98.2
Great Lakes 91.6 95.4 97.1
Northeast 90.8 95.1 97.0
Pacific 94.0 96.7 98.0
Southern 91.6 95.3 96.9
Western 93.3 96.4 97.8
Nation FY2019 Q1 92.3 95.8 97.4
Nation FY2018 Q1 (SPLY) 92.2 95.6 97.3
Nation FY2009 Annual 88.2 93.0 95.5
Nation FY2010 Annual 90.2 94.4 96.5
Nation FY2011 Annual 89.8 94.7 96.6
Nation FY2012 Annual 86.1 92.4 95.4
Nation FY2013 Annual 92.6 95.9 97.4
Nation FY2014 Annual 91.2 94.8 96.7
Nation FY2015 Annual 89.3 93.5 95.7
Nation FY2016 Annual 90.7 94.4 96.2
Nation FY2017 Annual 93.8 96.4 97.7
Nation FY2018 Annual 94.0 96.7 97.9