The Postal Service measures service performance in terms of speed and reliability as part of our commitment to deliver high quality service to customers. Of particular focus are First-Class Mail Overnight, Two-day and Three-to-Five-day services, which are among the most widely used mail categories. Individual consumers, small businesses and larger commercial firms all rely on First-Class Mail, which comprises nearly all parts of the Postal Service’s operations and supply chain, from collection boxes and retail counters to final delivery. In FY2015, the Postal Service continued to measure service performance through a combination of both Single-Piece First-Class and Commercial First-Class performance for an aggregate of Overnight, Two-day and Three-to-Five-day services. Single-Piece First-Class Mail International provides a measure of the domestic leg of travel for Single-Piece International mail.
The Postal Service has contracted an independent third-party entity since 1990 to objectively measure performance for Single-Piece First-Class Mail via the External First-Class Mail (EXFC) system. This external sampling system measures the time it takes from when mail is deposited in a collection box or lobby chute to when it’s delivered at a home or business. Performance is measured in 892 ZIP Codes for Single-Piece First-Class Mail cards, letters and flat envelopes. Service performance for Single-Piece First-Class Mail parcels, which is measured using an internal Postal Service system, is combined with EXFC performance to generate overall Single-Piece First-Class Mail results.
Similarly, Presort First-Class Mail in FY2015 was measured through a hybrid measurement approach that combined Full-Service Intelligent Mail data from commercial mailers and relied on data collection by an external entity. This process measured the time from mail acceptance to final processing, which involved the collection of data on transit time from final processing to mail processing equipment and through to delivery. The processing and delivery data were aggregated, combined and reviewed by the external entity to measure overall commercial mail performance.
FY2015 Performance Report — For FY2015, the Postal Service did not achieve its targets for First-Class Mail. Service performance achievement for Overnight mail in both Single-Piece and Commercial categories remains strong with minimal slippage compared to FY2014 performance. The ongoing growth in package mail has resulted in continual balancing between air and surface networks, impacting Two-day and Three-to-Five-day categories. Weather incidents continue to affect performance and comparison to previous years. During FY2015, the Postal Service implemented major changes to create efficiencies in processing that resulted in complement shifts and initially impacted our ability to achieve the targets. We deferred any additional processing network changes to provide a period for stabilization of our workforce and service performance. Since then, we’ve shown continual improvements in overall service performance.
FY2016 Performance Plan — We believe that the eventual completion of the second phase of the network consolidation project in FY2016, coupled with our current efforts to re-balance our air and surface networks, will improve overall service performance and allow the Postal Service to meet its targets. The Postal Service will also continue our evolution of Lean activities in processing and delivery along with customer-focused operations to provide an efficient and consistent experience. We will continue to drive service performance and increase product value for all customer segments of our country.
