First Class Mail (Composite), Feb. 2019 – April 2, 2021
Source: Submitted as exhibit in Vote Forward v Louis DeJoy (177-3, April 9, 2021), uploaded to Google Drive here.
Market Dominant Mail, Jan. 2020 – April 2, 2021
Source: Submitted as exhibit in Vote Forward v Louis DeJoy (177-3, April 9, 2021), uploaded to Google Drive here.
First Class Mail (Composite), Feb. 2019 – March 2021
The Postal Service hasn’t reported any weekly service performance data since the week of Feb. 6, 2021, but on March 18, 2021, the USPS issued a press release stating, “For the week of March 6, overall USPS service performance for delivery of First-Class Mail reached 83.7 percent,” The following chart shows the scores through Feb. 6 as previously reported, plus estimates for the weeks leading up to March 6.
Sources: USPS press release (March 18, 2021); USPS FY20Q2-FY21Q2TD Weekly Service Performance: Market Dominant Products Through Week 2/6/2021 (Feb. 18, 2021); and USPS Responses to Chairman’s Information Request No. 6, Question No. 6 (Feb. 4, 2021), spreadsheet showing service performance for First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, and Periodicals on a weekly basis for the period FY 2019, FY 2020, and the first quarter of FY 2021 (Oct. 2018 – Dec. 2020).
First Class Mail, single piece, First Quarter of FY20 v. Q1 FY21
On March 18, 2021, the Postal Service provided the PRC with an alternate version of the service performance reports it had originally submitted on February 9, 2021. The earlier version had shown the data corresponding to the Postal Service’s new organizational structure (with no District data). On Feb. 23, 2021, the Commission asked to see the data corresponding to the earlier organizational structure of Areas and 67 Districts. Here are three charts based on these reports.
The first chart shows service performance for single-piece First Class Mail with a 2-day service standard for the sixteen districts that saw the largest drop in scores from the first quarter (Oct-Dec) of FY 2020 to the first quarter of FY 2021.
Source: PRC Quarterly Service Reports; on Google Drive
The second chart shows service performance for single-piece First Class Mail with a 3-5 day service standard for the sixteen districts that saw the largest drop in scores from the first quarter (Oct-Dec) of FY 2020 to the first quarter of FY 2021.
Source: PRC Quarterly Service Reports; on Google Drive
The third chart shows service performance for single-piece First Class Mail with a 3-5 day service standard for the sixteen districts that saw the smallest drop in scores from the first quarter (Oct-Dec) of FY 2020 to the first quarter of FY 2021.
Source: PRC Quarterly Service Reports; on Google Drive
First Class Mail, single piece, with a 3-5 day service standard, Quarterly FY 2018-FY2021.
The following chart is based on the quarterly service performance reports submitted to the PRC, updated through the data provided on March 18, 2021. It shows service performance for single-piece First Class Mail with a 3-5 day service standard over the past couple of years for some of the districts with the lowest scores in Q1 FY21.
Source: PRC Quarterly Service Reports; on Google Drive
Periodicals, First Quarter of FY20 v. Q1 FY21
Source: PRC Quarterly Service Reports; on Google Drive
Market Dominant Mail, Jan. 2020 – Feb. 2021
Source: USPS Responses to Chairman’s Information Request No. 6, Question No. 6 (Feb. 4, 2021), spreadsheet showing service performance for First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, and Periodicals on a weekly basis for the period FY 2019, FY 2020, and the first quarter of FY 2021 (Oct. 2018 – Dec. 2020), disaggregated for each USPS geographic Area and the nation.
First Class Mail by Service Standard, March 2020 – Dec. 2020
Source: USPS Responses to Chairman’s Information Request No. 6 Question No. 20 (Feb. 4, 2021) spreadsheet showing weekly service performance for First-Class Mail disaggregated into presort and single piece, letters/cards and flats, and mail with an overnight (ON) 1-day service standard, a 2-day standard and a 3-5 day standard.
First Class Mail Variance, April 2020 – Dec. 2020
Source: USPS Responses to Chairman’s Information Request No. 6, Question No. 20 (Feb. 4, 2021) spreadsheet showing weekly service performance for First-Class Mail disaggregated into presort and single piece, letters/cards and flats, and mail with an overnight (ON) 1-day service standard, a 2-day standard and a 3-5 day standard, with variance data for plus-10 days. (Variance reports encompass the “tail of the mail” — the mail that was delivered after the service standard’s expectations of 2 or 3 days.)
First Class Mail, FY 2010 – FY 2020
To provide some historical context, here’s a table showing service performance for First Class mail over the past ten years. As the table shows, overnight and 2-day mail averages about 95 percent on time, while 3-5-day scores much lower, bringing the composite average for First Class to about 92 percent. The big drop in 2015 was associated with the network operational changes implemented that year, which caused service disruptions and a decline in performance even though service standards were reduced that year as well. The causes for the decline in performance since 2017 are unclear and subject to debate.
Source: Comments of the Association for Postal Commerce and Delivery Technology Advocacy Council on FY2020 Report and FY 2021 Plan (March 1, 2021) (link)
