USPS REACHES NEW DEPTHS AND BREADTHS OF “LATE” ON FIRST-CLASS MAIL
What can one say about only delivering 85.6% of First-Class letters on time, or only 69% of First-Class flats on time? Well, one could say that “at least it’s better than last week,” which is true, if a low bar. But, with a little digging, one will realize it’s even worse. OK, fewer First-Class letters were late, but 4.1% were late by 5 or more days – far and away the worst we’ve seen this year. 20% of First-Class flats were five or more days late. That’s right, one out of five First-Class flats were FIVE DAYS LATE – or worse. And this, again, is for professionally prepared, barcoded, presorted mail.
Additionally, this kind of performance was spread across all postal areas. No area had more than 90% of First-Class letters or flats delivered on time. Southern is the only one that came close.
As usual, Marketing Mail looked strong. Marketing Mail flats dipped a bit to 92.8% on time, but it is hard to complain about that after seeing First-Class performance.
The main difference between First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail is that First-Class Mail relies on Postal transportation. Clearly, the Postal Service can get mail delivered promptly once it reaches the destination facility – they’re doing it every day. They may be wise to take a hard look at their logistics operations.
