SERVICE PERFORMANCE REMAINS MEDIOCRE BUT GETS A COOL NEW NAME
I used to fear that I was revealing some deep dark secret of the Postal Service – that their service performance, at least in First-Class Mail, was steadily deteriorating. As it turns out, the Postal Service’s own performance numbers are almost identical to mine. They know their service is getting worse – they publish it. In a January 5, 2024, press release, USPS acknowledged that on-time performance for First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, and periodicals declined by 5.7%, 1.5%, and 5.2% respectively. They simply relabeled this as “Stable Delivery Performance.” Apparently, non-catastrophic declines are “stable.” I wish I had known that when I brought home those ninth-grade report cards. My parents were unsophisticated and didn’t understand that going from mostly “A”s and “B”s to mostly “C”s was simply me being stable.
The Postal Service, rather than being concerned about their deteriorating service, has actually gone so far as to brand it. Is your mail a day late? Nope – it’s “Performance Plus 1”. Sounds kind of nice, doesn’t it? Certainly, catchier than “One Day Late.”
Anyway, for what it’s worth, performance was down in virtually every category we measure. But just a bit.
I