SnailWorks has been posting the “US Mail Traffic Report” for almost four years now. Mail pieces included in our report must include a valid USPS “start-the-clock” scan and be tracked to delivery. Our sample is huge: so far in 2024 it includes more than 93 million pieces of First-Class Mail, and more than a billion pieces of Marketing Mail.
First-Class Mail delivery performance has been steadily deteriorating since we began posting results in 2021. Year after year it gets worse both in terms of on-time performance and days in transit.
At the same time, Marketing Mail performance has held steady, and actually improved a bit.
I am regularly asked, “So Marketing Mail is faster than First-Class?” Well, not exactly.
Since there is no incentive for mailers to transport First-Class Mail, it is generally entered at origin, and the Postal Service transports it. Marketing Mail is often transported by the mailer or commingler to an SCF close to where the mail will be delivered, and the start-the-clock is created where the mail is inducted. Marketing Mail also has much laxer standards than FCM. Still, even the days to delivery have held steady for Marketing Mail.
Why the disparity? I’m always hesitant to speculate as to causes, but it appears that the Postal Service is doing a good job maintaining last-mile performance but has not been able to get transportation right.
The Postal Service made the decision to transition First-Class Mail away from air transportation and begin trucking it. One would expect worsening service in this scenario, but why it continues to deteriorate is something of a mystery.
Of course, the Postal Service has been updating its delivery network as part of the Delivering For America plan. It appears that at least in the short run the new network is slowing mail, and it continues to worsen as more of the plan is implemented. Only time will tell if this improves as the network is more fully deployed.
In the meantime, it is more essential than ever to keep an eye on your mail’s delivery performance. With a huge fall mailing season expected it is likely that we will see more significant delays. Whenever possible, mailers would be wise to drop ship mail whenever possible. I would expect individual facilities to back up at times, and political mail may push other mail aside as November approaches.
This looks to be an, umm…interesting fall. Track your mail! And look at the results!