Delivery of First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail and Periodicals showed improvement in May as Postal Service operations continue to recover from challenges brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Compared with fiscal year 2021’s second quarter (Jan. 1-March 31), May’s numbers showed:
• A 9.5 percentage point improvement in First-Class Mail deliveries, with 87.6 percent being delivered on-time. On average, a first-class mailpiece took 2.4 days to be delivered so far this quarter.
• A 5.5 percentage point improvement in delivery of Marketing Mail to 90.6 percent against the USPS service standard. On average, a marketing mailpiece took 2.9 days to be delivered so far this quarter.
• A 7.4 percentage point improvement in Periodicals delivery since the second quarter.
“While we are encouraged by the progress we have made on service performance so far this year, there is more work to be done to meet and exceed the expectations of our customers for service reliability,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. “The entire United States Postal Service is fully committed to addressing long-standing challenges head-on as we emerge from the pandemic.”
The Postal Service reported the figures June 3.
The organization also said it is continuing to address staffing challenges as it emerges from the pandemic. In May, 78 percent of employees were available to work.
Service improvement remains a core priority under Delivering for America, the Postal Service’s 10-year plan to achieve financial sustainability.
Once fully implemented, the plan includes the goal of meeting or exceeding 95 percent network-wide, on-time delivery for all mail and package classes.
Investments and network enhancements are underway for this year’s holiday delivery season.
