USPS announces new service standards to improve reliability

Mar 6, 2025, 8 AM

By Linn’s Staff

The United States Postal Service is implementing new service standards for market-dominant services such as first-class mail, periodicals, marketing mail and package services, which include bound printed matter, media mail and library mail.

“The changes will enhance service reliability nationwide while maintaining the existing five-day service standard day range for First-Class Mail, whereas the day ranges for end-to-end Marketing Mail, Periodicals and Package Services will be shortened,” the Postal Service said in a Feb. 26 press release.

For first-class mail, the present service standard of one to five days will remain the same, the USPS said. Day ranges for marketing mail, periodicals and packages services will be shorter.

“The new service standards are easy to understand and provide more precise expectations for mailers, as they are based on 5-Digit ZIP code pairs, rather than the current standards that are based on 3-Digit ZIP code pairs,” the Postal Service said.

Mail in the Postal Service’s system follows three legs. Leg 1 is from collection to processing, leg 2 is from origin processing to destination processing, and leg 3 is from destination processing to final delivery.

“Current service standards only account for Leg 2,” the USPS said. “By establishing service expectations for each of the three legs, and adding one service expectation day in Leg 1 for volume entered far from regional processing facilities, the standards will accurately reflect how mail travels through the postal network.”

Enhanced measurement will allow more precise tracking of mail, according to the Postal Service.

“We will implement changes to report service performance at the 5-Digit ZIP Code level,” the USPS said. “These updates will provide enhanced visibility into service performance, allowing the Postal Service and customers to track service more precisely at a local level.”

Overall, 75 percent of first-class mail will be delivered at the same standard, 14 percent will see a faster standard and 11 percent will have a slower standard. However, the Postal Service plans to keep delivery of all first-class mail within the current one-day to five-day service standard.

The new service standards will be put in place in two phases beginning April 1 and July 1. “USPS will have multiple, user-friendly tools available so customers understand how long it should take for mail they are sending to reach its destination,” according to the Postal Service.

“As a result of these refined service standards, the Postal Service projects at least $36 billion in savings over 10 years from transportation, mail processing, and real estate cost reductions,” the USPS said.

“As part of the ongoing ‘Delivering for America’ plan, the Postal Service has to date lowered $1.8 billion in annual transportation costs by eliminating redundant networks and rationalizing the use of air and surface options, and reduced 45 million work hours, or $2.3 billion annually, by improving plant productivity, and eliminating unnecessary facilities,” the Postal Service said.

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