Average Delivery Time Across Postal Service Network Remains Steady

FY2023 first quarter service performance scores covering Oct. 1 through Oct. 14 included: *First-Class Mail: 92.9 percent of First-Class Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Marketing Mail: 94.4 percent of Marketing Mail delivered on time against the USPS service standard, consistent with performance from the fiscal fourth quarter. *Periodicals: 87.6 percent of Periodicals delivered on time against the USPS service standard, an improvement of 0.7 percentage points from the fiscal fourth quarter.

The ballots have today (28 June) began landing at the homes of members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, and the result will be known on 19 July. The union is demanding that Royal Mail Group negotiates with it to secure a “straight, no strings pay increase” for employees. At the time of writing, management intends to impose a 2% pay rise by executive action. The CWU said that in an economic climate where inflation has already soared to 11.7% by May, this would mean “a dramatic real-terms wage cut of Royal Mail employees, who were key workers during the height of the pandemic”. A CWU spokesperson said: “Britain’s postal workers are being forced into accepting a massive pay cut by the same people they have generated incredible profits for.

The U.S. Postal Service announced its financial results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024. The net loss for the quarter totaled $2.1 billion, compared to a net loss of $1.0 billion for the same quarter last year. Results for the quarter were negatively impacted primarily by non-cash workers’ compensation expenses due to actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes, the amortization of unfunded retiree pension liabilities, and the continued effect of inflation on operating expenses. Controllable income for the quarter was $472 million, compared to controllable income of $187 million for the same quarter last year, reflecting that the positive impacts of the Delivering for America plan are beginning to be realized. Total operating revenue was $21.6 billion for the quarter, an increase of $115 million, or 0.5 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. Revenue for the overall Shipping and Packages category increased $240 million, or 2.7 percent, on a volume increase of 98 million pieces, or 5.1 percent, compared to the same quarter last year. Marketing Mail revenue decreased $235 million, or 5.4 percent, on a volume decline of 2.4 billion pieces, or 13.5 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.