Update: Proposed First-Class Mail Delivery Changes

Since our previous blog on this topic, the United States Postal Service (USPS) has released additional details on the proposed changes to its First-Class (FC) service standards, as well as a timeline for implementing the changes.

WHAT is changing

The post office is eliminating evening mail collections at certain locations across the US, meaning mail dropped off then would sit at the office overnight before starting to be processed.

• In this case, the affected areas are those outside a 50-mile radius of the 60 RPDCs (Regional Processing Distribution Centers) and NDCs (National Distribution Centers). This means that most of the country will be affected by this change.
• ONLY AFFECTS First-Class mail and should only affect sorted mail moving from one postal facility to another.
  • This includes most response mail, including Business Reply Mail.
  • Any drop shipped mail (i.e., commingled mail or Presort FC mail) should not be affected.
• Effectively adds a day to delivery for this type of single-piece FC mail.

New service standards also include better tools to measure expectations on 5-digit to 5-digit timing, found on the USPS website at https://www.usps.com/service-standards/.

WHEN it’s changing

• Service Standard changes go into effect April 1 for Single Piece FC letter mail.
  • This includes birthday cards, personal letters, and DONATION RESPONSES.
• July 1 for ALL FC letter mail except presorted.
• Service should improve for FC mail within 50 miles of an RPDC.

WHY the change

The USPS cites the Delivering for America 10-year plan as the main impetus, along with the 80% decline in the above types of retail FC mail since 1997. They intend to make the network more efficient by holding mail until they can realize greater container density while remaining within their 5-day delivery promise for FC mail. The USPS expects these changes to result in $3.6 billion in cost reductions. One good consequence of this change is that mail should actually speed up within the 50-mile radius of an RPDC.

For additional context, this isn’t the first time USPS has adjusted its First-Class mail delivery standards. In 2021, the Postal Service extended the First Class mail delivery window from 1–5 days. They also added 1–2 days to the “time in transit” for mail traveling longer distances. At the time, Production Solutions didn’t observe significant operational impacts due to these adjustments, with delivery rates largely aligning with previous First-Class mail performance.

With that in mind, we do not anticipate a huge impact on mail delivery based on these changes. However, we’ll continue monitoring the delivery times as the changes take effect to ensure our clients are well-prepared and informed of any new impacts these adjustments may bring to their mailing operations.