First-Class Service Standards Delivery Changes – An Overview

In March 2021, the USPS® announced its 10-Year “Delivering for America” plan, driven by the Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s strategic plan that refocuses the organization on achieving a more sustainable financial organization. 

Two of the main components of this plan include price increases for Market Dominant Products (this includes First-Class™, Periodicals, Marketing and Package Services) and extending the current Service Standards for delivering First-Class Mail® and some Periodicals Mail as part of a plan to cut costs and provide more predictable service. These Service Standards reflect the number of days in which a piece of mail is expected to be delivered. Though delivery timeframes are not guaranteed for some classes of mail, the current Service Standards are not currently being met by the USPS. These new changes according to the USPS will allow them to achieve 95% on time service performance.

 Starting on October 1, 2021, these new Service Standards go into effect and will take up to two years to be fully completed.  You can expect First-Class Mail in the contiguous United States to expand from the current 1-3 day expected delivery window to an expanded 1-5 days. (You can read the details in the USPS Notice.) For Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, a 4-day standard will be applied to mail either originating or being sent to these locations.  

Per the Postal Service™, a majority of First-Class Mail’s Service Standards will not change with an estimated  70 percent of First-Class Mail volume having a delivery standard of 1-3 days.

Even though new standards go into effect on October 1, there could be disruptions as the Postal Service implements the full changes across their network. 

On a related note, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform has sent a letter to the Postmaster General asking for an explanation on why these changes are being made. You can read about it here.