The US Postal Service (USPS) has reported improved delivery performance and higher customer satisfaction during the most recent holiday shipping period, citing investments in technology and network planning.
Between November 15 and January 9, USPS delivered mail and packages in an average of 2.5 days across a volume of 16 billion items. This compares with an average delivery time of 2.8 days during the same period last year. The Postal Service said on-time delivery scores increased across most of its network, with the strongest performance recorded at destination delivery units (DDUs), which handle last-mile delivery.
The DDU segment is expected to draw additional attention later this month, when USPS begins a bid solicitation process related to those facilities.
“These results reflect the tenacity of our workforce as well as the network improvements we continue to implement,” said postmaster general and CEO David Steiner. “We will keep improving service throughout the coming year – optimizing our network, strengthening reliability, improving delivery times and ensuring high-value products and services for residential and business customers in every community we serve.”
USPS also reported a reduction in customer service demand compared with the previous holiday season. Calls to the Customer Care Center fell by 23%, while package-related customer service inquiries declined by 44% year-over-year.
Customer satisfaction scores related to inquiries, measured through USPS customer surveys, increased by 6.4 percentage points compared with the same holiday period last year.
“Customers entrusted us with billions of letters, cards and packages, and we delivered – faster than last year and with strong consistency across the network,” said Doug Tulino, deputy postmaster general, chief operating officer and chief human resources officer.
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