PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR OWN ADJECTIVES
Let’s start with the so-bad-it’s-funny one. 0.1% of First-Class flats in our sample were delivered on time. 99.9% were delivered late. As we have said before, our customers don’t mail a ton of First-Class flats (who can blame them?) so the sample is probably too small to be relevant. Still, out of about 15,000 pieces in four mailings originating in four different states, approximately 15 pieces were delivered on time. Approximately 6,500 of those 15,000 pieces were delivered more than five days late.
It is worth noting that most of the First-Class flats we do track are financial statements that are too big to fit into letter-size envelopes – big money. Makes the paperless option attractive, I imagine.
As for the rest, First-Class letters “improved” to 66.9% on time. 8.3% were more than five days late. 91.5% of Marketing Mail letters were on time, so there’s that. Still, considering that the vast majority is SCF entered – it is essentially taking an extra day to go from one side of the building to the other.
Only 76.5% of Marketing Mail flats were delivered on time – a worrisome number that gets worse and worse which each passing week. If your holiday catalog responses have been light, take heart – maybe the catalogs just haven’t been delivered yet.
If history is any guide, these numbers will all get worse in the first months of 2025. Except for First-Class flats. We can say, with some confidence, that the on-time percentage of First-Class flats will not get any worse.
