USPS Office of Inspector General

In some urban and suburban areas, grocery delivery vehicles are a regular sight. Indeed, many urban dwellers get regular offers for an annual $100-subscription to a same-day delivery service.

Same-day delivery sure seems popular given the buzz. But same-day delivery of merchandise and groceries to consumers represents only 2 percent of the total domestic parcel market (249 million packages in 2018). And nearly every delivery is a money-loser, our recent white paper indicates.

This month’s infographic, taken from our audit on workload and workforce performance indicators in customer service, delivery and vehicle operations, shows First-Class Mail volume has declined more than 11 percent since 2014 while Package Services volume has increased at an extraordinary rate. Still, the growth in Package Services has not been nearly enough to offset total U.S. Postal Service mail volume declines.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about the urban-rural divide in this country. But the U.S. Postal Service has had to deal with it in one form or another since its founding.

Our recent white paper brings a useful historical perspective to the Postal Service’s long-time efforts to balance the often-conflicting demands of urban and rural customers.