USPS Office of Inspector General

Registered Mail might seem like a service from yesteryear in this day and age of Intelligent Mail barcodes and Informed Delivery, which give customers a sneak peek into their mail via email alerts.

But with proof of mailing and delivery along with strict rules and controls, Registered Mail still appeals to customers who want to send valuable or irreplaceable items through the mail.

It’s back to the future for the requirement that all letter and flat automation mailings be Full-Service Intelligent Mail barcode (IMb) compliant to obtain discounts. Mailers were expecting implementation this week of the Full-Service requirement, but the U.S. Postal Service pushed back the date until 2015 because the Postal Regulatory Commission ruled that the mandate constituted a price increase that would have busted the inflation-based price cap.

The U.S. Postal Service recently reported that its third quarter delivery service performance results marked “all-time record service performance” across all mail categories. In particular, the Postal Service had significant improvement in delivery performance for its commercial mail products in First Class and Standard Mail. Periodicals’ on-time performance topped 80 percent for the first time since 2010, a major improvement over the 46 percent score from earlier this year.