US Postal Service scores big in customers’ delivery comparisons

The U.S. Postal Service — no stranger to measuring itself for performance success and customer satisfaction — took the lead in four informal parcel delivery tests conducted by postal customers this holiday mailing season. The “New York Times,” “Grand Rapids Press” (MI), KSLTV (UT) and KTVI (MO), within days of one another, conducted mailing comparisons among the U.S. Postal Service, DHL, FedEx and United Parcel Service, measuring delivery time, quality and cost. Shipping identical items ranging from coffee mugs and holiday ornaments to pecans within each test and using comparable classes of mail, the competition began.

The “New York Times” test pointed out that the Postal Service possesses the most convenient and user-friendly electronic service of the four delivery agents and was the least expensive and fastest in delivering their pecans, surpassing the other carriers by at least one dollar and one day.

U.S. Postal Service

The “Grand Rapids Press” test results of three of the identified shippers cited one recipient as receiving her holiday ornaments via the Postal Service “sooner, in perfect condition and for a fraction of the cost” of the other shippers.

KSLTV representatives also discovered from their comparison that Postal Service offerings were less expensive than the other carriers “by about 10 bucks.”

KTVI television teamed with four of its sister stations across the country in putting the delivery providers to the test. This station’s representatives cited the Postal Service’s Parcel Post offering as the least expensive, and in one instance a package sent via Parcel Post arrived before the other parcels. All other delivery times were tied, although the condition of one parcel — it was not delivered by the Postal Service — left much to be desired. The sound of jingle bells at holiday time can be a joyful one, unless however, that sound emits from a box of coffee mugs.

CONTACT: U.S. Postal Service Public Relations, +1-202-268-2155