Priority Mail

Postal Service advertisements on television and elsewhere suggest that Priority Mail will be delivered anywhere in the continental United States within two days. Although not mentioned in the ads, the Postal Service makes no guarantee that delivery will actually meet that deadline. The Service's second quarter fiscal year 1993 Priority Mail processing data show that Priority Mail was processed and available for delivery within two days about 77 percent of the time, on average. Postal Service data on actual total delivery time for Priority Mail are unavailable. The Postal Service has studied the matter and has decided to change its advertising and take steps to improve Priority Mail delivery service.

GAO found that: (1) the USPS advertising campaign for priority mail delivery promoted guaranteed two-day service; (2) USPS has stopped priority mail advertisements and is revising its advertising campaign to avoid misleading customers about priority mail delivery; (3) USPS measures delivery times from the date of postmark to the date mail is available to mail carriers for delivery; (4) USPS has delivered priority mail within 2 days 77 to 87 percent of the time; (5) the Postal Inspection Service has concluded that priority mail cannot be delivered within 2 days to all destinations due to airline transportation limitations; (6) USPS is considering publishing a list of destinations that are exceptions to the 2-day standard in order to clarify customers' expectations for priority mail delivery; and (7) USPS is eliminating internal problems to improve priority mail delivery service.