The U.S. Postal Service managed to improve its on time delivery performance during the 2025 peak holiday season, helped by additional capacity, updated service standards and lower volumes compared to the previous year, according to a May 1 report from the USPS Office of Inspector General.
Overall, the agency saw faster delivery times and fewer customer complaints. All main mail and parcel services including Ground Advantage, Parcel Select and Priority Mail performed better than during the previous peak season. That said, only Ground Advantage actually met its performance target.
USPS leadership pointed to tighter operational monitoring and more frequent coordination between operations teams and customers as part of the improvement. The Inspector General also highlighted the role of equipment upgrades, which reduced manual handling and helped speed up package processing during high-volume periods.
The OIG report, which largely confirmed previously released USPS figures, was noticeably more positive than its 2024 peak-season review. While it did not issue formal recommendations, it encouraged the Postal Service to continue building on these gains and improve consistency across its network in order to better meet targets and strengthen its position in the competitive U.S. parcel market.
Service reliability remains a key focus for Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner, as USPS continues its effort to compete more directly with private carriers such as FedEx and UPS. A major part of this strategy involves reshaping its network, including the rollout of new sorting and delivery centres.
Over the past four years, USPS has introduced new facilities aimed at handling seasonal spikes more efficiently while also improving everyday service performance, according to the report.
The 2025 peak season also benefited from service standard adjustments introduced as part of a broader overhaul of mail processing and collection. In April 2025, USPS added an extra transit day for Ground Advantage and single-piece First-Class Mail when originating more than 50 miles from a regional processing centre.
At the same time, Sundays and public holidays were excluded from service performance calculations for items accepted the day before, a change that also influenced reported delivery metrics, the OIG added.
