For months leading up to last November’s election, our I-Team along with other NBC owned stations around the country started monitoring first class mail delays. 

At the time, millions of vote by mail ballots and other election mail flooded the system. In unscientific tests we saw a drop in performance from August to October.  

New data we obtained from the United States Postal Service found performance has improved since the election but is down substantially right now from this same time last year. 

A recent U.S.P.S. report on quarterly performance shows a decrease in on-time deliveries for first class mail. 

Two-day delivery has dropped by 10% compared to this time last year. Three-to-five-day delivery performance fell by nearly 24%.  

The Southern California division was the bright spot with the highest two-day performance in the country – 89.5% on time delivery. 

Earlier this week, U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy admitted the numbers aren’t good right now while testifying to Congress recently. 

The USPS is currently trying to get its finances in order, having lost $69 billion dollars in the last eleven years.   

Mark Dimondstein, head of the American Postal Workers union, worries what the changes could mean.  

“We should find the way to provide the service that the people are promised under the law. The law says prompt, reliable and efficient services,” Dimondstein said. 

There are ways to track your mail. You can sign up for informed delivery with the USPS, which sends you a digital image of your mail and tracks packages in one place.