Regulations last checked for updates: May 15, 2024

Title 39 - Postal Service last revised: Apr 01, 2024
§ 121.3 - USPS Marketing Mail.

(a) End-to-End. (1) The service standard for Sectional Center Facility (SCF) turnaround USPS Marketing Mail® pieces accepted at origin before the day-zero Critical Entry Time is 3 days when the origin Processing & Distribution Center/Facility (origin P&DC/F) and the SCF are the same building, except for mail between the territories of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

(2) The service standard for Area Distribution Center (ADC) turnaround USPS Marketing Mail pieces accepted at origin before the day-zero Critical Entry Time is 4 days when the origin P&DC/F and the ADC are the same building, unless the ADC is in the contiguous 48 states and the delivery address is not, or the mail is between Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, or the mail is between Hawaii and American Samoa.

(3) The service standard for intra-Network Distribution Center (NDC) USPS Marketing Mail pieces accepted at origin before the day-zero Critical Entry Time is 5 days for each remaining 3-digit ZIP Code origin-destination pair within the same Network Distribution Center service area if the origin and destination are within the contiguous 48 states; the same standard applies to mail that is intra-Alaska or between the state of Hawaii and the territory of Guam or American Samoa.

(4) For each remaining 3-digit ZIP Code origin-destination pair within the contiguous 48 states, the service standard for USPS Marketing Mail pieces accepted at origin before the day-zero Critical Entry Time is the sum of 5 or 6 days plus the number of additional days (from 1 to 4) required for surface transportation between each 3-digit ZIP Code origin-destination pair.

(5) For each remaining 3-digit ZIP Code origin-destination pair, the service standard for USPS Marketing Mail pieces accepted at origin before the day-zero Critical Entry Time is the sum of 5 or 6 days plus the number of additional days (from 7 to 21) required for intermodal (highway, boat, air-taxi) transportation outside the contiguous 48 states for each 3-digit ZIP Code origin-destination pair.

(b) Destination entry. (1) USPS Marketing Mail pieces that qualify for a Destination Delivery Unit (DDU) rate and that are accepted before the day-zero Critical Entry Time at the proper DDU have a 2-day service standard.

(2) USPS Marketing Mail pieces that qualify for a Destination Sectional Center Facility (DSCF) rate and that are accepted before the day-zero Critical Entry Time at the proper DSCF have a 3-day service standard when accepted on Sunday through Thursday and a 4-day service standard when accepted on Friday or Saturday, except for mail dropped at the SCF in the territory of Puerto Rico and destined to the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, or mail destined to American Samoa.

(3) USPS Marketing Mail pieces that qualify for a DSCF rate and that are accepted before the day zero Critical Entry Time at the SCF in the territory of Puerto Rico and destined to the territory of the U.S. Virgin Islands, or are destined to American Samoa, have a 4-day service standard when accepted on Sunday through Thursday and a 5-day service standard when accepted on Friday or Saturday.

(4) USPS Marketing Mail pieces that qualify for a Destination Network Distribution Center (DNDC) rate, and that are accepted before the day-zero Critical Entry Time at the proper DNDC have a 5-day service standard, if both the origin and the destination are in the contiguous 48 states.

(5) USPS Marketing Mail pieces that qualify for a DNDC rate, and that are accepted before the day-zero Critical Entry Time at the proper DNDC in the contiguous 48 states for delivery to addresses in the states of Alaska or Hawaii or the territories of Guam, American Samoa, Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands, have a service standard of 12-14 days, depending on the 3-digit origin-destination ZIP Code pair. For each such pair, the applicable day within the range is based on the number of days required for transportation outside the contiguous 48 states.

[86 FR 43952, Aug. 11, 2021]
source: 72 FR 72228, Dec. 19, 2007, unless otherwise noted.
cite as: 39 CFR 121.3