> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vortexiq.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # OTD by Origin-Destination ZIP Zone, USPS > USPS zone-based delivery OTD. Identifies regional weakness (rural Alaska, Hawaii, US territories) for service-level adjustment. How to read it, why it matt... **Metrics type:** [Cross-Platform Metrics](/nerve-centre/overview#metrics-types-explained) • **Category:** [Shipping & Courier](/nerve-centre/connectors#connectors-by-type) > USPS zone-based delivery OTD. Identifies regional weakness (rural Alaska, Hawaii, US territories) for service-level adjustment. ## At a glance > USPS on-time delivery rate split by origin ZIP and destination ZIP zone (Zone 1 to 8 plus Alaska/Hawaii/US territories). The aggregate [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/on-time-delivery-rate) hides geographic patterns; this card surfaces which lanes are dragging the headline so the merchant can act on customer-mix, fulfilment-centre placement, or service-class shifts at lane level. | | | | ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **What it counts** | `COUNT(shipments WHERE deliveryDate <= expectedDeliveryDate AND zone = X) / COUNT(delivered shipments WHERE zone = X)` per origin-destination zone pair, over the trailing 30 days. The aggregate of all zones equals the parent on-time rate. | | **Zone definition** | USPS zones are defined by distance from the origin 3-digit ZIP to the destination 3-digit ZIP. Zone 1 = same ZIP region (≤50 miles), Zone 2 = adjacent regions (50 to 150 miles), Zone 3 to Zone 8 = increasing distance, Zone 9 = Alaska/Hawaii/US territories. | | **Delivery success criterion** | USPS Tracking Code 01 (Delivered) within service-standard window for the zone. | | **Special destinations** | Alaska (AK), Hawaii (HI), Puerto Rico (PR), US Virgin Islands (VI), Guam (GU), American Samoa (AS), Northern Mariana Islands (MP) all run as Zone 9 with significantly weaker on-time rates due to inter-island transit (HI), barge-and-air leg (AK), customs-equivalent handling (PR/VI). Expect 70 to 85% on-time vs 90 to 95% for continental zones. | | **Service level scope** | All USPS services pooled by default. Each service uses its own zone-specific service standard. To split, combine with [Shipments by Service](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/shipments-by-service). | | **Rural-route weakness** | Within continental zones, rural ZIPs (3-digit prefixes ending in -0xx for rural carriers) typically run 5 to 10 ppt below the zone average. The 3-digit zone aggregation pools rural and urban; sub-zone patterns require drilling into the [Shipments table](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/shipments). | | **Returns / RTO** | Excluded across all zones. | | **Holiday/election surge** | Far-zone and rural zones degrade most during November-December (Mountain West, Pacific Northwest, Northern Plains). The aggregate may stay flat while specific zones drop 20+ ppt. | | **Time window** | `30D` (rolling 30 days) | | **Alert trigger** | `any zone <85%` (warn). The aggregate alert is on the parent card; this card alerts per zone. | | **Sentiment key** | `on_time_delivery_rate` | | **Roles** | owner, operations | ## Calculation Calculated automatically from your USPS data. See the At a glance summary above for what the metric tracks and the worked example below for a typical reading. ## Worked example A US DTC outdoor-apparel merchant shipping out of Reno, NV (origin Zone). Reading taken at 09:00 PT on 12 Mar 26 for the trailing 30 days. | Destination Zone | Shipments | On-Time | Delta vs aggregate | | ------------------------------- | ---------- | --------- | ------------------ | | Zone 1 to 2 (West Coast metros) | 4,820 | 95.4% | +2.5 ppt | | Zone 3 to 4 (Mountain West) | 3,210 | 92.8% | -0.1 ppt | | Zone 5 (Texas, central US) | 2,180 | 91.0% | -1.9 ppt | | Zone 6 to 7 (East Coast) | 4,310 | 89.4% | -3.5 ppt | | Zone 8 (FL, ME, far Northeast) | 720 | 84.2% | -8.7 ppt | | Zone 9 (AK, HI, PR) | 90 | 76.7% | -16.2 ppt | | **All zones (aggregate)** | **15,330** | **92.9%** | 0 | The card shows aggregate **92.9%** but Zone 8 at 84.2% and Zone 9 at 76.7% have tripped per-zone alerts. Five things to notice: 1. **Zone 9 (AK, HI, PR) at 76.7% is structural, not a network problem.** Inter-island and inter-territory transit adds 3 to 7 days of variance USPS cannot recover. Mitigation: extend checkout copy delivery promise for AK/HI/PR ZIPs to 7 to 14 days; do not benchmark Zone 9 against continental. 2. **Zone 8 at 84.2% is the actionable issue.** Florida and Northeast far-zones from a Reno origin run 4 to 5 day Priority Mail; weather and far-distance routing degrade reliability. Three options: (a) Switch Zone 8 to FedEx Express where MBG hedges late-delivery cost. (b) Pre-position inventory in an East Coast DC. (c) Accept and adjust delivery-promise copy. 3. **The aggregate at 92.9% looks healthy, masking Zone 8 and Zone 9 problems.** This is the textbook reason to use the zone breakdown rather than only watching aggregate. The 6.7% to 16.2% drop in those zones is invisible at the headline. 4. **West Coast at 95.4% subsidises the headline.** Near-origin shipments hit reliably; this 4,820 shipments at 95.4% pulls aggregate up by \~1 ppt. Removing them shows the merchant's actual far-zone challenge more clearly. 5. **Pre-positioning analysis.** Adding a Memphis or Atlanta DC would cover Zone 4 to 7 from a closer origin, dropping average zone from \~5 to \~3 for East Coast customers and lifting on-time by \~3 to 5 ppt aggregate. ROI math: cost of second DC ($120K to $300K/year) vs CS workload reduction + NPS lift + conversion rate uplift. Note: this card pairs naturally with [Cost by Zone](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/cost-by-zone) (which shows the cost dimension of the same lanes) and [OTD by Route](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/otd-by-route) (sub-zone granularity to 3-digit prefix). ## Sibling cards merchants should reference together | Card | Why pair it with OTD by Origin-Destination ZIP Zone | What the combination tells you | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [On-Time Delivery Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/on-time-delivery-rate) | The aggregate this card disaggregates. | Always read together; aggregate hides zone-specific problems. | | [Cost by Zone](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/cost-by-zone) | Cost dimension of the same lanes. | Cross-tab cost × on-time identifies lanes paying premium for poor service. | | [OTD by Route](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/otd-by-route) | Sub-zone granularity. | 3-digit prefix view inside each zone. | | [Avg Transit (days)](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/avg-transit) | Companion timing metric. | Far-zone transit creep often precedes far-zone on-time decline. | | [Priority Mail OTD](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/priority-mail-otd) | Service-class subset. | For Priority Mail, zone-by-zone is the most useful split because Priority Mail commits vary 1 to 3 days by zone. | | Cross-connector: [`fedex.fed_route_otd`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/fedex/otd-by-route) | Multi-carrier zone analysis. | Lane-level FedEx vs USPS comparison identifies carrier-mix per zone. | | Cross-connector: [`shopify.refund_rate`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/refund-rate) | Geographic refund correlation. | Far-zone customers refund at higher rate; this card explains why. | ## Reconciling against the vendor's own dashboard **Where to look in USPS's own dashboard:** [USPS Business Customer Gateway](https://gateway.usps.com/) → **PostalOne! → Reports → Service Performance → By Zone**. PostalOne!-eligible shippers can compare directly. Smaller shippers reconcile only at the per-shipment tracking level. **Why our number may legitimately differ from USPS's portal:** | Reason | Direction | Why | | --------------------------- | ----------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Zone definition** | Same | Both card and portal use 3-digit ZIP origin-destination zoning. Within-zone variation (rural vs urban inside Zone 6, e.g.) appears the same in both. | | **Surge-period exclusions** | USPS may show higher per zone | USPS excludes named-storm-affected ZIPs from regional reports; the card includes everything. | | **AK/HI/PR territories** | Either | Some USPS reports separate Zone 9 territories into a "non-contiguous" bucket; the card uses Zone 9 explicitly. | **Cross-connector reconciliation:** | Card | Expected relationship | What causes legitimate divergence | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | [`fedex.fed_route_otd`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/fedex/otd-by-route) | Peer carrier zone analysis. | FedEx zone definitions differ slightly; both use 1 to 8 + Alaska/Hawaii but breakpoints can vary. | | [`shopify.unfulfilled_orders`](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/shopify/unfulfilled-orders) | Upstream order-source. | Geographic mix at order placement drives this card's denominator. | ## Known limitations / merchant FAQs **Why is Zone 9 (AK/HI/PR) so much worse than continental zones?** Three structural reasons. (1) **Inter-island and inter-territory transit.** Hawaii parcels travel by surface mail (barge) or air-cargo with capacity constraints; Alaska parcels travel via Anchorage hub then bush plane to remote ZIPs. (2) **Customs-equivalent handling.** PR/VI/Guam/AS shipments cross USPS's customs-jurisdiction boundary and undergo additional scanning. (3) **Service-standard variance.** USPS publishes wider service-standard windows for Zone 9 (5 to 10 days vs 1 to 3 for Priority Mail continental), but on-time within that wider window still runs 70 to 85% reliably. **Should I exclude Zone 9 from my checkout offerings?** Most large DTC merchants ship to Zone 9 with adjusted delivery-promise copy ("delivery in 7 to 14 days for Alaska, Hawaii, and US territories"). Excluding loses about 0.5 to 1.5% of total revenue but eliminates the operational tail. Decision is volume-and-margin-dependent. **Far-zone Priority Mail vs near-zone Ground Advantage, which is faster?** Comparable. Far-zone (Zone 6 to 8) Priority Mail is committed at 3 days; near-zone (Zone 1 to 4) Ground Advantage is committed at 2 to 3 days. The merchant pays Priority premium for similar end-result speed when shipping far. The on-time rate gap is also small. **Can I use this to plan a second fulfilment centre?** Yes, this is one of its primary uses. Identify zones with worst on-time and highest volume; a second DC closer to those zones drops their average zone count and improves on-time. The classic case is a West-Coast-only merchant adding a Memphis or Atlanta DC for East Coast coverage; expected lift on East Coast on-time is 4 to 8 ppt. **Why does Mountain West sometimes have worse on-time than East Coast?** Mountain West (Zone 4 to 5) has fewer USPS hub-and-spoke connections; many ZIPs route through Salt Lake City or Denver consolidator hubs with limited daily-frequency. Far-zone shipments to dense East Coast metros sometimes have better routing density. Investigate by drilling to 3-digit ZIP prefix rather than zone. **My Zone 8 jumped from 89% to 80% in a week. What happened?** Likely a regional disruption. Check (a) [USPS Service Updates](https://www.usps.com/serviceupdates) for named-storm or facility-outage in the affected sectional centre; (b) [Exception Rate](/nerve-centre/kpi-cards/usps/exception-rate) for that zone, which often spikes 24 to 48 hours before on-time drops; (c) seasonal patterns (Q4, election cycles). **How does Sunday delivery factor in?** USPS Sunday delivery is mostly Amazon Prime parcels via a special Sunday network. Non-Amazon shipments don't deliver Sunday; the card respects this in service-standard calculation (Sunday counts as non-business day for non-Amazon volume). **My on-time within zones is good but aggregate is bad. How is that possible?** Customer-mix is heavily weighted toward worst zones. Each individual zone may be at 92 to 95%, but if 60% of volume goes to Zone 6 to 8 (vs 30% in the prior period), the aggregate drops as the volume mix shifts toward weaker performers. The fix is in customer-acquisition rather than in operations. *** ### Tracked live in Vortex IQ Nerve Centre *OTD by Origin-Destination ZIP Zone* is one of hundreds of KPI pulses Vortex IQ tracks across USPS and 70+ other ecommerce connectors. Nerve Centre runs the detection layer; Vortex Mind investigates the cause when something moves; Ask Viq lets you interrogate any number in plain English. [Start for free](https://app.vortexiq.ai/login) or [book a demo](https://www.vortexiq.ai/contact-us) to see this metric running on your own data.