More letters, cards, bill payments and other first-class mail items are getting to their destinations on time than ever before, the Postal Service said Thursday.

National on-time performance scores for the delivery of first-class mail hit all-time highs during the months of April, May and June this year. The rates are based on the time it takes from depositing the mail into a collection box or lobby mail chute to its delivery at a home or business.

On-time rates for overnight mail climbed one percentage point from the same period last year to 97 percent, the highest performance score ever recorded at the Postal Service. It also reported higher on-time rates for its two-day and three-day delivery services.

The Postal Service said 13 of the its 80 districts had a 98 percent on-time score for overnight delivery, including northern Virginia; Arkansas; northern Florida; Montana; the city of Baltimore; Fort Worth, Texas; western central Florida; the Dakotas; greater South Carolina; the mid-Carolinas; parts of Missouri and Kansas; Portland and the central Plains.

The Postal Service contracts with IBM Global Business Services to measure on-time rates for first-class mail.

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