Undeliverable-as-Addressed (UAA) Mail Statistics

The USPS provides an on-going study of Undeliverable-as-Addressed (UAA) mail. This study provides comprehensive information on the volumes, characteristics and costs of processing UAA mail.

What is UAA Mail?

UAA mail is all mail that cannot be delivered to the name and address specified on the mailpiece, and must be forwarded, returned to sender or properly treated as waste, as authorized for the class of mail and ancillary service endorsement on the mailpiece. The actions required to process UAA mail create additional cost for the Postal Service and have an impact on postal operations. In addition, UAA mail affects the timeliness of mail delivery. Mail may be considered UAA because:

The individual, family, or business to which it is addressed has moved
The address is incomplete, incorrect, or illegible
The addressee is unknown or deceased
The addressee refuses or fails to claim the mail
The necessary postage has not been paid

While all UAA causes are considered and reported, the primary focus of the UAA mail study is on the address-quality-related reasons; that is, UAA occurring because the addressee has moved, or because the address is incomplete, incorrect or illegible.

UAA Mail Statistics by Industry Type

Have you ever wondered how your undeliverable as addressed mail volume compares to others in the same industry? A report has been added that provides UAA Reason statistics by mailing industry type. Industries represented include Financial, Marketing, Healthcare, Government, and others. Access this report below.

UAA Mail Study Tables

The study is broken into four primary spreadsheets: (1) ACS Volume and Cost (12 tables), (2) Base Tables focusing on postal operations cost and volume of handling UAA mail (44 tables), (3) Class Tables that provides cost and volume by class of mail, presort category and then by shape (64 tables), (4) Volume Tables that provides summary data by class of mail, shape, presort category, and disposition of UAA by Local vs. CFS sites (4 tables).

In the FY2004 group, you will find two datasets of UAA information. One set is the actual 2004 data called "PrePARS" and the other ("PostPARS") is an estimation of what UAA cost and volume will be in FY2008 after full deployment of PARS. Also included is the PRC testimony describing each dataset.