scope:

This document specifies methods for measuring the level of loss and substantial delay, using a survey of test letters, of domestic and cross-border priority and first class single piece letter mail, collected, processed and distributed by postal service operators. It is impossible in practice to distinguish between items which will never arrive and items which have been delayed for a very long time. A minimum period is therefore defined after which an item that has been sent shall be treated as if it has been lost or substantially delayed for the purposes of measurement. The resulting overall figure for loss and substantial delay is to be expressed as a percentage of the total posted priority and first class single piece mail. This indicator does not measure the postal operator's overall performance in a way which provides direct comparison of postal service operators, and does not include other service performance indicators other than those related to loss and substantial delay. According to this document, loss and substantial delay is estimated within specified accuracy limits. When the level of loss is very small it may only be possible to estimate an upper limit for the level of loss. This document has been developed from and is compatible with the requirements of EN 13850 for the measurement of the transit time of end-to-end services for single piece priority mail and first class mail, so that the same survey may be used to measure loss and substantial delay and on-time performance. Thus it comprises a set of requirements for the design of a measuring system involving the selection and distribution of test letters sent and received by selected panellists, according to a specification that ensures that the test letter sample design is representative of the real mail flows. This document relates to the measurement of the so called "normal" services given to private persons / households and businesses that post mail at street letter boxes, over the counter at post offices, have pick ups at their offices or give their mail directly at postal service operators' sorting centres. For technical reasons this document may not in all parts be suitable for the measuring of very small volumes of mail and for operators with limited coverage. This document is not applicable for measuring the level of loss or substantial delay for large bulk mailers' services and hybrid mail which require different measurement systems and methodologies. This document includes specifications for the quality control and auditing of the measurement system and for the reporting of loss and substantial delay of mail.