This document specifies methods for measuring the end-to-end transit time of domestic and cross-borderbulk mail, collected, processed and delivered by postal service operators. It considers methods using representative end-to-end samples for all types of bulk mail services with defined transit time service-levels as offered to the postal customer. It specifies a set of minimum requirements for the design of a quality-of-service measurement system for bulk mail, involving the selection and distribution of test mail sent by business senders and received by selected panellists.

This document is applicable to the measurement of end-to-end priority and non-prioritybulk mail services. For the purpose of this standard, bulk mail services can include all types of addressed bulk mail including, but not limited to letter mail, direct mail, magazines and newspapers and encombrant-format mailings.

This document relates to the measurement of bulk mail services offered to businesses that have pick-ups at their offices or give their mail to postal service operators. If a third-party agent acts for the postal operator, then the time the mail is handed over to the agent will form part of the measurement. Where a third-party agent acts for the sending customer, the measurement will be from the point when mail is handed over to the postal operator.

This document is of modular structure. It is designed to assess the service performance of postal operators for bulk mail services on the level of a single bulk mailing as defined by the postal customer or any aggregations thereof, including the performance of an individual customer / operator or the performance of a group of customers/operators or the performance at national level.

The standardized QoS measurement-method provides a uniform way for measuring the end-to-end transit time of postal items. Using a standardized measurement-method will ensure that the measurement will be done in an objective and equal way for all operators in accordance with the requirements of the current Postal Directive.

The end-to-end service measured may be provided by one operator or by a group of operators working either together in the same distribution chain or parallel in different distribution chains. The method for end-to-end measurement specified in this document is not designed to provide results for the measurement of parts of the distribution chain.

This document does not include other service performance indicators than those related to end-to-end transit time. In particular, this standard does not measure whether the timings of collections meet customers’ requirements.

The transit time quality-of-service result will be expressed as percentage of mail delivered by, on or between expected dates. These dates can be defined absolute as calendar-days or relative to the date of induction. The transit time calculation rule will be in whole days.

This quality of service indicator does not measure the postal operator’s overall performance in a way, which provides direct comparison of postal service operators. This document nevertheless provides minimum requirements for the comparability of end-to-end transit time measurement results of specific bulk mailings.

This document is not applicable for the measurement of end-to-end transit times of single-piece mail services and hybrid mail, which require different measurement systems and methodologies (see, for example, EN 13850, Postal Services — Quality of Services — Measurement of the transit time of end-to-end services for single piece priority mail and first-class mail.

In certain circumstances, this standard allows a choice between alternatives to be made subject to the approval of the regulator. This approval is only necessary if the service is within the universal service obligation.

This document includes specifications for the quality control and auditing of the measurement system.