USPS RTO Map
- Each dot is a ZIP code on USPS's RTO list or in its monthly report: 28,545 in all.
- A dot lights up in the month the truck change started there. Outgoing mail then leaves the next morning, not the same evening.
- Press Play to watch it spread, from October 2023 to July 2026.
Truck change started by
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ZIP codes
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- Truck change started
- Started that month
- On the list, not started (by that month)
What the Map Shows
- The change started in October 2023 in 281 ZIP codes, under its earlier name LTO (Local Transportation Optimization).
- USPS's report says LTO starts ended in January 2025 and RTO starts began in February 2025.
- The biggest month was May 2025, with 2,904 ZIP codes.
- By the report of August 3, 2026, the change had started in 15,250 of the 28,545 ZIP codes.
- The empty areas around big cities are within 50 miles of a regional plant, so they are not on the list.
How This Map Was Made
The ZIP codes and dates
- The list: USPS's RTO list of January 16, 2026 (21,506 post offices, 28,540 ZIP codes).
- The dates: USPS's monthly report of August 3, 2026. Each ZIP code shows its first date, LTO or RTO.
- USPS's own corrections in the report's notes are applied.
Where each dot sits
- At the center of its ZIP code area (US Census, 2025).
- PO box ZIP codes, which have no area: at their post office, found by street address (Census geocoder).
- A few ZIP codes have no Census location at all. They have no dot, but they are in every count.
What it does not show
- The dates are when the truck change started, not how late any letter was.
- The extra day in USPS's standards applies from these offices even before the change starts. The RTO lookup explains it for any ZIP code.
Use This Map
- Free to use, with credit: "Map: deliverytimecalculator.com, from USPS filings and US Census data".
- "Download this view" under the map saves the month and zoom you see, with the credit line in the picture.
- To check one ZIP code and get the last day to mail from it, use the USPS RTO lookup.
Sources
- The RTO list: USPS response to ACR2025 Chairman's Information Request No. 1, question 28 (Postal Regulatory Commission filing 139072, January 16, 2026).
- The dates: USPS Sixteenth Report, docket RM2024-9 (filing 140575, August 3, 2026).
- Locations: US Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files (ZIP code areas and places) and the Census geocoder. State outlines: US Census Bureau, via us-atlas.
- Thanks to Save the Post Office, which follows RTO every month. See its RTO map by ZIP code.
Questions
What does a dot mean?
Each dot is one ZIP code on USPS's RTO list (or, for a few, only in its monthly report). It lights up in the month USPS's report gives as the start of the truck change there (LTO or RTO).
Grey dots are on the list, with no start date by that month.
Is a dot the post office itself?
No. A dot sits at the center of its ZIP code area, from the US Census. ZIP codes with no area of their own (mostly PO box ZIP codes) sit at their post office, found by its street address with the Census geocoder.
Why are the big cities empty?
RTO is for post offices more than 50 miles from the regional plant USPS assigned them. Offices near a plant, which includes most big cities, are not on the list.
How is this different from Save the Post Office's RTO map?
Save the Post Office's map shows each ZIP code area as on, coming or not eligible, and is updated every month. This map shows the order and the months in which the change reached each ZIP code.
Both use USPS's own filings.