United States Postal Service

Type: Government Agency
On the web: http://www.usps.com
Employees: 663,238
Employee growth: (3.1%)

The United States Postal Service (USPS) handles cards, letters, and packages sent from sea to shining sea. The USPS delivers 203 billion pieces of mail a year (at an average of 667 million per day) to some 149 million addresses in the US and its territories. The independent government agency relies on postage and fees to fund operations. Though it has a monopoly on delivering the mail, the USPS faces competition for services such as package delivery. The US president appoints nine of the 11 members of the board that oversee the USPS. The presidential appointees select the postmaster general, and together they name the deputy postmaster general; the two also serve on the board.

Key numbers for fiscal year ending September, 2008:
Sales: $74,932.0M
One year growth: (0.1%)
Net income: ($2,806.0)M

Officers:
Postmaster General, CEO, and Governor: John E. (Jack) Potter
Deputy Postmaster, COO, and Governor: Patrick R. Donahoe
EVP and CFO: Harold Glen Walker

Competitors:
DHL
FedEx
UPS

Founded: 1775
NAIC: 491110 Postal Services Operated by U.S. Postal Service
SIC: 4311 U.S. Postal Service

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that generates income through postage and other fees. With a monopoly on the delivery of noncritical mail, the USPS delivers about 40 percent of the world's mail, or more than 200 billion pieces of mail annually. Beginning in the 1990s, the USPS faced increased competition from rival package delivery and courier services, as well as the Internet. In anticipation of the widespread use of e-mail and other e-commerce services, the USPS focused on developing Internet strategies, such as computerized postage and online delivery tracking of packages.

The Post Office Department had roots in America dating back to the 17th century, when there was a need for correspondence between colonial settlements and transatlantic exchange of information with England, the native country of most eastern seaboard settlers. The earliest mail services were disorganized at best, with no uniform system in place until 1691, when Thomas Neale established a North American postal service under a British Crown grant and, in absentia, appointed Governor Andrew Hamilton of New Jersey his deputy postmaster general. Thereafter, under the control of the British government, a centralized if erratic postal service operated in the colonies. In 1737, Deputy Postmaster General Alexander Spotswood, who had served as lieutenant governor of Virginia, named Benjamin Franklin, then 31, postmaster of Philadelphia. Franklin became joint postmaster general of the colonies and undertook important reforms that led to a more efficient, regular, and quicker mail service.

Mistrust of the royal postal service led to changes on the eve of the American Revolution. In 1774, the Crown dismissed Franklin because of his activities on behalf of the rebellious colonies. The colonists responded by setting up the separate Constitutional Post under the leadership of William Goddard. At the time of the first Continental Congress in 1775, Goddard's service provided inter-colonial service through 30 post offices operating between New Hampshire and Virginia.

The Continental Congress named Franklin chairman of a committee empowered to make recommendations for the establishment of a postal service. On July 26, 1775, the Congress approved the committee's plans, establishing the organization from which the U.S. Postal Service traces its direct descent and which, after the Bureau of Indian Affairs, is the second oldest federal department. The Congress wisely appointed Franklin the first Postmaster General. Although Franklin served just a brief period, until November 7, 1776, he is generally credited with being the chief architect of the modern postal service.

It was not until after the adoption of the Constitution in 1789 that a law passed on September 22, 1789, created the federal post office under the new government of the United States. It also established the Office of the Postmaster General. President Washington named Samuel Osgood to that post four days later. At the time there were 75 post offices and approximately 2,000 miles of post roads.

Additional legislation in the 1790s strengthened the U.S. Post Office by expanding its responsibilities and codifying its regulations. It remained in Philadelphia, the seat of the federal government, until 1800, when in just two wagons it moved all of its furniture, records, and supplies to Washington, D.C., the nation's new capital.

The chief focus of the efforts of postal officials from the inception of the Post Office to the present day has been on ways to achieve a more efficient and effective mail service. Finding the best methods of transporting and directing mail have always been of primary concern. As a result, the Post Office has played a significant part in the development and subsidization of new modes of transportation. Willing to experiment in the handling and delivery of mail, the Post Office was quick to try out new inventions and policies, even some disastrous ones that led to scornful criticism and ridicule.

During the 19th century, a citizenry hesitant to accept things new and different watched comparatively rapid changes transform the postal service into a remarkable public convenience. By the start of the 1800s, the Post Office Department had bought several stagecoaches for transporting both mail and passengers on the nation's post roads. Its patronage led to better stagecoach design, ensuring improved comfort and safety, and to better roads. In addition, a full ten years before waterways became official post roads in 1823, the Post Office had begun using steamboats to transport mail between river-linked towns that shared no common road. By 1831, it had begun sending mail short distances via trains--the 'iron horses' that many people denounced as demonic devices--and five years later awarded its first mail contract to a rail carrier.

Until replaced by automobiles and trucks at the beginning of the 20th century, horses remained major mail carriers, even over long distances, particularly during the period of westward expansion preceding the establishment of transcontinental telegraph and railway services. With the end of the Mexican War and the California gold rush of 1848, the need for effective communication between Atlantic and Pacific coastal cities quickly intensified. In that same year, the Post Office Department contracted a steamship company to carry mail to California. Ships from New York carried mail to Panama, where it was transported across the isthmus, then by ship again to San Francisco. The service was supposed to take between three and four weeks, a goal seldom realized in practice, and the Post Office sought alternative methods for getting the mail across North America in a more expeditious fashion.

In 1858, an overland service was contracted with a stage line, the Overland Mail Company, operating on a 2,800-mile route between Tipton, Missouri, and San Francisco. Semi-weekly stagecoaches began carrying mail in September of that year. The service was prone to problems, however, and the advertised delivery time of 24 days in practice often ran into months. A solution was attempted by the Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company, which, without a contract with the Post Office, in 1860 began operating a mail carrier service between St Joseph, Missouri, and California. It was popularly known as the Pony Express. Changing mounts at established relay stations, riders could cover more than 100 miles per day. In March 1861, the Pony Express carried President Lincoln's inaugural address over the route in less than eight days, encouraging the Post Office to put the service under federal contract. It began operations under that arrangement in July 1861, but with the transcontinental telegraph hookup on October 24, 1861, the celebrated service, rendered instantly obsolete, was halted.

Some important procedural and organizational changes also marked the pre-Civil War development of the Post Office. In 1829, President Andrew Jackson invited Postmaster General William T. Barry to sit as a cabinet member, although Jackson had no formal authority for the move. Although Barry's predecessor, John McLean, had in fact begun calling the service the Post Office Department even earlier, it was not until 1872, after the Civil War, that Congress officially recognized it as such. A year after Barry took his cabinet seat under Jackson, the Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations was created as an investigative arm of the Post Office. It was headed by P.S. Loughborough, generally regarded as the first Chief Postal Inspector. In addition, by 1840 all railroads in the United States had been designated as postal routes, which quickly expanded rail service, the main means of moving large quantities of mail well into the next century.

Initially, mail was not sent in envelopes. Writers would simply fold their letters and address them, then drop them off at post offices where their correspondents would pick them up. In larger cities, there was a local delivery system that charged an extra fee for carrying mail to homes and businesses. An important innovation was the postage stamp, first issued in 1847 and followed by its mandatory prepayment use in 1855. Prepaid postage helped facilitate a new system of free city delivery, which by 1863 was available in 49 cities.

During the Civil War, the Confederacy created its own Post Office Department, with John H. Reagan serving as Postmaster General. Although Reagan was appointed on March 6, 1861, it was a full two months before the Union Postmaster General, Montgomery Blair, stopped the federal mail service to the secessionist states. The war, with Union blockades of Confederate ports and its eventual invasion, seriously impeded postal service in the South. Even at the end of the war, with the restitution of the federal post, mail delivery was irregular. As late as November 1866, less than half of the post offices in the South had been fully restored to service.

After the Civil War, 'post offices on wheels,' or mail cars, came into rapidly expanding use. They had first appeared during the war, in 1862, but it was not until August 1864 that an official Post Office route was put in operation between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. Other routes quickly followed, providing mail sorting and handling services while trains were in transit. At first only letters were handled on the postal cars, but by 1869 all other types except parcels were being processed. The use of 'post offices on wheels' would continue to grow well into the 20th century. In 1930, when trains were still the most viable means of long-distance hauling, more than 10,000 of them were used to carry mail to every city and rural town in the country. They would still be used into the 1970s, after the reorganization of the Post Office Department as the U.S. Postal Service, but very sparingly. The Transportation Act of 1958 had earlier insured their quick decline, so that by 1965 only 190 trains still carried and processed mail. The last to do so, which ran between New York and Washington, made its final run on June 30, 1977.

The invention of the horseless carriage and the airplane had much to do with declining use of mail cars and railroading in general. Both were extremely important in the changing face of the Post Office as it sought to provide service to the most isolated communities. Near the end of the 19th century, it inaugurated a system of rural free delivery (RFD) in a nation still in the process of shifting from an agrarian to an industrial society. Experiments with RFD were begun in West Virginia in 1896, despite vituperative complaints about its exorbitant cost and general impracticality. It was, however, a great boon to farm residents throughout the United States. It also stimulated the building and improvement of roads and highways, because service was provided only in places that had acceptable roads. So that local residents could qualify for RFD, town and county governments undertook these changes at public cost.

Improved roads were, of course, inevitable, thanks to the automobile. In the same year that it inaugurated RFD, the Post Office began experimenting with the 'horseless wagon' and in 1901 awarded its first contract for a horseless carrier covering a short route in Buffalo. For the next decade the Post Office contracted such services through private companies, but in 1914, fed up with excessive charges and fraudulent practices, it requested and obtained the authority to establish its own motorized fleet of carriers. Two years before that, the Post Office had won another fight with private companies when it obtained permission to put in place its parcel post service, a move that stimulated the rapid growth of mail-order merchandising.

After World War I, which provided a proving ground for the flying machine, the Post Office undertook a serious expansion into airmail service. As early as 1911 it had experimented with the airplane, sponsoring several flights at fairs and meets in more than two dozen states. In 1916, during the war, Congress even authorized a transfer of funds for the purpose, but it was not until 1918 that airmail service was begun in earnest. Using planes and pilots on loan from the Army Signal Corps, the Post Office began the first regular airmail service, between New York and Washington, D.C., on May 15 of that year. The date marked an important moment both in the history of the Post Office and commercial aviation.

The Post Office soon took complete control of the service, using its own planes and pilots, and despite reliance on primitive equipment and a lack of all navigational aids and weather data, compiled a remarkable safety record. The public was at first reluctant to pay the 24 cents charged for airmail letters, but interest picked up by 1920, when, on September 8, the last links were made to connect New York and San Francisco. By 1926, when the Post Office began contracting service with commercial airlines, it had won several awards for its pioneer work in night flying, the development of navigational aids, and the general advance of aviation in the United States. The transfer of equipment and stations to the Department of Commerce and municipalities was completed by 1927, when the Post Office put all airmail service under contract to independent carriers.

The Post Office's methods of sorting and distributing of mail were, unfortunately, considerably less innovative. Despite some earlier experimentation with canceling and sorting machines, the old 'pigeonhole' method of sorting and distributing mail remained in practice until the mid-1950s, when the Post Office began a serious effort to automate mail handling. It started issuing contracts for the development of a number of mechanical devices--from letter and parcel sorters to facer-cancelers and address readers.

Leading the way toward automation was a parcel sorting machine first used in Baltimore in 1956, but it was quickly followed by the importation and use of the Transmora, a foreign-manufactured, multi-position letter sorter. This was in turn superseded by an American machine, first tested in 1959, which remained in wide use into the 1970s. Other devices placed in service in the 1960s, when the mechanization program greatly accelerated, included Mark II facer-cancelers and a high-speed optical character reader (OCR) capable of sorting mail by the new ZIP (Zoning Improvement Plan) Codes.

The ever-increasing volume and change in the principal type of mail had made the changes mandatory. Most mail sent before World War II had been private correspondence, but by 1963, 80 percent had become business mail. The computer, an indispensable business tool, already had begun to play an important part in the rapid growth of business mail.

On August 12, 1970, President Richard M. Nixon signed Public Law 91-375, which reorganized the federal Post Office Department as the United States Postal Service. Under the new law, which went into effect on July 1, 1971, the Service emerged as an independent agency of the executive branch, no longer under the control of Congress. Operational authority passed to a President-appointed and Senate-approved Board of Governors and a managerial infrastructure, headed by the Postmaster General named by the Governors. No longer a cabinet member, the Postmaster General became the Service CEO. The law gave the new agency the authority to issue public bonds to finance operations and to engage in collective bargaining between management and union representatives. It also established a postal rate-setting policy and procedure regulated by the independent Postal Rate Commission.

The reorganization and partial privatization of the Post Office Department was undertaken to solve difficulties that by the 1960s had made its traditional operation an ineffective and financially disastrous albatross for the American taxpayer. Because the rates charged for services no longer bore any relationship to their actual cost, the Post Office had come to depend heavily on federal subsidies, rendering it increasingly susceptible to the vicissitudes of partisan politics. Furthermore, the managerial organization had turned into a bureaucratic maze, with a blurring of the lines of authority and fragmented control. Underfunding also had meant a continued reliance on antiquated facilities and equipment and mail-handling methods that, except for the introduction of the ZIP Code in 1963, had not changed since the turn of the century, despite a vastly expanded volume of mail. The resulting inefficiency led to long delays in service, with jams that from time to time brought it to a virtual standstill, like that at the Chicago Post Office in 1966.

Along with the need to update both equipment and procedures, there was a clear need to reorganize management. In particular, labor-management relations had badly deteriorated in the 1960s. In March 1970, during Congressional deliberations on postal reforms, poor relations led to a six-day work stoppage involving about 152,000 employees at 671 locations. For many postal workers, the proposed changes, including a salary increase, were simply not substantial enough. The workers returned to their jobs, however, when the Postmaster General agreed to give the postal workers' unions a major part in planning reforms.

The most important problem faced by the newly created USPS was the upward spiraling volume of mail and the lack of adequate physical resources and equipment for handling it. Between 1970 and 1980, the volume of mail grew from just less than 85 billion to 106.3 billion pieces, an increase of almost 20 percent. Alarmingly, it grew to 166.3 billion by 1990, and although the rate of growth abated thereafter, the problem of handling that quantity of mail remained formidable.

To deal with the increasing volumes of mail, the U.S. Postal Service updated equipment and sought new methods of improving its mail-handling efficiency. In 1978, it developed an expanded ZIP Code, which helped reduce the number of times mail had to be handled. In 1982, to exploit fully the revised ZIP Codes, the Postal Service installed its first computer-operated OCRs and barcode sorters (BCSs) and the next year introduced the ZIP+4 code to further define address sectors in any geographical area. By 1985, the new equipment and ZIP Code refinements had made it possible for each key postal center to process 24,000 pieces of mail per hour, making it approximately four times as efficient as it had been using older sorting machines. By 1992, the Service also began replacing older facer-cancelers, the Mark II and M-36 models, with a more advanced facer-canceler system (AFCS), which, processing 30,000 pieces of mail per hour, proved twice as fast as the older models. Put in use, too, were multi-line optical character readers (MLOCRs), which, in conjunction with remote bar coding systems (RBCSs), were capable of sorting even hand-addressed envelopes after they had been sprayed with an identifying barcode. These automated mail-handling machines and procedures vastly improved the ability of the Service to handle the growing volume of mail efficiently.

Increased cost was the downside of improved efficiency, however. Between 1975 and 1985, the first-class letter rate rose from ten to 22 cents, and by 1995 it had increased to 32 cents, with proportional increases in other classes and types of mail. The greater expense to customers joined with a general slowdown in the economy quickly led to a slower rate of growth in the volume of mail in the early 1990s. In fact, in 1991, it declined for the first time in 15 years.

The drop was also the result of growing competition, made possible, ironically enough, by the computer, the device that had played such an important role in the growth in the mail volume during the 1970s and 1980s. Fax machines, e-mail on the Internet, electronic money transfers, and increasingly competitive telecommunication rates offered viable and often preferred alternatives to the 'snail' mail handled by the Postal Service. Many businesses that traditionally circulated advertisements via third-class mail, unhappy with the increasing rates, sought relief in telemarketing alternatives. Many mail order shippers also turned to USPS competitors including United Parcel Service (UPS), which offered a quicker and more convenient package delivery service.

That competition caused the USPS, led by Postmaster General Marvin Runyon, who began his tenure in 1992, to undertake some restructuring. Of focal concern were customer needs and how these might best be met. In response, the Service instituted Customer Advisory Councils, made up of groups of interested citizens who worked closely with local postal managers to identify public concerns. There were 500 such councils in place by the summer of 1993. The USPS also issued contracts with private firms to measure customer satisfaction with the mail service. Efforts to reduce bureaucracy and costs, improve customer relations, and stabilize postal rates followed. A downsizing program reduced the upper echelon personnel by one half, and, without layoffs or furloughs, cut other overhead positions by 30,000 through a policy of early retirements and other incentives. At the same time, it made strides toward its automation goals, which by 1994 were less than half realized. Estimates in that year were that 12,000 automation units would be in place and operating by 1997, a considerable increase over the 4,000 put in place between 1991 and 1994.

Downsizing and restructuring helped the Postal Service considerably, but in the mid-1990s it still faced recurring problems that related to its massive size. For example, it was straddled with retirement benefit costs that totaled more than ten percent of its sales, one of many reasons why it operated with an annual deficit. Its size, however, simply reflected the daunting nature of its task. The Postal Service handled 40 percent of the world's mail, processing about 580 million items per day. It employed the largest civilian workforce in the nation, operated a transportation network using more than 200,000 vehicles, and utilized more than 250 million square feet of owned or leased office and storage space. Moreover, despite its ungainly size, it remained doggedly efficient in its primary mission: to get mail where it was supposed to go and, usually, on time.

As the USPS headed toward the 21st century, it continued to focus on implementing its restructuring strategy and to keep pace with its competitors, which included the ever-threatening Internet. By 1998, the Postal Service acknowledged, operations were being affected by the growing popularity of computerized banking and online bill-paying services. Bills, payments, and statements accounted for 25 percent of the USPS's business, and increased usage of online services threatened to significantly hurt the Service's revenues. As the Postal Service strove to function effectively in the competitive atmosphere, it faced criticism from various business groups, particularly UPS, which contended that the USPS was a monopoly that used its revenues to finance products and projects that unfairly competed against private business.

The Postal Service also faced some internal challenges during the mid-1990s when Loren Smith, the senior vice-president of marketing for the USPS from 1994 to 1996, confirmed that he exceeded his 1995 advertising budget of $140 million by 62 percent, or $87 million. Smith was also responsible for launching a variety of new marketing programs, including offering postal paraphernalia, such as T-shirts and mugs, at post offices, redesigning post offices, and selling prepaid phone cards. Although the sale of USPS logo-emblazoned products did well, the Service chose to discontinue the business in 1998 as it strayed a bit too far from the core mission of the USPS. The USPS also faced criticism from the General Accounting Office, which reported in late 1998 that the Postal Service had spent about $234 million since 1995 to develop new business but had only recovered $149 million in new revenues.

Despite these challenges, the USPS enjoyed strong revenues and growth in operations in the late 1990s. A five-year investment program of $17 billion was implemented in 1995, and the USPS committed to investing in modernizing and automating numerous operations and acquiring new vehicles and facilities. In 1998 alone, the Service spent more than $3 billion to improve facilities, purchase vehicles, and acquire mail processing equipment. Also in 1998, the USPS reported positive net income for the fourth consecutive year, lowered debt from $9.9 billion in 1992 to $6.4 billion, and maintained steady postal rates for the fourth straight year. William J. Henderson was named Postmaster General in May when Marvin Runyon returned to the private sector. The Service attempted to update its stodgy image in 1998 as well with a $15 million advertising campaign. The campaign, which included television, print, and radio ads, used the theme, 'Fly Like an Eagle,' and television commercials employed the Steve Miller Band song of the same name. The ads were designed to position the USPS as a progressive and modern organization.

The U.S. Postal Service continued to improve operations and prepare for the future in 1999. At the beginning of the year postal rates increased by 2.9 percent, or one cent for standard letters. The rate hike was the first in four years and was also the lowest increase to date. In March the Service launched its Delivery Confirmation service, enabling customers to track packages sent via Priority Mail and Parcel Post. The new service made the USPS more competitive with companies such as UPS and FedEx, which had long offered tracking services. A month later, the USPS introduced Priority Mail Global Guaranteed, which provided two-day guaranteed service to a number of countries in western Europe. The service was available in major metropolitan markets and expansion to additional countries was planned.

Foreseeing the impact of the Internet on its business, the Postal Service explored various Internet opportunities and offered a number of services on its web site, including information about the USPS and the ability to order supplies, calculate rates, and track the location of packages. In August 1999 the USPS introduced online postage services, known as PC Postage. The Service had worked for more than three years with private businesses to develop a standard for digital postage. Companies independently developed PC Postage products, which allowed customers to buy and print postage on their computers, and sought approval by the Postal Service. Two companies, E-Stamp Corporation and Stamps.com Inc., gained approval for commercial distribution in 1999. The USPS also launched a web site--www.usprioritymail.com--designed to generate Priority Mail sales to online retailers. Generally, the majority of e-commerce companies used one delivery company, and the Postal Service hoped to increase its share. The site offered free software for online retailers to download and incorporate into their own web sites. The USPS also worked on developing PostalOne!, an information system geared toward large customers that would support the acceptance of bulk mail, postage payment, transportation, and data exchange.

The USPS enjoyed a fifth consecutive year of positive net income in 1999, reporting net income of $363 million on revenues of $62.7 billion. The Service handled a record 200 billion pieces of mail and achieved increased productivity as well. Despite the positive figures, the USPS noted that unexpected expenses arose, including an additional $100 million for health benefits and an outlay of $300 million for Y2K issues. The postponement of a postal rate increase until January 1999 reduced the Service's projected income by $800 million. The cutting of expenditures by $1 billion, however, helped offset the declines.

Although the USPS was forced to shift gears to remain viable in a rapidly changing environment, its fundamental purpose remained the same--to deliver mail. Postal Service spokesperson Judy de Torok commented on the changing climate in the Boston Globe: 'Our goal is to have mail remain relevant to the American public. ... For us the challenge is, how do we continue to reach customers in the electronic world?' As the USPS entered the new millennium, the question remained unanswered, but the Service was committed to the ongoing search for solutions.

Principal Competitors

United Parcel Service, Inc.; FedEx Corporation; DHL Worldwide Express.

Further Reading

Atkinson, Helen, 'Postal Service to Compete for Delivery of Goods Bought Online,' Journal of Commerce, August 30, 1999, p. 5.

Bruns, James H., Mail on the Move, Polo, Ill.: Transportation Trails, 1992.

Cullinan, Gerald, The Office Department, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1968.

------, The United States Postal Service, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1973.

Ferrara, Peter J, ed., Free the Mail: Ending the Postal Monopoly, Washington, D.C.: Cato Institute, 1990.

Fleishman, Joel L., ed., The Future of the Postal Service, New York: Frederick A. Praeger, 1983.

Gay, Lance, 'Postal Service Losing Money in Its New Lines,' Houston Chronicle, November 28, 1998, p. 19.

Jackson, Donald Dale, Flying the Mail, Alexandria, Va.: Time-Life Books, 1982.

Lewis, Diane E., 'Postal Service Leans Toward Overhaul in E-Mail Era,' Boston Globe, December 5, 1999, p. E1.

Krause, Kristin S., 'USPS Stirs the Pot,' Traffic World, May 4, 1998, p. 42.

Long, Bryant A., and William J. Dennis, Mail by Rail: The Story of the Postal Transportation Service, New York: Simmons-Boardman Publishing Corp., 1951.

Scheele, Carl H., A Short History of the Mail Service, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institute Press, 1970.

Sorkin, Alan L., The Economics of the Postal System: Alternatives and Reform, Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1980.

Summerfield, Arthur E., U.S. Mail: The Story of the United States Postal Service, New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960.

Teinowitz, Ira, 'Postal `Idea Man' Goes $87 Mil Overboard on Ad Plans,' Advertising Age, October 21, 1996.

The U.S. Postal Service: Status and Prospects of a Public Enterprise, Dover, Mass.: Auburn House Publishing Co., 1992.

U.S. Post Office Department, A Brief History of the United States Postal Service, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1933.

— John W. Fiero; Updated by Mariko Fujinaka

Semi-autonomous organization established by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which created it from a federal government department. The USPS is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and is responsible for the collection, distribution, and delivery of mail. The regulations, procedures, and policies of the USPS are detailed in the functional manuals, including the domestic mail manual and the international mail manual. The USPS provides several levels of service, known as classes, primarily including first class (letter mail), periodicals (magazines and newspapers), standard mail (a) (catalogs and direct-mail packages), and standard mail (b) (books and parcels). Other services provided include express mail and mailgrams. The Postal Service provides mailers with a customer service representative who assists them in utilizing the services of the USPS to best advantage. The USPS is managed by the u.s. postal board of governors, headed by the Postmaster General. See also alternate delivery; mailer's technical advisory committee; postal inspection service; postal rate commission; private express statutes.

In many ways the U.S. Postal Service is the federal government agency most intimately involved on a daily basis with its citizens. It was and is a truly nationalizing service, connecting Americans to one another irrespective of state lines and geographic distance. However, in its earliest years its ineffectuality undermined the new nation's ability to fight the American Revolution and hampered efforts at creating a national polity in the years immediately following independence.

Benjamin Franklin was deputy postmaster of Philadelphia from 1737 until 1753, when he was appointed deputy postmaster of the colonies. At the Second Continental Congress, Franklin headed the committee that established an American national postal service and in 1775 became the first postmaster general.

The postal service languished during the Revolution. Afterward, as delegate to the Confederation Congress in the 1780s, Franklin continued to press the weak federal government to pay more attention to developing a postal service worthy of the name. He died in 1790, living just long enough to see his pleas and early efforts attended to by the strong federal government created under the Constitution of 1783. Under President George Washington, a strong Post Office department became a national priority in 1789. In September of that year Samuel Osgood was named postmaster-general; at the time there were fewer than eighty post offices in the United States. The Post Office was initially placed in the department of the Treasury. Under the nationalizing influence of the new Constitution, the number of local post offices with full-time or part-time postmasters increased dramatically. By 1800 there were well over eight hundred post offices in the United States.

As was true of so much of the federal government's operations in the Federalist decade, the Post Office department was quickly politicized, and remained so through the Age of Jackson. The Federalist Party built its organization in the 1790s around federal government employees in the states. The party also introduced politically oriented partisan newspapers everywhere in America, as did the opposition, the Jeffersonian Republicans. But the Federalists were in control, and they conjoined both sources of party support by naming many among its host of new printer-publishers as local postmasters. It was a natural marriage: Postmasters in villages, towns, and cities across America were the earliest recipients of national and international news; they not only were able to use the new postal routes being established to expedite delivery of their own newspapers, they could impede the opposition as well. They were able to frank (send without postal fee) their weekly papers to subscribers in many instances. At the same time it was very much in the political interests of the national government to designate local roads as post roads, thus providing subsidies for the building, extension, or improvement of key routes connecting the nations' states and localities. It was under these conditions that the more-than-eightfold growth in the size of the U.S. postal service took place.

Isaiah Thomas is a prime example of a printer-postmaster. After Benjamin Franklin, he was the most eminent representative of this eighteenth-century type. Appointed postmaster of Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1775, Thomas was the publisher and editor of The Massachusetts Spy. The Spy was a staunchly Federalist weekly sheet reaching readers throughout the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. The printer combined his operation with running the local post office, his stationer's shop, and his book publishing business. The Berkshires was an area crucial to the Federalist Party interests, for it was the locale of Shays's Rebellion, an uprising against national economic policies perceived to be unfair to farmers that roiled American society to its core from 1786 through 1787.

As postmaster, Thomas's value to the Federalist Party increased immeasurably. Not only was the printer assured of early receipt of foreign and domestic news via incoming exchanged newspapers, he knew that as postmaster he could frank at least part of the heavy mail generated by his newspaper as well as the paper's delivery through the Berkshires along newly upgraded post roads that he had designated. For Thomas and the Spy it was a marriage of business, politics, and government made in heaven and writ large, a grass roots part of national postal operations that extended through the Age of Jackson and beyond.

The Jeffersonian Republicans who took power in 1801 continued this path of postal politicization; as the nation grew in the early nineteenth century, so did the number of postal routes and postmasters who counted themselves partisan printers of newspapers. Among the earliest postmasters-general were prominent national political figures like Timothy Pickering (served 1791–1795), a Federalist, and Gideon Granger (1801–1814), a Jeffersonian Republican.

In the Age of Jackson (1824–1850), the U.S. population greatly increased along the eastern seaboard with the arrival of vast numbers of immigrants from Europe, and in the West as Americans moved into the Ohio Valley and beyond and into the Southwest as far as Texas. The Post Office kept pace. John McLean served as the postmaster general from 1823 to 1829, and he maintained the department's partisan character even as he effectively presided over its rapid expansion. Beginning in 1829 with William T. Barry, the postmaster-general was added to the president's cabinet, although the Post Office did not become officially established as an executive department until 1872 (it was removed from the cabinet in 1971 and renamed the U.S. Postal Service). By the time Andrew Jackson was elected president (with McLean's support) in 1828, there were more than three thousand post offices across America. McLean was rewarded with an appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court, a position he held until the Civil War. Jackson's "spoils system" of course included the Post Office department. One of Jackson's closest advisors, Amos Kendall, served as postmaster general from 1835 to 1840. A former newspaper printer and local postmaster, Kendall was not only a member of Jackson's cabinet, he also ranked high among the handful of political advisor's that made up Old Hickory's "kitchen cabinet." The political eminence of the postmaster-general reflected the importance of the U.S. Post Office department to the administration's political operations.

Among other political meddling, Kendall introduced a dangerous precedent when he banned Abolitionist tracts from the mail. It was the first of many instances when the U.S. Post Office involved itself in efforts to draw its own line in the sand between the national interest as the postmaster-general saw it and Constitutional protections of freedom of speech and the press. Other instances followed: supposedly "obscene" literature was banned periodically between 1868 and 1959, subject to postal enforcement. It included material that was generally agreed to be obscenity as well as material that was or came to be acknowledged as significant literature, such as works by Henry Miller, Leo Tolstoy, and many others. In 1918 the Post Office seized and burned issues of the Little Review containing chapters of James Joyce's Ulysses. During World War I several newspapers and magazines were banned from the mail under the terms of the Espionage Act of 1917. Birth control information also fell victim to Post Office censorship.

By the middle of the nineteenth century the U.S. Post Office had become a great unifier for the nation, maybe its most important in a rapidly expanding and diversifying republic. The mail got through efficiently and cheaply, helped by large infusions of federal money. In an age of slow travel, the Post Office linked most Americans to each other across the spreading population. Technology mingled with age-old means of transportation to get the mail through. By 1845, for example, the newly developed steamship was employed to deliver the mails both along the American coast and on inland rivers that could accommodate deep-draft vessels. In 1845 the Postal Act provided subsidies to American steamship companies that carried the mail to Europe, and lowered postage rates domestically to five cents for distances up to three hundred miles. In a nation rapidly expanding westward, the stimulus to commerce was incalculable, and connections were made possible among increasingly separated families as young sons and daughters and arriving immigrants alike moved west.

When even the new technology would not suffice, the Post Office turned to the saddle horse, the simplest and oldest means of rapid transit. Scheduled overland service was introduced in 1858 to carry the mail west. In April 1860 the Pony Express was introduced as a private enterprise, opening a route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, more than 1900 miles. The trip was made in just over ten days, with horses being changed at 157 stations along the way, every seven to twenty miles, depending on the terrain. One of Buffalo Bill Cody's first jobs was as a Pony Express rider on the Mormon Trail route in the early 1860s. He rode from his native Iowa on a route that ended in Salt Lake City, Utah. In July 1861 the Pony Express was contracted by the Post Office to deliver the mail, but it soon passed into history with the introduction of the transcontinental telegraph in October 1861.

Following the Civil War, the transcontinental railroads did a better, cheaper, and faster job of delivering the mail. Postal cars were a fixture on the cross-country railways from the late nineteenth century on. The service expanded, and the cars came to carry all sorts of insured or bonded valuables as well as stamped mail. Like the Pony Express, the rolling post offices of the railway systems made their way into mainstream American culture, usually as the targets of daring train robbers.

The Post Office adopted the use of stamps in 1847 and made prepayment of mail via stamps mandatory in 1855. Money orders were added as a service in 1864 and free daily urban delivery to the home was introduced at the same time. Rural free delivery was added on an experimental basis in 1896 and became permanent in 1902. Postal savings banks were introduced in 1911. The Post Office played an increasing part in American daily life as the twentieth century opened. Technology made this expansion possible. Railway post offices made the sorting of mail in transit an art form; machines to post mark and cancel stamps were in every post office, no matter how small; and conveyor belts and pneumatic tubes moved the mails in all of the large cities of America by World War I. Registered letters and parcel post deliveries were in place by the same time, no matter how rural the locale.

Another aspect of postal operations had some interesting by-products. A few people became rich off of U.S. Post Office errors. A handful of upside-down airmail stamps of the 1920s became collector's items. Stamp collectors swamped post offices in 1962 to buy the commemorative stamp issued to honor Dag Hammarskjöld, late secretary-general of the United Nations, when it was found to have been printed with its yellow background inverted; however, the postmaster-general ordered a new printing of the stamp with the "error" intentionally repeated, destroying the collector value of the original misprinting. Dozens of other stamp-plating errors, large and small, drew would-be collectors. Tens of thousands of children were encouraged to pore over stamp albums looking for gold.

The introduction of airmail was part of Post Office lore. Even before Charles A. Lindbergh popularized single-engine long-distance travel in 1927, the U.S. Post Office had introduced airmail. As a direct outgrowth of the mystique of the single-engine fighter planes of World War I, the postal service began delivering small amounts of mail by air in 1918. The first airmail service carried letters costing six cents between New York City and Washington, D.C. By 1920, again with New York as the hub, airmail service to San Francisco got underway, almost Pony Express-like in its relay system. Technology played its part, as airplanes improved dramatically and radio guidance beacons aided navigation. Government largesse also had a role, as it had with the post roads, the Pony Express, and railroad subventions. The Air Commerce Act of 1926 introduced government support of private airlines with contracts for carrying the mail and subsidies for building new airports. The Post Office was in the air all over the map before Lindbergh made his landing outside Paris.

James A. Farley, a long-time associate of Franklin Roosevelt, and the chief architect of Roosevelt's victory in the 1932 presidential election, was rewarded with the office of postmaster-general in the New Deal administration. He gave new visibility to the department and renewed its association with American politics, an association that had weakened in the wake of two generations of civil service reform beginning in the late nineteenth century.

Farley's political clout was in evidence in another crucial way. A long-time proponent of putting people back to work in the wake of the Great Depression, as postmaster-general with access to the president he was able to tap into the deep funding available for the Public Works Administration. Under Farley's aegis, hundreds of new post offices were built in villages, towns, and cities across America. Many of these are architectural gems. They grace the town squares of towns and the civic centers of large cities alike. Many are Art Deco in design, others are Greek Revival. Designed by otherwise unemployed architects and built by dedicated craftsmen, stonemasons, masons, and plumbers as well as tens of thousands of unskilled laborers, these buildings stand as prized examples of what public funding can do when both the will and the need are present.

Many of these local post offices were built with disproportionately large rotundas. These were meant to symbolize Post Office service, but they were also backdrops for life-size murals painted by out-of-work artists. Here Farley utilized his authority to tap into the funding of the Works Projects Administration (WPA). Many of the frescoes that were painted in the 1930s and 1940s are now considered significant works of art. Ben Shahn, for example, worked for the WPA from 1933 to 1943. Perhaps his best Post Office mural is the thirteen-panel one in the central post office in the Bronx, New York, depicting urban and rural working class life in America.

By the end of the twentieth century the ritual of the familiar daily mail delivery had deepened America's attachment to its Post Office. It was a daily connection of virtually all Americans to their federal government. Many aspects of American culture symbolized that attachment. In the "Blondie" comic strip, Blondie and Dagwood's postman, usually arriving a couple of times a week followed by a neighborhood dog, was introduced to Chic Young's seven-day-a-week comic strip in 1932. Similarly, Norman Rockwell's Saturday Evening Post covers featured more than one kindly postman (or a small post office) from the 1930s through the 1950s. A late-eighteenth-century printer's post office and a nineteenth-century country post office in a West Virginia country store were fully restored as part of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. The rural mail carrier in a red-white-and-blue jeep and the bagtoting urban postal worker both became welcome sights across the American landscape.

High-technology postal sorting systems in cavernous regional postal centers, with the alienating effects of sophisticated equipment and attendant depersonalization, have taken their toll on the mail delivery system. Competing with the homey images from the past are those beginning in the 1980s of mail workers "going postal," a synonym for violence in the workplace. Although challenged by competition from private delivery companies as well as the advent of instant electronic means of communication, the Post Office remains the most ubiquitous of federal agencies in a federal establishment that often seems very distant from the day-to-day concerns of Americans.

Bibliography

Israel, Fred L., ed. U.S. Postal Service. New York: Chelsea House, 1986.

Marling, Karal Ann. Wall-to-Wall America. A Cultural History of Post Office Murals in the Great Depression. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1982.

Prince, Carl E. The Federalists and the Origins of the U.S. Civil Service. New York: New York University Press, 1978.

U.S. Postal Service. History of the United States Postal Service, 1775–1993. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993.

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent government agency that collects and disseminates the mail to millions of homes and businesses across the country.

In the early days of America, colonists had to either ferry their own mail or rely on messengers and merchants to carry their letters and packages. The first official postal service emerged in 1639, when Richard Fairbanks' Boston tavern became the repository of all mail sent from abroad. The postal service was initially run by the British, but in 1775, America's Continental Congress voted to establish its own postal system, with Benjamin Franklin as its first postmaster general. By the 1780s, the postal system consisted of seventy-five post offices and about twenty-six post riders. The first postage stamps were introduced in 1847.

Over the next two centuries, the postal service expanded and evolved. Americans' westward expansion gave rise to the Pony Express in the 1860s, a team of horse-riding letter carriers who distributed the mail between Missouri and California. Over the years, letter carriers traded in their horses for faster means of transportation: trains, steamboats, and trucks. With the introduction of the airplane in the early 1900s, the Postal Service could for the first time deliver mail quickly and affordably across the oceans.

The next major overhaul to the postal system occurred on August 12, 1970, when President Richard Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act. The Act replaced the old Post Office Department with the U.S. Postal Service. It was designed to make the service run more like a business and less like a government agency. Today, the USPS is directed by an eleven-member Board of Governors, led by a Postmaster General. Postage rates and service fees are decided upon by an independent Postal Rate Commission.

Every day, the USPS handles more than 680 million pieces of mail. The Postal Service relies on the revenue from these deliveries to survive, because it does not receive funding from taxpayer dollars. To protect its customers from mail theft, mail fraud, and other criminal activities involving the mail, the USPS has its own law enforcement agency, called the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. This agency works closely with federal law enforcement officials to ensure that the mail service is safe.

In October 2001, mail security became a matter of national urgency. Following the discovery of anthraxtainted letters, which ultimately infected twenty-two people and killed five in the northeastern United States, the USPS announced that it was adopting tighter security measures. Many postal facilities were outfitted with state-of-the-art irradiation systems, which sanitize the mail using the same radiation technology that protects the food supply from bacterial contaminants. Also installed were vacuum/filtration cleaning systems to remove hazardous particles from sorting machines.

Further Reading

Books

Bolick, Nancy O'Keefe. Mail Call!: The History of the U.S. Mail Service. Danbury, CT: Franklin Watts, Incorporated, 1994.

Kule, Elaine A. The U.S. Mail (Transportation and Communication Series). Berkeley Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2002.

Electronic

The United States Postal Service. <http://www.usps.com/> (December 20, 2002).

The U.S. Postal Service processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. The service is also responsible for protecting the mails from loss or theft and apprehending those who violate postal laws.

The postal service was created as an independent establishment of the executive branch by the Postal Reorganization Act (39 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq.), which was approved August 12, 1970. The U.S. Postal Service began operations on July 1, 1971, replacing the Post Office Department, which after years of financial neglect and fragmented control had proved unable to process the mail efficiently. Despite the availability of new technology, as well as skyrocketing mail volume, the department handled mail the same way it did in the 1870s.

The postal service has approximately 753,000 employees and handles about 181 billion pieces of mail annually. The chief executive officer of the postal service, the postmaster general, is appointed by the nine governors of the postal service, who are appointed by the president, with the advice and consent of the Senate, for overlapping nine-year terms. The governors and the postmaster general appoint the deputy postmaster general, and these eleven people constitute the board of governors.

In addition to its national headquarters, the postal service has area and district offices, which supervise approximately 39,000 post offices, branches, stations, and community post offices throughout the United States.

In order to expand and improve service to the public, the postal service is engaged in customer cooperation activities, including the development of programs for both the general public and major customers. The consumer advocate, a postal ombudsman, represents the interests of the individual mail customer in matters involving the postal service by bringing complaints and suggestions to the attention of top postal management and solving the problems of individual customers. To provide postal services that are responsive to public needs, the postal service operates its own planning, research, engineering, real estate, and procurement programs, which are specially adapted to postal requirements. The service also maintains close ties with international postal organizations.

The postal service is the only federal agency whose employment policies are governed by collective bargaining. Labor contract negotiations affecting all bargaining unit personnel are conducted by the Labor Relations or Human Resources divisions. These divisions also handle personnel matters involving employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the federal law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over criminal matters affecting the integrity and security of the mail. It operates as the inspector general for the postal service. Postal inspectors enforce more than one hundred federal statutes involving mail fraud, mail bombs, child pornography, illegal drugs, mail theft, and other postal crimes. The inspectors are also responsible for the protection of all postal employees. In addition, inspectors audit postal contracts and financial accounts.

Most postal regulations are contained in postal service manuals covering domestic mail, international mail, postal operations, administrative support, employee and labor relations, financial management, and procurement.

(SIC 4311)

This industry includes all establishments of the United States Postal Service.

NAICS CODE(S)

491110 (Postal Service)

INDUSTRY SNAPSHOT

The U.S. Postal Service is one of the largest organizations in the world. In fiscal 2002, it had nearly 753,000 employees and handled about 203 billion pieces of mail through an extremely complicated system of carefully coordinated activities. In addition to the national headquarters in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Postal Service consisted of regional and field division offices that together supervised 37,683 post offices, branches, stations, and community post offices throughout the United States. The U.S. Postal Service had a fleet of more than 215,000 vehicles and shipped millions of pounds of mail daily on various airlines, making it the nation's biggest shipper. It was the second-largest civilian employer in the United States during the early 2000s, behind Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The U.S. Postal Service was created as an independent establishment out of the old Post Office Department by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 and commenced operations on July 1, 1971. The industry was highly labor intensive, with employee wages and benefits accounting for 85 percent of the system's total costs. To cope with its soaring costs, the organization increased postal rates consistently, from 6 cents at the onset of the Postal Reorganization Act to 37 cents in 2002 for first-class letters. It also faced increasing competition from private mail and package delivery services, and new technologies such as facsimile services, and electronic mail and bill paying that reduced the need for postal services.

ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The purpose of the U.S. Postal Service was to process and deliver mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. This mission also entailed handling mail efficiently and protecting it from loss or theft. The Postal Service handled about 203 billion pieces of mail in 2002 through its interrelated system of 37,683 post office branches.

Organizational Hierarchy. At the top of the Postal Service's organizational hierarchy is a team of 39 officers. In charge of these officers is the postmaster general (PMG) and the deputy postmaster general, whose authority derived from the Postal Reorganization Act. The PMG is appointed by the nine governors of the Postal Service, who are, in turn, appointed by the president with the advice and permission of the Senate for overlapping nine-year terms. The governors and the PMG together appoint the deputy PMG, and these 11 people together form the board of governors. The remaining officers are appointed by the PMG, and the board of governors determines the nature and scope of activities of these officers. These officers consist of two associate postmasters general, five senior assistant postmasters general, 19 assistant postmasters general, six other headquarters functional heads, and five regional postmasters general. In addition to these officers, there are approximately 800 other persons in senior management positions in the country.

Geographical Distribution. The activities of the Postal Service are divided over five postal regions: central, eastern, northeastern, southern, and western. The reason for such field division is to reduce administrative layers and incorporate operating management expertise as near as possible to the locations where postal services are offered to the public. Each of the five regions has a number of "field divisions" that are regarded as the Postal Service's key organizational units, with all other local offices reporting to a division. Moreover, there are 74 field divisions located in key cities throughout the country, and there is a regional chief inspector at each of the five regions of the Postal Service. Any information or complaint with regard to postal violations is required to be presented to the closest postal inspector in authority. The five regional postmasters general are in charge of all the postal activities in a geographical region.

Economic Structure. The Postal Service is not considered a business, but rather a governmental institution designed to serve the U.S. public. When Congress created the Postal Service as an "independent establishment" of the federal government, however, one of the main objectives was to assure financial stability and self-sufficiency for the organization. In the 1970s this seemed a highly ambitious goal. At that time, not only did the Postal Service suffer from long-standing operating problems and deficit-producing services, but it also faced a high inflation rate and rising cost of fuel. To cover its costs, the Postal Service received operating subsidies from the government, but these were discontinued in 1982, and the Postal Service has been self-supporting since that time.

The Postal Service is not supported by taxes or government appropriations. As a self-supporting organization, it must obtain its funds from its operating activities or through borrowing. Under this policy its debt reached nearly $10 billion. From 1971 to 1994, prior years' losses accumulated to nearly $9 billion. The Postal Service began to achieve positive net income in 1995, then reported four consecutive years of positive net income through 1998, when it had an operating surplus of $550 million. From 1995 through 1998, the Postal Service had cumulative earnings of $5.1 billion. Its debt was reduced from $9.9 billion in 1992 to $6.4 billion in 1998.

By the early 2000s, the Postal Service was losing money again and was saddled with more than $11 billion in debt. In 2001, the organization recorded a net loss of $1.7 billion, followed by a loss of $676 million in 2002. Contributing to these poor financials were weak economic conditions and growing operational costs. The Postal Service also was trying to do more with less, adding some 1.7 million new addresses to its delivery base each year while scaling back its workforce by more than 34,500 career employees from 2000 to 2002.

Although postage rates held steady from 1995 to 1999, increases eventually were necessary to offset rising costs. New postage rates are reviewed and recommended by an independent body, the Postal Rate Commission, and then approved by the board of governors, a process that typically takes a year and a half.

Revenues come from different classes of mail. In 2002, almost 86 percent of all Postal Service revenue came from three classes of mail: first-class mail (54.8 percent), standard mail (23.8 percent), and priority mail (7.1 percent). Standard mail includes advertising mail, formerly known as third class or bulk-rate mail.

BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT

The U.S. Postal Service has a long and rich history that began in the early days of the colonial period. This historical period gave birth to the first American post office. Following repeated failures to develop a postal system in colonial America in the seventeenth century, the British government delegated this critical responsibility to Thomas Neal in 1692. Neal's mail service was a dismal failure, and by 1707 the British government acquired the rights to the mail system. Although this new system was more successful than Neal's and broke even in the 1720s, it did not produce a profit until 1761. This newfound profitability was partly due to the management skills of Benjamin Franklin, who became co-deputy postmaster general in 1753, and partly due to a reciprocal agreement between the colonies and England.

Ironically, the successful postal service improved England's control over the American colonies at a time when the relationship between the two was deteriorating. The high postal rates were considered a prime example of "taxation without representation," and some Americans started to send mail via "alternative" mail distribution sources, such as postmen not associated with the British mail system who delivered mail for far less than what the colonial post office charged.

In 1774 Maryland newspaper publisher William Goddard initiated an independent postal system called the "Constitutional Post," which eliminated the need for alternative postmen. In 1775, the Second Continental Congress acquired the Constitutional Post and successfully ran the system throughout the Revolutionary War. In 1782 the Confederate Congress wrote an innovative, first-ever postal law allowing the Post Office a monopoly in the carrying and delivering of mail, establishing the office of postmaster general, setting postal rates, and carefully detailing the operating regulations of the postal service.

In 1792, the new Constitution gave Congress the right to establish post offices and roads. Therefore, Congress created a new postal law that established a new U.S. Post Office. This new law was more an addendum to the law of 1782 than a radical new legislation. The primary contribution was the establishment of the principles of the nation's postal policy, which stipulated that the Post Office was to be self-supporting (using any profits to expand the postal service), and that Congress (not the PMG) was to approve post offices and post roads. Therefore, Congress would completely control the post office and its growth. Moreover, the PMG was given the responsibility of managing the postal service, which included providing an annual budget to Congress that estimated the needs of the department.

In response to complaints by both rural and urban customers concerning high postal rates in 1851, Congress reduced the rates and stated that this would in no way reduce the postal service, even if postal deficits resulted from this action. Therefore, a customer-service policy, as opposed to a "self-supporting" policy drove the Post Office. This new policy eliminated distance as a factor in determining the price of a letter and led to greater use of the mail service through the modernization of the postal system, although it also produced annual postal deficits.

The next phase of the history of the U.S. Postal Service consisted of a series of significant events, including: initiation of mandatory prepayment of postage and the use of stamps in the 1850s; institution of a registered letter service in 1855 and a city free-delivery system in 1863; development of the first railroad post office in 1864, which revolutionized postal service by allowing employees to sort mail as they traveled on trains; introduction of mail delivery to farm homes in 1896 and parcel service to rural areas in 1913; use of automobiles to deliver the mail, replacing horses, in the early 1900s; and initiation of the first regular airmail service between Washington, D.C., and New York in 1918. In 1964, ZIP codes were introduced to identify each postal delivery area in the United States. "ZIP" is an acronym for "zone improvement plan."

Postal Reorganization Act of 1970. The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, which created the current structure of the U.S. Postal Service, was the most detailed and radical reorganization in two centuries. The postal department was removed from the president's cabinet, and Congress was no longer able to set both postal employee wages and postal rates. The "new" Postal Service was able to run more like a business enterprise—for example, it could hire its own personnel.

Other specific changes resulting from the act included: establishment of the board of governors to oversee operations; creation of the independent Postal Rate Commission to provide advice to the board of governors on postal rates and classifications; establishment of provisions for an independent personnel system and direct collective bargaining between postal management and unions; authorization of a general "public service" subsidy in an amount equal to 10 percent ($920 million) of the fiscal 1971 appropriations to the Post Office Department through the year 1979, and declining by 1 percent per year through 1984—by which time the Postal Service was expected to be self-sufficient; provision of a plan for gradually phasing out the preferential rates for various categories of mail, and assuring that rates covered only those costs directly applicable to the class plus some "reasonably assignable" portion of the system's institutional costs; and authorization to modernize the postal system through borrowing money and issuing public bonds up to $10 billion.

The 1990s, and most notably the years under Postmaster General Marvin Runyon (1992-98), marked a turning point for the Postal Service. From 1995 through 1998 the Postal Service had cumulative earnings of $5.1 billion, compared to cumulative losses from 1971 to 1994 of $9.9 billion. Under Runyon's leadership, the Postal Service successfully set and communicated clear objectives, and improved automation, service, and customer satisfaction. It began using private sector tools, such as accepting credit cards and adopting longer hours, to better meet its customers' needs.

Independent surveys confirmed that the Postal Service was achieving higher customer satisfaction. In 1998 the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press reported that 89 percent of Americans rated the Postal Service the most favorably of any federal agency. According to a 1998 Roper Survey, 78 percent of all Americans had a highly or moderately favorable opinion of the Postal Service, the highest ranking of 15 federal agencies.

At the end of the twentieth century, the U.S. Congress was seeking ways to clarify the Postal Service's role. As Postmaster General William J. Henderson noted in the 1998 Annual Report, "The potential exists for a redefinition or perhaps even a re-regulation of our services."

CURRENT CONDITIONS

The Postal Service played a significant role in the development of the United States. Not only did it foster unity among the diverse individuals scattered over the nation, but it also contributed largely to the development of U.S. business. Over the years the U.S. Postal Service has received criticism about frequent rate increases, slow service, and lost mail. Proponents countered that the U.S. Postal Service actually improved the performance of the U.S. mail system in many dimensions, including finances, productivity, and service delivery. In 2002, President George W. Bush established a commission of nine individuals to evaluate the Postal Service and its future.

During the early 2000s, the Postal Service faced a number of significant challenges. In addition to a net loss of $1.7 billion in 2001 and $676 million in 2002, the organization was forced to operate in an environment of heightened security, characterized by mail-related terrorist acts that increased the cost and difficulty of operations.

In the wake of terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, mail tainted with deadly anthrax bacteria was circulated in the postal system, causing several deaths. The Postal Service responded by implementing a number of security measures, including electron-beam irradiation for sanitizing mail in select locations. The organization also purchased nearly 90 million pairs of rubber gloves, as well as 5 million facemasks to safeguard its employee base. To protect postal customers, some 145 million postcards were sent to U.S. residents that provided explanations about what to do with suspicious items received via U.S. Mail.

Safety concerns did not stop with the anthrax scare, however. In 2002, the Postal Service was forced to contend with Luke Helder, a 21-year-old college student from Wisconsin who planted 18 pipe bombs in rural mailboxes. While no deaths resulted from the pipe bombs, a number of postal workers and residents were injured. During a time span of five days, the organization dedicated some 150 postal inspectors to the case—which covered five states including Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, and Texas—before it was finally resolved.

By the early 2000s, John E. Potter was serving as the Postal Service's postmaster general and CEO. At that time the organization faced stiff competition from competitors—although it had entered into limited partnerships with some of them, including an arrangement with FedEx to move first-class, express, and priority mail via air. Another source of competition came from the increasing use of e-mail. These factors were having an especially severe impact on first-class and standard mail, which dropped more than 4 billion pieces during 2002.

In late 2002, the Postal Service also was in the process of evaluating its arrangements with commercial airlines, which it had long relied upon for the transport of mail. In the wake of September 11, commercial airlines were not able to carry packages weighing more than 16 ounces. According to Traffic World, in order to achieve economies of scale, the Postal Service planned to cut back the number of airlines it used to move mail via commercial airlines. In addition, it was planning to eliminate the use of regional airlines. This led to protest among regional carriers, who appealed to Congress for intervention.

WORKFORCE

Nearly 753,000 people were career employees of the Postal Service in 2002, making it the second-leading civilian employer in the United States behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. These individuals worked in facilities with contingents varying in size from one to more than 40,000 employees. The largest category of postal employees consisted of clerks and city delivery carriers, which constituted some 65 percent of the workforce, or about 490,295 individuals. The next largest categories were full-time rural delivery carriers and mail handlers, constituting 120,076 employees, or almost 16 percent of the total workforce. More than 37,800 people held supervisory and managerial positions, and more than 47,788 attended to building and vehicle maintenance. There were 25,771 postmasters in total, and the rest of the workforce filled a number of specialized jobs that ranged from nurses to the postmaster general.

The postal employees in the United States are unionized. The four major organizations that represent the postal workforce in collective bargaining with management over wages and other terms and conditions of employment are: the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC); the American Postal Workers Union (APWU); the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association; and the National Post Office Mail Handlers, Watchmen, Messengers, and Group Leaders Division of Laborers' International Union of North America. The APWU and the NALC, representing clerks and carriers respectively, were the two largest of these organizations.

During the early 1990s, the U.S. Postal Service suffered a series of highly publicized, unfortunate incidents involving disgruntled or former employees. At post offices in several cities, such an employee brought a gun to work and shot fellow workers and managers. These incidents occurred far more frequently at post offices than in other businesses, raising concerns about the working environment. Some observers attributed the violence to the fact that relations between post office workers and management had grown increasingly tense, and claimed that some disturbed individuals were unable to handle the everyday stress of the job. Others blamed the strong employee unions for making it difficult for managers to discipline or terminate workers with behavioral or emotional problems. The Postal Service tried to address these concerns through reorganizations, offers of counseling, and training programs.

FURTHER READING

Kellner, Mark A. "Printing Postage by Computer." Nation's Business, March 1999.

Krause, Kristin S. "Coulda Been Worse: USPS Celebrating Despite $676 Million Loss as It Refines Role in Competitive Marketplace." Traffic World, 16 December 2002.

——. "More Mail, Fewer Airlines: USPS Plans to Abandon ASYS, ASYS-R Contracts, Move to Competitive Bidding for Commercial Airline Lift." Traffic World, 28 October 2002.

——. "USPS Loses $303 Million in 2Q: Sept. 11 Assaults, Anthrax Attacks Upped Losses $123 Million More Than Expected." Traffic World, 28 October 2002.

U.S. Postal Service. "1998 Annual Report."

——. "Security of the Mail." January 9, 2003.

——. "2001 Postal Facts." October 2002.

——. "2002 Annual Report."

"USPS Begins Direct Marketing Campaign Aimed at Small Businesses." Mail Center Management Report, September 2002.

This article is about the United States Postal Service. For individual post offices in the United States, see U.S. Post Offices.

If you were searching for information on the non-profit boating safety and education organization, see United States Power Squadrons.

For the cycling team, see Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

United States Postal Service

Type	Government agency
Founded	1775 (see History)
Headquarters	475 L'Enfant Plaza SW Washington DC 20260-2202
Key people	John E. Potter, Postmaster General
Industry	Courier
Products	First-class and domestic mail, logistics
Revenue	▼ US$ 68.09 billion (2009) [1]
Operating income	▼ US$ −3.74 billion (2009)
Net income	▼ US$ −3.79 billion (2009)
Employees	656,000 (2009)[2]
Website	USPS.com

Full eagle logo from 1970 to 1994

The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly referred to as the "Post Office", "Postal Service", or "U.S. Mail".

Though postal services have existed on American territory before the United States' establishment, the USPS's first incarnation was established by Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia in 1775 by decree of the Second Continental Congress. The Post Office Department was created from this in 1792 as part of the United States Cabinet, its current form in 1970 under the Postal Reorganization Act.

Since its reorganization into an independent organization, the USPS has become self-sufficient and has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s. The decline of mail volume due to increased usage of e-mail has forced the postal service to look to other sources of revenue while cutting costs to maintain this financial balance. ^[3]

Employing 656,000 workers and 260,000 vehicles, it is the second-largest civilian employer in the United States (after Wal-Mart) and the operator of the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world. The USPS is obligated to serve all Americans, regardless of geography, at uniform price and quality. Conversely, it has exclusive access to U.S. mail boxes and non-urgent letters. It receives competition from email and package delivery services.

Contents 1 History 2 Current operations 3 Governance and organization 4 Universal Service Obligation and monopoly status 4.1 Competitors 4.2 Alternative transmission methods 5 Plans 5.1 2010 census 6 Law enforcement agencies 6.1 U.S. Postal Inspection Service 6.2 USPS Office of Inspector General 7 Addressing envelopes 8 Paying postage 8.1 Postage meters 8.2 PC postage 8.3 Other electronic postage payment methods 8.4 Stamp copyright and reproduction 9 Service level choices 9.1 General domestic services 9.2 Bulk mail 9.3 Add-on services 9.4 Postal money orders 9.5 International services 9.6 Airline and rail division 10 Sorting and delivery process 10.1 Types of postal facilities 10.1.1 Automated Postal Centers 10.2 Evolutionary Network Development (END) program 11 Final delivery 11.1 Delivery days 11.2 Direct delivery vs. customer pickup 11.3 Special Delivery 11.4 Forwarding and holds 12 Employment in the USPS 13 Environmental stewardship 14 Violence as "Going Postal" 15 In fiction 16 See also 17 References 18 External links

History

Main article: Postage stamps and postal history of the United States

Running pony logo used by the U.S. Post Office Department before the creation of the USPS

The first postal service in America arose in February of 1692 when a grant from King William & Queen Mary empowered Thomas Neale "to erect, settle and establish within the chief parts of their majesties' colonies and plantations in America, an office or offices for the receiving and dispatching letters and pacquets, and to receive, send and deliver the same under such rates and sums of money as the planters shall agree to give, and to hold and enjoy the same for the term of twenty-one years."^{[citation needed]}

The United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin on July 26, 1775 by decree of the Second Continental Congress. Based on the Postal Clause in Article One of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads," it became the Post Office Department (U.S.P.O.D.) in 1792. It was part of the Presidential cabinet and the Postmaster General was the last person in the United States presidential line of succession. In 1971, the department was reorganized as a quasi-independent corporation of the federal government and acquired its present name. The Postmaster General is no longer in the presidential line of succession.^[4]

The Post Office Department was enlarged during the tenure of President Andrew Jackson. As the Post Office expanded, difficulties were experienced due to a lack of employees and transportation. The Post Office's employees at that time were still subject to the so-called 'spoils' system, where faithful political supporters of the executive branch were appointed to positions in the post office and other government corporations as a reward for their patronage. These appointees rarely had prior experience in postal service and mail delivery. This system of political patronage was replaced in 1883 after passage of the Pendleton Act (Civil Service Reform Act).^[5]

Ten years before waterways were declared post roads in 1823, the Post Office used steamboats to carry mail between post towns where no roads existed.^[6] Once it became clear that the postal system in the United States needed to expand across the entire country, the use of the railroad to transport the mail was instituted in 1832 on one line in Pennsylvania.^[7] All railroads in the United States were designated as post routes, after passage of the Act of July 7, 1838. Mail service by railroad increased rapidly thereafter.^[8]

In 1847, the U.S. Mail Steamship Company aquired the contract to carry the U. S. mails from New York, with stops in New Orleans and Havana, to the Isthmus of Panama for delivery in California. The same year,Pacific Mail Steamship Company had acquired the right to transport mail under contract from the United States Government from the Isthmus of Panama to California. In 1855, William Henry Aspinwall completed the Panama Railway, the first transcontinental railroad, providing service from the east coast across the Istumus to California in three weeks for the mails, passengers and goods and remained an important route until the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869. Railroad companies greatly expanded mail transport service after 1862, and the Railway Mail Service was inaugurated in 1869.^[7] Rail cars designed from the start to sort and distribute mail while rolling were soon introduced.^[7] RMS employees sorted mail 'on the fly' during the journey, and became some of the most skilled workers in the postal service. An RMS sorter had to be able to separate the mail quickly into compartments based on its final destination, before the first destination arrived, and work at the rate of 600 pieces of mail an hour. They were tested regularly for speed and accuracy.^[9] The advent of rural free delivery in the U.S. in 1896 and the inauguration of parcel post service in 1913 greatly increased the volume of mail shipped nationwide, and motivated the development of more efficient postal transportation systems.^[10]

On August 12, 1918, the Post Office Department took over air mail service from the U.S. Army Air Service (USAAS). Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger appointed Benjamin B. Lipsner to head the civilian-operated Air Mail Service. One of Lipsner's first acts was to hire four pilots, each with at least 1,000 hours flying experience, paying them an average of $4,000 per year. The Post Office Department used mostly World War I military surplus de Havilland DH-4 aircraft. During 1918, the Post Office hired an additional 36 pilots. In its first year of operation, the Post Office completed 1,208 airmail flights with 90 forced landings. Of those, 53 were due to weather and 37 to engine failure. By 1920, the Air Mail service had delivered 49 million letters.^[11] Domestic air mail became obsolete in 1975, and international air mail in 1995, when the USPS began transporting First Class mail by air on a routine basis.

The Post Office was one of the first government departments to regulate obscene materials on a national basis. When the U.S. Congress passed the Comstock laws of 1873, it became illegal to send through the U.S. mail any material considered obscene, indecent or which promoted abortion issues, contraception, or alcohol consumption.^[12]

The Postal Reorganization Act signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970, replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent United States Postal Service. The Act took effect on July 1, 1971.

Current operations

USPS service delivery truck

The United States Postal Service employs some 656,000 workers, making it the second-largest^[2] civilian employer in the United States (excluding the federal government) following only Wal-Mart.^[13] In a 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision, the Court noted: "Each day, according to the Government’s submissions here, the United States Postal Service delivers some 660 million pieces of mail to as many as 142 million delivery points."^[14] The USPS operates 32,741 post offices and locations in the US. In August 2009 the Postal Regulatory Commission put forward a preliminary list of about 1000 it is considering closing to save money.^[15] Its employees deliver mail at an average yearly cost of $235 per residence as of 2009.^[16]

The USPS operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world, with an estimated 260,000 vehicles, the majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (Long-Life Vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), originally also referred to as the "CRV" (Carrier Route Vehicle), as shown in the pictures below. In an interview on NPR, a USPS official stated that for every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra $8 million to fuel its fleet.^[17] This implies that the fleet requires some 800 million gallons (3.03 billion liters) of fuel per year, and consumes an estimated fuel budget of $2.4 billion, were the national gasoline price to average $3.00. Some Rural Letter Carriers use personal vehicles. Standard postal-owned vehicles do not have license plates. These vehicles are identified by a seven digit number displayed on the front and rear.

Competition from e-mail^[18] and private operations such as United Parcel Service and FedEx^{[citation needed]} has forced USPS to adjust its business strategy and to modernize its products and services. First Class mail volume (which is protected by legal monopoly) has declined 22% from 1998 to 2007, due to the increasing use of e-mail and the World Wide Web for correspondence and business transactions.^[19] In 2008, a general economic slowdown also affected mail volumes, especially advertising.^[20] Lower volume means lower revenues to support the fixed commitment to deliver to every address once a day, six days a week. In response, the USPS has increased productivity each year from 2000 to 2007,^[20] through increased automation, route re-optimization, and facility consolidation.^[19]

The domain usps.com attracted at least 159 million visitors annually by 2008 according to a Compete.com survey.

The Department of Defense and the USPS jointly operate a postal system to deliver mail for the military; this is known as the Army Post Office (for Army and Air Force postal facilities) and Fleet Post Office (for Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard postal facilities).

Governance and organization

USPS headquarters at L'Enfant Plaza in Washington, D.C.

The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service sets policy, procedure, and postal rates for services rendered, and has a similar role to a corporate board of directors. Of the eleven members of the Board, nine are appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate (see 39 U.S.C. § 202). The nine appointed members then select the United States Postmaster General, who serves as the board's tenth member, and who oversees the day to day activities of the service as Chief Executive Officer (see 39 U.S.C. § 202–203). The ten-member board then nominates a Deputy Postmaster General, who acts as Chief Operating Officer, to the eleventh and last remaining open seat.

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak), but as noted above is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States," (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is wholly owned by the government and controlled by the Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.^[21] The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the USPS's statutory monopoly on access to letterboxes against a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge; it thus remains illegal in the U.S. for anyone other than the employees and agents of the USPS to deliver mailpieces to letterboxes marked "U.S. Mail."^[22]

The Postal Service also has a Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee and local Postal Customer Councils, which are advisory and primarily involve business customers.^[23]

Universal Service Obligation and monopoly status

Article I, section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution grants U.S. Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads. The Federal Government has interpreted this clause as granting a de facto Congressional monopoly over the delivery of mail. According to the government, no other system for delivering mail - public or private - can be established absent Congress's consent. Congress has delegated to the Postal Service the power to decide whether others may compete with it, and the Postal Service has carved out an exception to its monopoly for extremely urgent letters.

The mission of the Postal Service is to provide the American public with trusted universal postal service at affordable prices. While not explicitly defined, the Postal Service’s universal service obligation (USO) is broadly outlined in statute and includes multiple dimensions: geographic scope, range of products, access to services and facilities, delivery frequency, affordable and uniform pricing, service quality, and security of the mail. While other carriers claim to voluntarily provide delivery on a universal basis, the Postal Service is the only carrier with the obligation to provide all the various aspects of universal service at affordable rates.

Proponents of postal service monopoly claim that since any obligation must be matched by the financial capability to meet that obligation, the postal monopoly was put in place as a funding mechanism for the USO, and it has been in place for over a hundred years. It consists of two parts: the Private Express Statutes (PES) and the mailbox access rule. The PES refers to the Postal Service’s monopoly on the delivery of letters, and the mailbox rule refers to the Postal Service’s exclusive access to customer mailboxes.

Proponents of postal service monopoly further claim that eliminating or reducing the PES or mailbox rule would have an impact on the ability of the Postal Service to provide affordable universal service. If, for example, the PES and the mailbox rule were to be eliminated, and the USO maintained, then either billions of dollars in tax revenues or some other source of funding would have to be found. As the operating environment of the Postal Service continues to change, additional flexibilities will likely be necessary to fulfill the USO.

However, several professional economists advocate the privatization of the mail delivery system, or at least a relaxation of the monopoly that currently exists.^[24] Rick Geddes argued in 2000:^[25]

• First, basic economics implies that rural customers are unlikely to be without service under competition; they would simply have to pay the true cost of delivery to them, which may or may not be lower than under monopoly.
• Second, basic notions of fairness imply that the cross-subsidy should be eliminated. To the extent that people make choices about where they live, they should assume the costs of that decision.
• Third, there is no reason why the government monopoly is necessary to ensure service to sparsely populated areas. The government could easily award competitive contracts to private firms for that service.
• Fourth, early concerns that rural residents of the United States would somehow become isolated without federally subsidized mail delivery today are simply unfounded. ... Once both sender and receiver have access to a computer, the marginal cost of sending an electronic message is close to zero.

However, as the recent notice of a termination of mail service to residents of the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness indicates, mail service has been contracted to private firms such as Arnold Aviation for many decades. KTVB-TV reported^[26]:

'"We cannot go out every week and pick up our mail....it's impossible," said Heinz Sippel. "Everyone get their mail. Why can't we?" said Sue Anderson. Getting mail delivered, once a week, by airplane is not a luxury, it's a necessity for those who live in Idaho's vast wilderness -- those along the Salmon and Selway rivers. It's a service that's been provided to them for more than half a century -- mostly by Ray Arnold of Arnold Aviation.

The decision was reversed; U.S. Postmaster General John Potter indicated that acceptable service to backcountry customers could not be achieved in any other fashion than continuing an air mail contract with Arnold Aviation to deliver the mail."^[27]

The Postal Act of 2006 required the PRC to submit a report to the President and Congress on universal postal service and the postal monopoly in December 2008. The report must include any recommended changes. The Postal Service report supports the requirement that the PRC is to consult with and solicit written comments from the Postal Service. In addition, the Government Accountability Office is required to evaluate broader business model issues by 2011.

On October 15, 2008, the Postal Service submitted a report^[28] to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) on its position related to the Universal Service Obligation (USO). It said no changes to the USO and restriction on mailbox access were necessary at this time, but increased regulatory flexibility was required to ensure affordable universal service in the future.

Obligations of the USO include uniform prices, quality of service, access to services, and six-day delivery to every part of the country. To assure financial support for these obligations, the postal monopoly provides the Postal Service the exclusive right to deliver letters and restricts mailbox access solely for mail. The report argued that eliminating or reducing either aspect of the monopoly "would have a devastating impact on the ability...to provide the affordable universal service that the country values so highly." Relaxing access to the mailbox would also pose security concerns, increase delivery costs, and hurt customer service, according to the Post Office. The report notes:

It is somewhat misleading to characterize the mailbox rule as a “monopoly,” because the enforcement of 18 U.S.C. 1725 leaves customers with ample alternative means of delivering their messages. Customers can deliver their messages either by paying postage, by placing messages on or under a door or a doormat, by using newspaper or nonpostal boxes, by telephoning or emailing, by engaging in person-to-person delivery in public areas, by tacking or taping their notices on a door post, or by placing advertisements in local newspapers. These methods are comparable in efficacy to communication via the mailbox.

The Postal Service said that the USO should continue to be broadly defined and there should be no changes to the postal monopoly. Any changes would have far-reaching effects on customers and the trillion dollar mailing industry. “A more rigidly defined USO would … ultimately harm the American public and businesses,” according to the report, which cautions that any potential change must be studied carefully and the effects fully understood.

During hearings held earlier this year, the PRC also heard from mailers, mailing associations, and postal unions and management associations. Comments generally indicated that changes are not currently needed.

Competitors

FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) directly compete with USPS express mail and package delivery services, making nationwide deliveries of urgent letters and packages. Due to the postal monopoly, they are not allowed to deliver non-urgent letters and may not use U.S. Mail boxes at residential and commercial destinations. These services also deliver packages which are larger and heavier than what the USPS will accept. DHL Express was the third major competitor until February 2009, when it ceased domestic delivery operations in the United States.

A variety of other transportation companies in the United States move cargo around the country, but either have limited geographic scope for delivery points, or specialize in items too large to be mailed. Many of the thousands of courier companies focus on same-day delivery, for example by bicycle messenger.

Alternative transmission methods

The Post Office Department owned and operated the first public telegraph lines in the United States, starting in 1844 from Washington to Baltimore, and eventually extending to New York, Boston, Buffalo, and Philadelphia. In 1847, the telegraph system was privatized, except for a period during World War I when it was used to accelerate the delivery of letters arriving at night.^[29]

Between 1942 and 1945, "V-Mail" (for "Victory Mail") service was available for military mail. Letters were converted into microfilm and reprinted near the destination, to save room on transport vehicles for military cargo.^[30]

From 1982 to 1985, Electronic Computer Originated Mail was accepted for bulk mailings. Text was transmitted electronically to one of 25 post offices nationwide. The Postal Service would print the mail, and put it in special envelopes bearing a blue ECOM logo. Delivery was assured within 2 days.^[31]

Plans

In October 2008, the Postal Service released Vision 2013,^[32] a five-year plan required by law starting in 1993.^[33]

One planned improvement is the introduction of the Intelligent Mail Barcode, which will allow pieces of mail to be tracked through the delivery system, as competitors like UPS and FedEx currently do.

On May 11, 2009, the price of a First-Class Mail stamp rose to 44 cents. [3]

2010 census

On July 10, 2009, Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) introduced H.R. 3167^[34] with the direct support of Chairman Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts). H.R. 3167 requires the 2010 United States Census to be conducted in partnership with the United States Postal Service.

After it was estimated that the 2010 Census would require 750,000 temporary employees in order to carry out all associated tasks, the commerce department made the controversial decision to utilize a variety of community organizations, including the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, to gather census data.^{[citation needed]} In committee hearings, Rep. Chaffetz and others expressed serious reservations about the lack of standards offered by the Census to ensure trustworthy and competent partner organizations.

As a potential solution to this issue, it was observed that the United States Postal Service employs a staff of 760,000, just over the estimated labor force requirement. Chaffetz argued that Letter Carriers would be the most qualified individuals to carry out this task and that the plan would provide an additional revenue stream for the USPS during difficult financial times. Chaffetz explained, "It is imperative the American People have the utmost confidence in the collection of Census data. We should not rely upon ACORN to gather Census data. I don’t trust ACORN and neither do the American people. We already have a trusted workforce. This is a common sense business approach. Rather than hire 750,000 new, unknown people, let’s use people and assets already in place. This should save money, help the Post Office in a time of financial need, and give confidence and credibility to the collection of personal information. Postal carriers know the people on their routes, they know how to find them and how to count them. The census is a good example of an inefficient government program with billions of dollars of cost overruns that could immediately become more efficient with this common sense approach using resources already at our disposal."^[35]

Law enforcement agencies

U.S. Postal Inspection Service

Main article: United States Postal Inspection Service

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is one of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the U.S. It was founded by Benjamin Franklin.^[36]

The mission of the USPIS is to protect the U.S. Postal Service, its employees and its customers from criminal attack, and protect the nation's mail system from criminal misuse.

U.S. law provides for the protection of mail. Postal Inspectors enforce over 200 federal laws in investigations of crimes that may adversely affect or fraudulently use the U.S. Mail, the postal system or postal employees. The USPIS is a major federal law enforcement agency.

The USPIS has the power to enforce the USPS monopoly by conducting search and seizure raids on entities they suspect of sending non-urgent mail through overnight delivery competitors. For example: according to the American Enterprise Institute, a private conservative think tank, the USPIS raided Equifax offices in 1993 to ascertain if the mail they were sending through Federal Express was truly "extremely urgent." It was found that the mail was not, and Equifax was fined $30,000.^[37]

USPS Office of Inspector General

The USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the U.S. Postal Service was authorized by law in 1996. Prior to the 1996 legislation, the Postal Inspection Service performed the duties of the OIG. The Inspector General, who is independent of postal management, is appointed by and reports directly to the nine Presidential appointed Governors of the Postal Service.

The primary purpose of the OIG is to prevent, detect and report fraud, waste and program abuse, and promote efficiency in the operations of the Postal Service. The OIG has "oversight" responsibility for all activities of the Postal Inspection Service.

Addressing envelopes

For any letter addressed within the United States, the USPS requires two pieces of information on the envelope.

1. Address of the recipient: Placed on the front (non opening) side of the envelope in the center. Generally, the name of the addressee should be included above the address itself. A ZIP+4 code will facilitate delivery.^[38]
2. Postage indication: All parcels must include an indication that postage has been paid. In most cases, this is a stamp, though metered labels are also common. Members of the U.S. Congress, among others, have franking privileges, which only require a signature.

Domestic first-class mail costs 44¢ for envelopes (28¢ for post cards) and upwards, depending on the weight and dimensions of the letter and the class, and the indicia is supposed to be placed in the upper-right corner.

A third, and optional (but strongly suggested) addition is a return address. This is the address that the recipient may respond to, and, if necessary, the letter can be returned to if delivery fails. It is usually placed in the upper-left corner or occasionally on the back (though the latter is standard in some countries). Undeliverable mails that cannot be readily returned, including those without return addresses, are treated as dead mails at a Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia or Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Sticker promoting ZIP code use.

The formatting of the address is as follows

Line 1: Name of recipient

Line 2: Street address or P.O. Box

Line 3: City State (ISO 3166-2:US code or APO/FPO code) and ZIP+4 code

Example

Mr Clifford C Clavin, Jr

112 1/2 Beacon St

Boston MA 02119-2343

The USPS maintains a list of proper abbreviations.^[39]

The city and state designations are a redundant safety measure used in the case that the printed ZIP code is illegible or ambiguously written. Since the ZIP code system is such that there is only one street of any name for any ZIP code (ex. there is only one Johnson Street in the 10036 ZIP area), it is possible to exclude the city and state from a mailing label and still have the package delivered, assuming the label is legible.

The formatting of a return address is identical. Though some style manuals do recommend using a comma between the city and state name when typesetting addresses in other contexts, for optimal automatic character recognition, the Post Office does not recommend this when addressing mail. The official recommendation is to use all upper case block letters with appropriate formats and abbreviations, and leave out all punctuation except for the hyphen in the ZIP+4 code. If the address is unusually formatted or illegible enough, it will require hand-processing, delaying that particular item. The USPS publishes the entirety of their postal addressing standards.^[40]

Customers can look up ZIP codes on usps.com, and purchase postage if they have an account.

Paying postage

The actual postage can be paid via:^[41]

• Stamps purchased online, at a Post Office, from a stamp vending machine or "Automated Postal Center" which can also handle packages, or from a third party (such as a grocery store)
• Pre-cancelled stamps for bulk mailings ^[42]
• Postal meter
• Prepaid envelope
• Shipping label purchased online and printed by the customer on standard paper (e.g. with Click-n-Ship)

All unused U.S. postage stamps issued since 1861 are still valid as postage at their indicated value. Stamps with no value shown or denominated by a letter are also still valid at their purchase price.

The cost of mailing a 1 oz. First Class letter increased to 44 cents on May 11, 2009, but since April 2007, the Post Office has offered a "forever" stamp. This stamp is sold at the first class mail postage rate at the time of purchase, but will always be valid for 1st class mail (1 oz and under), no matter how rates rise in the future.^[43][44] Britain has had a similar stamp since 1989. However, one of the tenets of the Universal Postal Union is having a single flat rate to mail a letter anywhere in the world, which is true for Britain (since 1995), but not the U.S.

Postage meters

Main article: Postage meter

PC postage

In addition to using standard stamps, postage can now be printed from a personal computer using a system called Information Based Indicia. Authorized providers of PC Postage are:

• Stamps.com
• Pitney Bowes
• Endicia Internet Postage
• USPS Click-N-Ship

Endicia provides the technology that allows Click-N-Ship to print postage and Endicia licenses this technology to individual shippers through software applications. Through Pitney Bowes, PayPal account holders can print postage on the site and have the costs deducted from their PayPal account (with no surcharge) or a linked bank account. With either service, the sender may then drop off the parcel at a location accepting parcels or request pick-up at the address of origin.^{[citation needed]}

Other electronic postage payment methods

Electronic Verification System (eVS) ^[45] is the Postal Service's integrated mail management technology that centralizes payment processing and electronic postage reports. Part of an evolving suite of USPS electronic payment services called PostalOne! ^[46], eVS allows mailers shipping large volumes of parcels through the Postal Service a way to circumvent use of hard-copy manifests, postage statements and drop-shipment verification forms. Instead, mailers can pay postage automatically through a centralized account and track payments online.

Beginning August 2007, the Postal Service began requiring mailers shipping Parcel Select packages using a permit imprint to use eVS for manifesting their packages. Currently, the list of USPS "Approved eVS Mailers"^[47] includes:

• Amazon.com
• American Parcel Solutions, American Distribution Centers
• Blue Package Delivery
• Cornerstone Shipping Solutions
• DHL Express
• International Bridge Inc., ParcelPool.com
• Pickupostal.com
• UPS Worldwide Forwarding Inc.

Stamp copyright and reproduction

All U.S. postage stamps issued under the former United States Post Office Department and other postage items that were released before 1978 are not subject to copyright, but stamp designs since 1978 are copyrighted.^[48] Following the creation of the United States Postal Service, the United States Copyright Office in section 206.02(b) of the Compendium II: Copyright Office Practices holds that "Works of the U.S. Postal Service, as now constituted, are not considered U.S. Government works."^[49] Here, the U.S. Copyright Office has clarified that works of the U.S. Postal Service, of the government of the District of Columbia, or of the government of Puerto Rico are not "works of the U.S. government" and thus are subject to copyright. Thus, postal service holds copyright to such materials released since 1978 under Title 17 of the United States Code. Written permission is required for use of copyrighted postage stamp images.^[50]

Service level choices

General domestic services

Tyvek envelope for Express Mail

Domestic postage includes Monday through Saturday delivery (excepting federal holidays) to any address, Post Office Box, or general delivery Post Office in the United States, or any U.S. military mail destination.

The Post Office will not deliver packages heavier than 70 lbs. or if the two largest dimensions (length and width) are greater than 108 inches combined. Other carriers handle packages that do not meet these conditions. Mail sent at a level below First Class will not be forwarded or returned to sender, unless an additional fee is paid; "return service requested" may need to appear on the outside of the item. Deliveries outside the contiguous United States may take longer.

As of May 2007, domestic postage levels for low-volume mailers include:

• Express Mail - "Overnight Guaranteed" to most locations^[51]
  • Sunday and holiday delivery available for additional charge
  • $100 insurance included
  • Flat rate envelope available. Otherwise, variable pricing by weight, size, and ZIP code.
• Priority Mail - 2 or 3-day service (not guaranteed)^[51]
  • Flat rate envelope and boxes (various sizes) available. Otherwise, variable pricing by weight, size, and ZIP code.
• First Class Mail
  • Fast service (2–3 days)^[51] for letters and small packages
  • Flat rate depending on size and weight
    • Cards (up to 5" x 3.5" x .007"): 28¢
    • Letters (up to 11.5" x 6.125" x .25", 3.5 oz.): 44¢ + 17¢ each add'l oz.
    • Large Envelope or Flat (up to 15" x 12" x .75", 13 oz.): 88¢ + 17¢ each add'l oz. Must be rectangular, uniformly thick, and not too rigid.
    • Package/Parcel (Up to 108" length + width, 13 oz): $1.13 + 17¢ each add'l oz.
• Parcel Post
  • Slowest but cheapest service for packages - uses surface transport
  • 2-9-day service to contiguous U.S., 4–14 days internal to AK/HI/territories, 3–6 weeks between mainland and outlying areas (travels by ship)^[51]
  • Variable pricing by weight and ZIP code
  • Free forwarding if receipient has filed change-of-address form, or return if the item is undeliverable
• Media Mail (formerly "Book Rate")
  • Books and recorded media only
  • No advertising
  • Flat rate pricing by weight only
  • Transit time similar to Parcel Post
  • Cheaper than Parcel Post but only due to increased restrictions on package contents.
• Library Mail
  • Similar to Media Mail, but cheaper and restricted to academic institutions, public libraries, museums, etc.

Bulk mail

USPS Dodge Caravan used for residential delivery in Omaha, Nebraska

Discounts are available for large volumes of mail. Depending on the postage level, certain conditions might be required or optional for an additional discount:

• Minimum number of pieces
• Weight limits
• Ability for the USPS to process by machine
• Addresses formatting standardized
• USPS-readable barcode
• Sorted by 3-digit ZIP code prefix, 5-digit ZIP code, ZIP+4, or 11-digit delivery point
• Delivered in trays, bundles, or pallets partitioned by destination
• Delivered directly to a regional Bulk Mail Center, destination SCF, or destination Post Office
• Certification of mailing list accuracy and freshness (e.g. correct ZIP codes, purging of stale addresses, processing of change-of-address notifications)

In addition to bulk discounts on Express, Priority, and First Class Mail, the following postage levels are available for bulk mailers:

• Periodicals
• Standard Mail (A)
  • Automation
  • Enhanced Carrier Route
  • Regular
• Standard Mail (B)
  • Parcel Post
  • Bound Printed Matter - Cheaper than Media Mail, for advertising catalogs, phone books, etc. up to 15 lbs.^[52]
  • Special Standard Mail
  • Library Mail
  • Nonprofit

Further information: Bulk mail

Add-on services

A Long Life Vehicle or LLV used in suburban areas, seen in Guam.

Depending on the type of mail, additional services are available for an additional fee:^[53]

• Certificate of Mailing - Proof of the date a package was mailed.
• Delivery Confirmation - Provides proof of delivery, but no signature is required.
• Signature Confirmation - Delivery requires a signature, which is kept on file. The online tracking system displays the first initial and last name of the signatory.
• Return Receipt - Actively sends Signature Confirmation information back to the sender by postcard or emailed PDF (as opposed to merely putting this information into the online tracking system).
• Insurance against loss or damage, for the value of the goods mailed. Amount of coverage can be specified, up to $5000.
• Certified Mail - Provides proof of mailing, and a delivery record. Used for serving legal documents and for sending U.S. Government classified information, up to the "confidential" level.
• Restricted Delivery - Requires delivery to a specific person or their authorized agent, not just to a mailbox.
• Collect On Delivery (C.O.D.) - Allows merchants to offer customers an option to pay upon delivery, up to $1000. Includes insurance.
• Special Handling - For unusual items, like live animals.
• Registered Mail - Used for highly valuable or irreplaceable items, and classified information up to the "secret" level.^[54] Registered mail is transported separately from other mail, in locked containers. Tracking is included and insurance up to $25,000 is available.^[55]

Postal money orders

Postal money orders provide a safe alternative to sending cash through the mail, and are available in any amount up to $1000. Money orders are cashable only by the recipient, just like a bank check. Unlike a personal bank check, they are pre-paid and therefore cannot bounce.^[56] Money orders are a declining business for the USPS, as companies like PayPal and PaidByCash and others are offering electronic replacements through the MasterCard and Visa systems.^{[citation needed]}

From 1911 to 1966, the Postal Service also operated a savings program, not unlike a savings and loan with the amount of the deposit limited.^[57]

International services

Formerly, USPS International services were categorized as Airmail (Letter Post), Economy (Surface) Parcel Post, Airmail Parcel Post, Global Priority, Global Express, and Global Express Guaranteed Mail. In May 2007, USPS restructured international service names to correspond with domestic shipping options. Letter post is now First Class Mail International,^[58][59] Airmail Parcel Post was discontinued and replaced by Priority Mail International. Global Express is now Express Mail International. Global Express Guaranteed is unchanged, and Economy Parcel Post was discontinued for international service. The only mailing classes with a tracking ability are Express and Express Guaranteed. One of the major changes in the new naming and services definitions is that USPS-supplied mailing boxes for Priority and Express mail are now allowed for international use. Also, a Priority Mail International Flat-Rate has been introduced, with the same conditions of service previously used for Global Priority. These services are offered to ship letters and packages to almost every country and territory on the globe. Ironically, the USPS provides much of this service by contracting with a private parcel service, FedEx.^[60]

On May 14, 2007, the United States Postal Service canceled all outgoing international surface mail (sometimes known as "sea mail") from the United States, citing increased costs and reduced demand due to competition from airmail services such as FedEx and UPS.^[61] The decision has been criticized by the Peace Corps and military personnel overseas, as well as independent booksellers and other small businesses who rely on international deliveries.

Military mail is billed at domestic rates when being sent from the United States to a military outpost, and is free when sent by deployed military personnel. The overseas logistics are handled by the Military Postal Service Agency in the Department of Defense.^[62] Outside of forward areas and active operations, military mail First Class takes 7–10 days, Priority 10–15 days, and Parcel Post about 24 days.^[51]

Airline and rail division

The United States Postal Service does not directly own or operate any aircraft or trains. The mail and packages are flown on airlines with which the Postal Service has a contractual agreement. The contracts change periodically. Depending on the contract, aircraft may be painted with the USPS paint scheme.^{[citation needed]} Contract airlines have included: Emery Worldwide, Ryan International Airlines, FedEx Express, Rhoades Aviation, American Airlines and Express One International. The Postal Service also contracts with Amtrak to carry some mail between certain cities such as Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul.

The last air delivery route in the continental U.S., to residents in the Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness, was scheduled to be ended in June 2009. The weekly bush plane route, contracted out to an air taxi company, had in its final year an annual cost of $46,000, or $2400/year per residence, over ten times the average cost of delivering mail to a residence in the United States.^[16] This decision has been reversed by the U.S. Postmaster General.^[63]

Sorting and delivery process

Mail Flow through National Infrastructure

Processing of standard sized envelopes and cards is highly automated, including reading of handwritten addresses. Mail from individual customers and public postboxes is collected by mail carriers into plastic tubs. The tubs are taken to a Processing and Distribution Center (P&DC). There are approximately 275 such centers across the United States, which sort mail for a given region (typically a radius of around 200 miles) and connect with the national network for interregional mail.^[64]

At the P&DC, mail is emptied into hampers which are then automatically dumped into a Dual Pass Rough Cull System (DPRCS). As mail travels through the DPRCS, large items, such as packages and mail bundles, are removed from the stream. As the remaining mail enters the first machine for processing standard mail, the Advanced Facer-Canceler System (AFCS), pieces that passed through the DPRCS but do not conform to physical dimensions for processing in the AFCS (i.e. large envelopes or overstuffed standard envelopes) are automatically diverted from the stream. Mail removed from the DPRCS and AFCS is manually processed or sent to parcel sorting machines.

In contrast to the previous system, which merely canceled and postmarked the upper right corner of the envelope, thereby missing any stamps which were inappropriately placed, the AFCS locates indicia (stamp or metered postage mark), regardless of the orientation of the mail as it enters the machine, and cancels it by applying a postmark. Detection of indicia enables the AFCS to determine the orientation of each mailpiece and sort it accordingly, rotating pieces as necessary so all mail is sorted right-side up and faced in the same direction in each output bin. Mail is output by the machine into three categories: mail already affixed with a bar code and addressed (such as business reply envelopes and cards), mail with machine printed (typed) addresses, and mail with handwritten addresses. Additionally, machines with a recent Optical Character Recognition (OCR) upgrade have the capability to read the address information, including handwritten, and sort the mail based on local or outgoing ZIP codes.

Mail with typed addresses goes to a Multiline Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) which reads the ZIP Code and address information and prints the appropriate bar code onto the envelope. Mail (actually the scanned image of the mail) with handwritten addresses (and machine-printed ones that aren't easily recognized) goes to the Remote Bar Coding System. It also corrects spelling errors and, where there is an error, omission, or conflict in the written address, identifies the most likely correct address. When it has decided on a correct address, it prints the appropriate bar code onto the envelopes, similarly to the MLOCR system. RBCS also has facilities in place, called Remote Encoding Centers, that have humans look at images of mail pieces and enter the address data. The address data is associated with the image via an ID Tag, a fluorescent Barcode printed by mail processing equipment on the back of mail pieces.

If a customer has filed a change of address card and his or her mail is detected in the mailstream with the old address, the mailpiece is sent to a machine that automatically connects to a Computerized Forwarding System database to determine the new address. If this address is found, the machine will paste a label over the former address with the current address. The mail is returned to the mailstream to forward to the new location.

Mail with addresses that cannot be resolved by the automated system are separated for human intervention. If a local postal worker can read the address, he or she manually sorts it out according to the ZIP code on the article. If the address cannot be read, mail is either returned to the sender (first class mail with a valid return address) or is sent to one of three Mail Recovery Centers in the United States (formerly known as Dead Letter Offices, originated by Benjamin Franklin in the 1770s^{[citation needed]}) where it receives more intense scrutiny, including being opened to determine if any of the contents are a clue. If no valid address can be determined, the items are held for 90 days in case of inquiry by the customer; and if they are not claimed then they are either destroyed or auctioned off at the annual Postal Service Unclaimed Parcel auction to raise money for the service.

Once the mail is bar coded, it is automatically sorted by a Delivery Bar Code System that reads the bar code and determines the destination of the mailpiece to postal stations.

Regional mail is trucked to the appropriate local post office or kept in the building for carrier routes served directly from the P&DC. Out-of-region mail is trucked to the airport and then flown, usually as baggage on commercial airlines, to the airport nearest the destination station. At the destination P&DC, mail is once again read by a Delivery Bar Code System which sorts the items into their local destinations, including grouping them by individual mail carrier.

At the carrier route level, 95% of letters arrive pre-sorted;^[64] the remaining mail must be sorted by hand. The Post Office is working to increase the percentage of automatically sorted mail, including a pilot program to sort "flats".^[65]

Types of postal facilities

Historic main post office in Tomah, Wisconsin.

A typical post office station in the Spring Branch area of Houston, Texas

Combined Post Office, Customs House, and Federal Court House in Galveston, Texas.

Although its customer service centers are called post offices in regular speech, the USPS recognizes several types of postal facilities, including the following:

• A main post office (formerly known as a general post office), which is the primary postal facility in a community.
• A station or post office station, a postal facility that is not the main post office, but that is within the corporate limits of the community.
• A branch or post office branch, a postal facility that is not the main post office and that is outside the corporate limits of the community.
• A classified unit, a station or branch operated by USPS employees in a facility owned or leased by the USPS.
• A contract postal unit (or CPU), a station or branch operated by a contractor, typically in a store or other place of business.^[66]
• A community post office (or CPO), a contract postal unit providing services in a small community in which other types of post office facilities have been discontinued.
• A finance unit, a station or branch that provides window services and accepts mail, but does not provide delivery.
• A processing and distribution center (P&DC, or processing and distribution facility, formerly known as a General Mail Facility), a central mail facility that processes and dispatches incoming and outgoing mail to and from a designated service area. (275 nationwide.)^[64]
• An international service center (ISC), an international mail processing facility. There are only five such USPS facilities in the United States, located in Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.^[67]
• A sectional center facility (SCF), a P&DC for a designated geographical area defined by one or more three-digit ZIP code prefixes.
• A bulk mail center (BMC), a central mail facility that processes bulk rate parcels as the hub in a hub and spoke network.
• An auxiliary sorting facility (ASF), a central mail facility that processes bulk rate parcels as spokes in a hub and spoke network.
• A remote encoding center (REC), a facility at which clerks receive images of problem mail pieces (those with hard-to-read addresses, etc.) via secure Internet-type feeds and manually type the addresses they can decipher, using a special encoding protocol. The mail pieces are then sprayed with the correct addresses or are sorted for further handling according to the instructions given via encoding. The total number of RECs is down from 55 in 1998 to just 5 centers in April 2009. In 2010, there will be just two remaining RECs open, in Salt Lake City, Utah and Wichita, Kansas. More closures will occur as computer software becomes more able to read most addresses, but a few centers are expected to remain open (see Evolutionary Network Development below).

A 24-hour Automated Postal Center kiosk inside the Webster, Texas Main Post Office

While common usage refers to all types of postal facilities as "substations," the USPS Glossary of Postal Terms does not define or even list that word.^[66] Post Offices often share facilities with other governmental organizations located within a city's central business district. In those locations, often Courthouses and Federal Buildings, the building is owned by the General Services Administration while the U.S. Postal Services operates as a tenant. ^[68][69]There are approximately 36,000 post offices, stations, and branches in the USPS retail system.^[70] Temporary stations are also set up for applying pictorial cancellations.

Automated Postal Centers

In 2004 the USPS began deploying Automated Postal Centers (APC)^[71]. APCs are unattended kiosks that are capable of weighing, franking, and storing packages for later pickup as well as selling domestic and international postage stamps. Similarly, traditional vending machines are available at many post offices to purchase stamps, though these are being phased out in many areas.^[72] Due to increasing use of Internet services, as of June, 2009, no retail post office windows are open 24 hours; overnight services are limited to those provided by an Automated Postal Center.^[73]

Evolutionary Network Development (END) program

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In February, 2006, the USPS announced that they plan to replace the nine existing facility-types with five processing facility-types:^[74]

• Regional Distribution Centers (RDCs), which will process all classes of parcels and bundles and serve as Surface Transfer Centers;
• Local Processing Centers (LPCs), which will process single-piece letters and flats and cancel mail;
• Destination Processing Centers (DPC), sort the mail for individual mail carriers;
• Airport Transfer Centers (ATCs), which will serve as transfer points only; and
• Remote Encoding Centers (RECs).

Over a period of years, these facilities are expected to replace Processing & Distribution Centers, Customer Service Facilities, Bulk Mail Centers, Logistic and Distribution Centers, annexes, the Hub and Spoke Program, Air Mail Centers, and International Service Centers.

The changes are a result of the declining volumes of single-piece first-class mail, population shifts, the increase in drop shipments by advertising mailers at destinating postal facilities, advancements in equipment and technology, redundancies in the existing network, and the need for operational flexibility.

Final delivery

USPS contractor-driven semi-trailer truck seen near Mendota, California

USPS Ford Windstar used for residential delivery in Olympia, Washington

Delivery days

Until 1912, mail was delivered 7 days a week. As the postal service grew in popularity and usage in the 1800s, local religious leaders were noticing a decline in Sunday morning church attendance due to local post offices doubling as gathering places. These leaders appealed to the government to intervene and close post offices on Sundays.^[75][76]

As a result of this intervention by the government, U.S. Mail (with the exception of Express Mail^[77]) is not delivered on Sunday, with the exception of a few towns in which the local religion has had an effect on the policy; for example, Loma Linda, California, which has a significant Seventh-day Adventist population.^[75] U.S. Mail is delivered Sunday through Friday, with the exception of observed federal holidays.

Saturday delivery was temporarily suspended in April 1957, due to lack of funds, but quickly restored.^[78] On January 28, 2009, Postmaster General John E. Potter testified before the Senate^[79] that if the Postal Service is not able to readjust their payment toward the pre-funding of retiree health benefits, as mandated by the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2006,^[80] the USPS would be forced to consider cutting delivery to five days per week during the summer months of June, July & August. However, the universal service obligation^[81] and six day delivery are upheld by Congressional language within Appropriations legislation, so a reduction in service would require that a new law be passed by Congress.

On June 10, 2009, the NRLCA was contacted for its input on the USPS's current study of the impact of five-day delivery along with developing an implementation plan for a five-day service plan. A team of postal service headquarters executives and staff has been given a time frame of sixty days to complete the study. The current concept examines the impact of five-day delivery with no business or collections on Saturday, with Post Offices with current Saturday hours remaining open.^[82]

Direct delivery vs. customer pickup

Originally, mail was not delivered to homes and businesses, but to post offices. In 1863, "city delivery" began in urban areas with enough customers to make this economical. This required streets to be named, houses to be numbered, with sidewalks and lighting provided, and these street addresses to be added to envelopes.^[83] The number of routes served expanded over time. In 1891, the first experiments with Rural Free Delivery began in less densely populated areas.

To compensate for high mail volume and slow long-distance transportation which saw mail arrive at post offices throughout the day, deliveries were made multiple times a day. This ranged from twice for residential areas to up to seven times for the central business district of Brooklyn, New York.^[84] In the late 1800s, mail boxes were encouraged, saving carriers the time it took to deliver directly to the addressee in person; in the 1910s and 1920s, they were phased in as a requirement for service.^[83] In the 1940s, multiple daily deliveries began to be reduced, especially on Saturdays. By 1990, the last twice-daily deliveries in New York City were eliminated.

Today, mail is delivered once a day on-site to most private homes and businesses. The USPS still distinguishes between city delivery (where carriers generally walk and deliver to mailboxes hung on exterior walls or porches, or to commercial reception areas) and rural delivery (where carriers generally drive).^[85] With "curbside delivery", mailboxes are at the ends of driveways, on the nearest convenient road. "Central point delivery" is used in some locations, where several nearby residences share a "cluster" of individual mailboxes in a single housing.

Some customers choose to use post office boxes for an additional fee, for privacy or convenience. This provides a locked box at the post office to which mail is addressed and delivered (usually earlier in the day than home delivery). High-volume business customers can also arrange for special pick-up.^[86][87]

Another option is the old-style general delivery, for people who have neither post office boxes nor street addresses. Mail is held at the post office until they present identification and pick it up.

Some customers receive free post office boxes if the USPS declines to provide door-to-door delivery to their location or a nearby box.^[88] People with medical problems can request door-to-door delivery.^[89] Homeless people are also eligible for post office boxes at the discretion of the local postmaster, or can use general delivery.^[90]

Special Delivery

From 1885 to 2001, a service called special delivery was available, which caused a separate delivery to the final location earlier in the day than the usual daily rounds.

Forwarding and holds

Residential customers can fill out a form to forward mail to a new address, and can also send pre-printed forms to any of their frequent correspondents. They can also put their mail on "hold", for example, while on vacation. The Post Office will store mail during the hold, instead of letting it overflow in the mailbox. These services are not available to large buildings and customers of a commercial mail receiving agency,^[91] where mail is subsorted by non-Post Office employees into individual mailboxes.

Employment in the USPS

A Rural Letter Carrier from Fort Myers, Florida

The USPS employs more people than any company in the United States except Wal-Mart.^{[citation needed]} It employed 790,000 personnel in 2003, divided into offices, processing centers, and actual post offices.

Labor unions representing USPS employees include the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents city letter carriers, the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA), which represents rural letter carriers, the National Postal Mail Handler's Union (NPMHU), which represents mail handlers, and the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents clerks, maintenance employees, and motor vehicle service workers. While union membership is voluntary, city carriers are organized near 90% nationally.

USPS employees are divided into three major crafts according to the work they engage in:

• Mail carriers, also referred to as mailmen or mail-carriers are divided into two categories: City carriers, who are represented by the NALC, and Rural Letter Carriers, who are represented by the NRLCA. City carriers are paid hourly with the potential for overtime. City Carriers are also subject to "undertime" on a daily basis. Undertime (extra work fit into your 8 hours) is a tool postal management uses to redistribute and eliminate overtime costs, often based on mail volume projections from the DOIS (Delivery Operations Information System) computer program. City Carrier routes are adjusted and/ or eliminated based on information (length, time, and overall workload) also controlled by this program - much to the chagrin of the city carrier union. Rural carriers are under a form of salary called “evaluated hours”, usually with overtime built in to their pay. The evaluated hours are created by having all mail counted for a period of two or four weeks, and a formula used to create the set dollar amount they will be paid for each day worked until the next time the route is counted.
• Mail handlers and processors, who prepare mail and parcels for delivery.
• Clerks, who directly handle customer needs and sort standard and bulk-rate mail. Data Conversion Operators, who encode address information at Remote Encoding Centers, are also members of the clerk craft.

Other non-managerial positions in the USPS include:

• Maintenance and custodians, who see to the overall operation and cleaning of mail sorting machines, work areas, public parking and general facility operations.
• Transitional employees (TEs), who are hired for terms up to one year or longer (with contract renewal), are given the same hourly base pay as a Part Time Flexible carrier, but receive no benefits. Transitional employees may be released at any time by the USPS and can be represented by the NALC.
• Career, Part Time Flexible and Transitional employees (Career, PTF & TE DCOs) at a remote encoding center are still under clerks category but under a different contract than a plant worker or mail carrier and, therefore, are also under a different union (APWU) than the above mentioned Career, TEs and PTFs. There are several differences between working as a carrier or plant worker VS. working at a REC. Even pay is different.

Though the USPS employs many individuals, as more Americans send information via e-mail, fewer postal workers are needed to work dwindling amounts of mail. Post offices and mail facilities are constantly downsizing, replacing craft positions with new machines and consolidating mail routes. A major round of job cuts, early retirements, and a construction freeze were announced on March 20, 2009.^[92]

Environmental stewardship

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It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Post Office Box Lobby Recycling program. (Discuss)

USPS vehicle advertising E85 alcohol fuel, Saint Paul, Minnesota

The United States Postal Service has a long record of environmental stewardship, and has integrated sustainability throughout the organization.^[93]

For almost a decade, the Postal Service has been a partner in EPA’s WasteWise Program, which helps USPS reduce the amount of waste produced. Last year was the ninth straight year that the Postal Service has been recognized as EPA’s WasteWise Partner of the Year.^[94]

USPS is also the only shipping/mailing company in the United States that has achieved the Silver level of Cradle to Cradle^SMcertification from McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry, LLC (MBDC) for the 500 million Priority Mail and Express Mail envelopes and packages distributed to customers each year.^[95] They received this certification in 2007.^[96] In order to receive this certification, the company’s products undergo intense reviews in many areas including: the use of renewable energy and efficient water use during production, and strategies for social responsibility, among others. ^[97]

The USPS is taking more than 500 old postal trucks off of the road and replacing them with newer, larger trucks, which will result in numerous benefits for the environment: (1) decreasing the amount of CO2 emissions by replacing the vintage vehicles with cleaner, more fuel efficient year 2000 vehicles, (2) the use of larger vehicles will reduce the number of miles that USPS vehicles travel. ^[98] The average fuel economy of the Post Office fleet in 2008 was 10.30 miles per gallon.^[99]

In addition to this environmental initiative, about 274,000 tons of wastepaper, cardboard, cans, plastics, and other materials were recycled in 2008 through the Postal Service's nationwide recycling and waste prevention programs.^[100]

Violence as "Going Postal"

In the early 1990s, widely publicized workplace shootings by disgruntled employees at USPS facilities led to a postal regulation that prohibits the possession of firearms in all postal facilities. Due to media coverage, postal employees gained a reputation among the general public as being mentally ill. The USPS Commission on a Safe and Secure Workplace found that "Postal workers are only a third as likely as those in the national workforce to be victims of homicide at work."^[101]

This stereotype in turn has influenced American culture, as seen in the slang term "going postal" (see Patrick Sherrill for information on his August 20, 1986, rampage) and the computer game Postal. Also, in the opening sequence of Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult, a yell of "Disgruntled postal workers" is heard, followed by the arrival of postal workers with machine guns. In an episode of Seinfeld, the character Newman, who is a mailman, explained in a dramatic monologue that postal workers "go crazy and kill everyone" because the mail never stops. In The Simpsons episode Sunday, Cruddy Sunday, Nelson Muntz asks Postmaster Bill if he has "ever gone on a killing spree", with a reply of, "The day of the disgruntled postman went out with the Macarena".

However, there have been over thirty acts of postal mass shootings, resulting in death, recorded and investigated by authorities since 1983.^{[citation needed]} The last postal shooting incident occurred in 2006.

In fiction

• In the 1947 classic film, Miracle on 34th Street, the identity of Kris Kringle (played by Edmund Gwenn) as the one and only "Santa Claus" was validated by a state court, based on the delivery of 21 bags of mail (famously carried into the courtroom) to the character in question. The contention was that it would have been illegal for the United States Post Office to deliver mail that was addressed to "Santa Claus" to the character "Kris Kringle" unless he was, in fact, the one and only Santa Claus. Judge Henry X. Harper (played by Gene Lockhart) ruled that since the US Government had demonstrated through the delivery of the bags of mail that Kris Kringle was Santa Claus, the State of New York did not have the authority to overrule that decision.
• In the TV series Seinfeld, Newman is an employee at the USPS, which is portrayed in the series as a powerful, nefarious organization. He claims that ZIP codes are meaningless; no mail carrier has successfully delivered more than 50% of their mail (a feat he compares to the 3-minute mile); and that several postal workers go on killing sprees because, as he puts it, "the mail never stops." In one episode, Cosmo Kramer is abducted by Post Office security men for running an anti-mail campaign after he realizes the Postal Service has become obsolete.
• The TV series Cheers featured John Ratzenberger as Cliff Clavin, a USPS worker and a regular in the bar. Ratzenberger, along with the rest of the show's cast, appears in an induction video for U.S. Postal Services staff.
• Charles Bukowski published a novel in 1971 about his decade-long employment as a postal worker in Los Angeles. Though it is couched as a "novel," his book "Post Office" is, like all of his fiction and verse, written almost entirely from his own experiences. It does for the Post Office what Ben Hamper did for the automobile industry in his book "Rivethead", offering a behind the scenes glimpse of life on the line.
• In the video game Dark Forces, typing "lapostal" grants access to all the weapons in the game. However, this may be a reference the Postal video game.

See also

• Unions of the U.S. Postal Service:
  • American Postal Workers Union
  • National Association of Letter Carriers
  • National Postal Mail Handlers Union
  • National Rural Letter Carriers Association
• History of United States postage rates
• Postage stamps and postal history of the United States
• U.S. Post Offices
• U.S. Postal Exams
• United States postal abbreviations
• United States Postal Inspection Service
• United States Postal Service creed
• Military mail
• Package delivery
• Philately (Stamp collecting)
• Section of Painting and Sculpture - WPA post-office murals
• American Letter Mail Company
• Private Express Statutes
• Canada Post

References

Specific references:

1. ^ "2009 Form 10-K" (pdf). U.S. Postal Service. 2009. http://www.usps.com/financials/_pdf/FY_2009_10K_Report_Final.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Postal Facts 2009". U.S. Postal Service. 2009. http://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/postalfacts.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-03. 
3. ^ http://money.cnn.com/2009/05/08/news/economy/postal_service/index.htm
4. ^ Presidential Succession Act of 1947, 3 U.S.C. Section 19
5. ^ delivery.http://www.classbrain.com/artteenst/publish/article_130.shtml
6. ^ History of the United States Postal Service 1775-1993, p. 1
7. ^ ^{a b c} "National Postal Museum". Postalmuseum.si.edu. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2c1_railwaymail.html. Retrieved 2008-10-25. 
8. ^ History of the United States Postal Service 1775-1993, p. 1
9. ^ "National Postal Museum". Postalmuseum.si.edu. http://www.postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibits/2c1a_insiderms.html. Retrieved 2008-10-25. 
10. ^ "Parcel Post: Delivery of Dreams". Sil.si.edu. http://www.sil.si.edu/ondisplay/parcelpost/cf/view.cfm. Retrieved 2008-10-25. 
11. ^ U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, The Post Office Flies The Mail http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Government_Role/1918-1924/POL3.htm
12. ^ "Comstock Law of (1873)". Law.jrank.org. http://law.jrank.org/pages/5508/Comstock-Law-1873.html. Retrieved 2008-10-25. 
13. ^ "Corporate Fact Sheet" (pdf). Walmart. 17 July 2008. http://walmartstores.com/download/2230.pdf. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
14. ^ Dolan v. United States Postal Service, 546 U.S. 481 (2006).
15. ^ Potter, Ned (4 August 2009). "The List: Post Offices That May Close". ABC News. http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=8248335&page=1. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
16. ^ ^{a b} Air mail route grounded for Central Idaho backcountry, an April 2009 article from The Idaho Statesman
17. ^ "High Gas Prices Affecting USPS Drivers". ABC (WJLA). 19 June 2008. http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0608/529721.html. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
18. ^ "Financials". USPS. 2009. http://www.usps.com/financials/. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
19. ^ ^{a b} "USPS - Area Mail Processing". USPS. 2009. http://www.usps.com/all/amp.htm. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
20. ^ ^{a b} "Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations 2008". USPS. 2008. http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt1_pg5.htm. Retrieved 4 August 2009. 
21. ^ United States Postal Serv. v. Flamingo Indus. (USA) Ltd., 540 U.S. 736 (2004).
22. ^ United States Postal Serv. v. Greenburgh Civic Ass'ns, 453 U.S. 114 (1981).
23. ^ http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt2_pg10.htm
24. ^ Geddes, Rick. "Do Vital Economists Reach a Policy Conclusion on Postal Reform?" (April 2004). [1]
25. ^ Neither Snow nor Sleet... Can Dampen This Monopoly Rick Geddes from the Hoover Institution talks about rural subsidies
26. ^ Postal Service to renew Idaho backcountry mail route Alyson Outen, KTVB-TV, April 10, 2009
27. ^ Idaho delegation gets reversal on backcountry mail delivery decision
28. ^ http://www.usps.com/postallaw/universalpostalservice.htm
29. ^ Telegraph
30. ^ V-Mail
31. ^ ECOM
32. ^ http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/vision2013.htm
33. ^ Government Performance and Results Act 0f 1993, P.L. 103-62, ([2])
34. ^ "To allow mail carriers to serve in temporary enumerator positions in connection with the 2010 decennial census. (Introduced in House)". http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3167:. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
35. ^ "Census Should Partner With Post Office, Not ACORN “We already have a workforce that goes to every home”". http://chaffetz.house.gov/2009/06/census-should-partner-with-post-office-not-acorn.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-11. 
36. ^ "Who We Are". USPS.com. http://www.usps.com/websites/depart/inspect/missmore.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-31. 
37. ^ Geddes, Rick (2003-06-01). "Opportunities for Anticompetitive Behavior in Postal Services". AEI Online. http://www.aei.org/paper/17488. Retrieved 2009-08-11. 
38. ^ A Customer's Guide to Mailing
39. ^ USPS list of abbreviations
40. ^ USPS postal addressing standards
41. ^ http://www.usps.com/all/postagepayoptions/welcome.htm
42. ^ http://www.usps.com/send/postagepermitimprintsandmeters/precancelledstamps.htm
43. ^ Postal Rates Set to Go Up on May 14. March 20, 2007.
44. ^ New Prices Coming May 12, 2008
45. ^ Advanced Preparation and Special Postage Payment Systems - Manifest Mailing System - Electronic Verification System
46. ^ USPS Memo To Mailers - August 2006 "Making It E-Easy For High-Volume Shippers"
47. ^ Approved USPS eVS Mailers
48. ^ "Stamp Collecting: What other stamp materials can I collect?". United States Postal Service. http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ContentUpload1View?status=i&langId=-1&storeId=10001&catalogId=10152&HTMLName=stampcollecting.html&pagetitle=S_Collecting#asc8. Retrieved 2008-12-11. 
49. ^ "U.S Copyright Office Practices section 206.02(b)". United States Copyright Office. http://ipmall.info/hosted_resources/CopyrightCompendium/chapter_0200.asp. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
50. ^ "Rights and Permission Overview". United States Postal Service. http://www.usps.com/rightsandpermissions/welcome.htm. Retrieved 2008-08-18. 
51. ^ ^{a b c d e} Mail$ALL USPS FAQ - Domestic Classes of Mail Estimated Delivery Time
52. ^ "Postage Payment for Bound Printed Matter Limited to Permit Imprint". USPS. 2008-09-11. http://pe.usps.com/Bound_Printed_Matter.txt. 
53. ^ http://www.usps.com/all/insuranceandextraservices/welcome.htm?from=household&page=insuranceandextras
54. ^ Executive Order No. 10501
55. ^ http://www.usps.com/send/waystosendmail/extraservices/registeredmailservice.htm
56. ^ USPS - Domestic Money Orders
57. ^ http://www.usps.com/postalhistory/_pdf/PostalSavingsSystem.pdf
58. ^ USPS International Mail Manual, Issue 35
59. ^ USPS - First Class Mail International
60. ^ USPS press release, 8 June 2004, Release No. 40, FEDEX TO DELIVER PREMIUM POSTAL INT'L SERVICE, retrieved 10 October 2007
61. ^ USPS International Mail - Frequently Asked Questions, retrieved 10 October 2007
62. ^ USPS FAQ - Mailing to military personnel
63. ^ Idaho delegation gets reversal on backcountry mail delivery decision, Senators Mike Crapo and Jim Risch and Representative Walt Minnick press release, May 7, 2009
64. ^ ^{a b c} http://www.allbusiness.com/marketing/direct-marketing-direct-mail/316648-1.html
65. ^ http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt4_pg46.htm
66. ^ ^{a b} Glossary of Postal Terms
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68. ^ "Texas Federal Buildings:Galveston U.S. Post Office and Courthouse". General Services Administration. http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=18257. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
69. ^ "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form". National Park Service. http://www.nr.nps.gov/nomination/01000438.pdf. Retrieved 2009-12-20. 
70. ^ http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt4_pg38.htm
71. ^ http://www.lunewsviews.com/sspcplans.htm
72. ^ http://www.usps.com/alternateaccess/selfserve.htm
73. ^ Chicago's 24-Hour Postal Service Comes To An End by Cheryl Corley. All Things Considered, National Public Radio. 5 June 2009.
74. ^ http://www.lunewsviews.com/consolidations.htm
75. ^ ^{a b} About.com, "Sunday Mail Service in a Christian Nation", Austin Cline, 19 February 2006, retrieved 10 October 2007
76. ^ "The United States Postal Service: An American History 1775 – 2006".
77. ^ USPS - Express Mail Delivery Chart, retrieved 10 October 2007
78. ^ http://www.historyorb.com/events/april/13 and http://www.historyorb.com/events/april/15
79. ^ "Postmaster General/CEO John E. Potter Before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management". http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/Potter.pdf. Retrieved 2009-01-28. 
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81. ^ "Report on Universal Postal Service and the Postal Monopoly". http://www.usps.com/postallaw/universalpostalservice.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-11. 
82. ^ http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-diary/2009/01/postmaster_proposes_a_cutback.html
83. ^ ^{a b} City Delivery
84. ^ Deliveries per Day
85. ^ USPS - Home Delivery
86. ^ USPS FAQ - Caller Service, multiple pickups for a fee
87. ^ USPS FAQ - Firm Holdout Service, free pickup once a day
88. ^ USPS FAQ - Do I qualify for free box service?
89. ^ USPS FAQ - Hardship / Medical Problems
90. ^ USPS FAQ - Mail service available for the homeless
91. ^ USPS FAQ - Commercial Mail Receiving Agency (CMRA)
92. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/20/post.office.cuts/index.html
93. ^ http://www.usps.com/green/report/2008/Our_Environment1.html
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95. ^ http://www.mbdc.com/usps
96. ^ http://inventorspot.com/articles/the_postal_service_goes_greener_12792 Iventorspot Retrieved May 12, 2008
97. ^ http://www.bell-inc.com/about/news_detail.lasso?id=44 Bell Incorporated Retrieved May 12, 2008
98. ^ http://www.epa.gov/ProjectXL/usps/ EPA Retrieved May 13, 2008
99. ^ http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt4_pg44.htm
100. ^ http://www.usps.com/green/recycle.htm
101. ^ USPS Commission on a Safe and Secure Workplace, 31 January 2006, retrieved 10 October 2007

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2009)

General references:

• Understanding the Private Express StatutesPDF (146 KB) USPS Publication 542 (June 1998)
• USPS Employee Uniform Program — feature article at Uniforms magazine, September 2007
• "Father of 3-cent Stamp" Spooner fought Post Office Account of Lysander Spooner's fight against USPS monopoly
• The Unconstitutionality of the Laws of Congress Prohibiting Private Mails by Lysander Spooner
• The Post Office and Private Mail Service 19th century American individualist anarchist Benjamin Tucker opposes USPS monopoly
• America's Post Office Challenges The Digital Age An argument in support of ending the government monopoly
• Time for the Mail Monopoly to Go
• Postal Service Privatization Dr. Edward L. Hudgins, of the Cato Institute, speaks to Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government
• Postal Service Meeting Notices and Rule Changes from The Federal Register RSS Feed

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: United States Postal Service

Companies portal

• USPS Official website
• USPS Priority Mail Official website
• USPS Glossary of Postal Terms (Publication 32)PDF (519 KB)
• U.S. Postal Inspection Service Official website
• USPS Office of the Inspector General Official website
• Postal Regulatory Commission
• Postal Service & Change Address Form
• USPS Mailbox and Post Office Locator
• US Postal Service Congressional Research Service Reports

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