16 Billion in 30 Days

U.S. Postal Service Delivers the Holidays

WASHINGTON — Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night will keep the Postal Service from doing what it does best – pick up and deliver holiday mail and packages. Between now and Christmas, the Postal Service will deliver 16.6 billion cards, letters and packages across the country and around the world, a task that requires more than 190,000 vehicles, including 142,000 half-ton trucks.

“The holiday season isn’t just the busiest time of the year for the Postal Service — it’s our best time of year,” said John E. Potter, Postmaster General and chief executive officer. “The Postal Service is gearing up for our annual mail delivery to the North Pole to help Santa and his elves get ready for the big day.”

The Postal Service expects to deliver more than 3 billion cards and letters over the holidays. This year, a postmark of Kermit the Frog will appear in the upper right-hand corner of holiday cards and letters mailed throughout the month of December.

The Postal Service also expects:
97 million customers to visit the Post Office during the holidays
30 million pounds of mail to be delivered to overseas military installations, including war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan
2.11 billion holiday stamps to be printed

The busiest mailing day is set for Monday, Dec.14. More than 830 million cards, letters and packages should be mailed on that day alone, compared to 583 million on a typical day. Wednesday, Dec. 16, will be the busiest delivery day. Staff at the National Operations Center work 24-7 to help navigate mail movement around the world.

“We’re the holiday mailing and shipping experts,” said Postmaster General Potter. “We’ve been delivering the holidays for the past 234 years, and we’re proud to deliver excellent service to our customers, especially during this busy time of year.”

More than 41 million customers will skip the trip to the Post Office this holiday season and take advantage of the Postal Service’s convenient online shipping at usps.com. Customers can print shipping labels, pay for postage and request free package pickup while sipping hot cocoa or baking holiday cookies from the comfort of their home. The Postal Service will deliver free shipping supplies, including the popular Priority Mail Flat Boxes, and also pick up packages for free when customers ship online using the Postal Service’s website.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations

Visit the Postal Service’s interactive holiday press room at usps.com/news. For holiday mailing reminders and shipping tips, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/holidayshipping.

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Please Note: For broadcast quality video and audio, photo stills and other media resources, visit the USPS Newsroom at www.usps.com/news.

A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency five consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 26th in the 2008 Fortune 500.