Size and Scope

We deliver to every home and business in the United States. Every American has access to our services and pays the same postage regardless of where they live or work. We …

• Process and deliver more than 212 billion pieces of mail — letters, cards, ads, bills, payments and packages — every year. Which equates to:
  • 700 million pieces per day
  • 29 million pieces per hour
  • 486,000 pieces per minute
  • 8,000 pieces per second
• Deliver mail to more than 300 million people at 148 million homes, businesses and PO Boxes in every state, city and town, and in Puerto Rico, Guam, the American Virgin Islands and American Samoa.
• Add 1.8 million new addresses each year to our delivery network — equivalent to the number of addresses in a city the size of Chicago.
• Have annual operating revenue of nearly $75 billion.
• Are the second-largest employer in the United States with nearly 685,000 career employees.
• Pay $2.1 billion in employee salaries and benefits every two weeks.
• Handle 46 percent of the world's card and letter mail volume — delivering more mail to more addresses in a larger geographical area than any other post in the world.
• Do not receive tax dollars for operations. We are a self-supporting agency, using the revenue from the sale of postage and products to pay expenses.
• We move mail using planes, trains, trucks, cars, boats, ferries, helicopters, bicycles, hovercrafts, subways and even mules.
• We operate the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world with more than 219,000 vehicles driving more than 1.2 billion miles each year and using nearly 121 million gallons of fuel.
• When fuel costs increase one penny, our costs increase over $8 million annually.
• We process and deliver 25.6 billion pounds of mail in 2007 — about 85 million pounds per day.
• We handled more than 832 million pieces of international mail in 2007 — more than 268 million pounds.
• About 14 percent of the nation’s population moves every year, generating more than 46 million address changes.
• We forward more than 2 billion pieces of mail a year at no cost to the customer.
• Automated Postal Centers (APCs) are self-service kiosks that provide customers with access to the most frequently purchased postal products and services.
• Customers can purchase stamps at:
  • More than 33,000 commercial retail outlets.
  • 17,000 banking and credit union ATMs.
  • 2,500 APCs.

Good Corporate Citizenship

The Postal Service is part of the fabric of every American community.

• Every year, postal employees around the country put their own lives at risk to save the lives of the customers they serve. In 2007, the Postal Service recognized more than 381 employee heroes.
• For the third year straight, the Postal Service was rated by the American public as the most trusted government agency according to the 2007 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government conducted by the Ponemon Institute, LLC.
• Sales of the Breast Cancer Research semi-postal stamp have raised more than $60.1 million in voluntary contributions for breast cancer research since July 1998 and sales of the stamp have been extended until 2011.
• In 2007, 42.7 billion stamps were printed. These stamps reflect the American experience and highlight our values, heroes, history, achievements and natural wonders in a collection of miniature works of art.
• Each year, the Postal Service sponsors National Dog Bite Prevention Week — a public safety campaign — to build community awareness concerning animal attacks.
• Postal employees pledge an average of $38 million annually to the Combined Federal Campaign.
• The Postal Service and the National Association of Letter Carriers hold the largest one-day food drive in the nation. In 2007, 70.7 million pounds were collected. A total of 765.5 million pounds of food have been collected since it started.
• The Postal Service, the National Marrow Donor Program and The Marrow Foundation created the Delivering the Gift of Life Campaign. To date, more than 30,000 postal employees have joined the registry and many have made life-saving marrow donations. This figure surpasses all other organizations — public or private sector.
• Working with Valassis (formerly ADVO), the “Have You Seen Me” campaign emphasizes the power of the mail. The program has resulted in the safe return of 145 missing children being reunited with their families (as of December 31, 2007).

Security and Law Enforcement

Postal Inspectors are mandated to safeguard the entire postal system - from the nearly 685,000 employees who process and deliver the mail, to the millions of customers who use it

• One of the country's oldest federal law enforcement agencies, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service has a long, proud and successful history of protecting the Postal Service, securing the nation's mail system and ensuring public trust in the mail.
• In 2007, Postal Inspectors arrested over 9,000 suspects for crimes involving the mail or against the Postal Service. More than half of the arrests were related to mail theft and identity crimes; over 1,200 were for frauds sent through the mail.
• Postal Inspectors helped develop the “2 SMRT 4U” campaign aimed at teen girls, the group targeted most by online sexual predators, including a website to educate them about how to chat and post wisely online (www.2smrt4u.com). The Postal Inspection Service was honored with the Justice Department's Internet Safety Award for its dedication to protecting children and fighting child exploitation.
• To protect consumers from counterfeit check scams, Postal Inspectors led a global initiative which stopped the flow of 600,000 fake checks and led to 77 arrests of suspected scammers in 3 foreign countries. Postal Inspectors helped launch a national public awareness campaign against fake checks, including TV, magazine and Internet ads, and a website (www.fakechecks.org).
• To ensure safety in postal facilities and to keep the mail moving, Postal Inspectors use modern equipment and common sense to verify reports of hazardous substances and/or suspicious mailpieces. Often, facilities don't have to be evacuated and work can continue while the hazard or suspicion is resolved.
• To quickly respond to a major incident, the Postal Inspection Service has 18 mobile command centers and a mobile mail screening station ready for action.
• In 2007, Postal Inspectors made 72 arrests for mailed explosives, false alarms, hoaxes and vandalism, including the accused “Bishop” bomber.
• Postal Inspectors presented nearly 850 mail safety seminars for employees, media and other law enforcement and government agencies.
• The Postal Inspection Service plays a major role on the President's Identity Theft Task Force and works closely with the financial services and mail order industries to keep America's confidence in the mail.
• Postal Inspectors helped bring about the guilty plea of California lawyer William Lerach, the father of the “class action lawsuit,” for helping to arrange kickback payments to people recruited as plaintiffs in over 150 class action suits against U.S. companies.

Postal Service Fun Facts

• Post Office at Highest Elevation is in Leadville, CO.
• Post Office at Lowest Elevation is in Mecca, CA.
• Coldest Area in the postal system is the North Slope area of Alaska, which includes Barrow, Wainwright and others, has the coldest average temperature in the postal system.
• Hottest Area in the postal system is Death Valley, CA.
• Westernmost Post Office is in Pago Pago, Samoa.
• Easternmost Post Office is in Majuro, Marshall Islands.
• Easternmost Post Office in the Continental US is in Lubec, ME.
• Southernmost Post Office is in Pago Pago, Samoa.
• Southernmost Post Office in the Continental US is in Key West, FL.
• Northernmost Post Office is in Barrow, AK.
• Post Office closest to geographical center of the 48 contiguous states is in Lebanon, KS.
• Longest Rural Delivery Route is 175.1 miles in Fordville, ND.
• Shortest Rural Delivery Route is 1.9 miles in Henderson, NV.
• Lowest Number ZIP Code is 00401, a unique ZIP Code belonging to the Reader’s Digest Association in Pleasantville, NY.
• Highest Number ZIP Code is 99950 in Ketchikan, AK.
• Easiest ZIP Codes to remember are: 12345 in Schenectady, NY, 44444 in Newton Falls, OH, and 55555 in Young America, MN.
• Smallest Post Office is in Ochopee, FL, and was formerly an irrigation pipe shed. The 8'4" x 7'3" building was converted to a Post Office in 1953.
• Oldest Post Office is in Castine, ME. This office has been in continuous operation since 1814.
• Second Oldest Post Office is in Hinsdale, NH. This office has been in the same building since 1816.
  
  (Let's put these dates into perspective: when these Post Offices began providing postal services, James Madison was President; the War of 1812 inspired Frances Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner; Abraham Lincoln was a kid; and the Civil War wasn't going to happen for another 45 years.)
• Oldest Known Post Office is in Boston, MA, where Richard Fairbanks' tavern was designated as the official repository for mail in 1639.
• Most Extraordinary Post Office is the Peach Springs Post Office in AZ. It is equipped with walk-in freezers to accommodate the food that is delivered to the bottom of the Grand Canyon by mule train for the Havasupai Indians.
• Most Unusual Delivery Method is the mule train in Supai, AZ. The number of mules varies according to volume being carried. Each mule carries about 130 pounds of mail, food, supplies and furniture down the 8-mile trail to the reservation. An average of 41,000 pounds is carried each week. In 2007, 2.5 million pounds were carried by the mules.
• The Postal Service purchases the most rubber bands and pressure sensitive adhesive in the world.
• The Postal Service operates the:
  • Largest retail network in the country.
  • Largest intranet in the world.
  • Largest civilian fleet of vehicles in the world.
  • Largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in the world.
• The Postal Service is part of a global network of postal organizations serving more than 665,000 post offices around the world.
• The men and women of the Postal Service are among the nearly 5.5 million postal employees worldwide — making it collectively one of the largest employers in the world.
• At 700,000 square feet, the Postal Service's New York International Service Center is the largest postal office of exchange in the world.
• The Postal Inspection Service was the first modern federal law enforcement agency to offer federal agent careers to women.
• Postal Inspectors ensured the security of every gold bar shipped from New York to Fort Knox in 1934 — they were all sent via Registered Mail.
• A Postal Inspector came up with the idea for ZIP Codes.
• Another Inspector created the credit card activation process (the sticker that reads, “call now to activate”) that is now considered the first priority in preventing credit card fraud.

Sustainability

We are committed to making a positive impact on the environment, we will lead by example, and we will help empower the American people to go green as well

Protecting the Environment

• The Postal Service earned Cradle to Cradle Certification based on the quality of raw materials used to produce our Priority Mail and Express Mail envelopes and boxes.
• More than a half billion of these envelopes and boxes are used every year and because they are now fully recyclable, more than 15,000 metric tons of carbon emissions will be prevented annually.
• The Postal Service partnered with state agencies in Maine in 2007 to launch the nation's first program allowing consumers to dispose of excess pharmaceuticals by mail. This program will prevent prescription drugs from contaminating natural resources.
• Retail, stamp and mailing products are made from 100 percent recycled content with post-consumer content ranging from 80 to 100 percent.
• The Greening the Mail Task Force was created to bring key stakeholders to the table to identify ways of integrating environmental considerations into mailing and related practices.
• The Postal Service won the 2007 EPA WasteWise Partner of the Year Award — for the eighth straight year — for reducing solid and industrial wastes.
• We have recycled more than 2,300 tons of computers and parts, and resold 63,000 computers to established organizations around the country since 2004.
• The Postal Service has been honored with 37 White House Closing the Circle Awards. These awards recognize outstanding achievements of federal employees and their facilities for efforts resulting in significant environmental contributions.
• New water-based inks used to print stamps are made from soybeans and contain no lead, and stamps contain a gum-free pressure sensitive adhesive that makes them easier to recycle.
• Using linerless labels on stamp coils has eliminated close to 700 tons of scrap paper.
• Through recycling and waste prevention programs, one million tons of wastepaper, cardboard, cans, plastics and other materials were recycled last year.
• We have recycled more than 2,300 tons of computers and parts and resold 63,000 computers to organizations around the country since 2004.
• Reducing the use of paper, supporting the use of recycled paper, and recycling waste paper have been goals for nearly two decades.
• In 2007, more than $7.5 million was generated in revenue by selling recyclables to companies as raw materials.

Conserving Energy

• The Postal Service has more solar photovoltaic systems, used to convert sunlight directly into electricity, than any other agency in the nation. The emissions eliminated by using solar power are equal to planting over 850,000 trees.
• We operate the world's largest fleet of alternative fuel vehicles - more than 36,000 - that can use clean fuels such as ethanol, compressed natural gas, liquid propane gas, electricity and biodiesel.
• We increased the use of ethanol by 60% in 2007.
• We have been testing GM's hydrogen fuel cell minivan in VA and GM's HydroGen3 minivan in CA. The only thing these vehicles emit from their tailpipes is pure water.
• Mail is delivered by bicycle in locations in Arizona and Florida - reducing emissions and saving fuel.
• From the first electric motor coach that collected mail in Buffalo, New York, in 1899 through the expansion of its Hydrogen Fuel Cell program in 2006, the Postal Service has a long history of seeking new and more efficient ways to deliver the mail.
• The Postal Service has operated two-ton electric vehicles in New York City since 2004. These "CitiVans" have zero tailpipe emissions.
• The new Utility Management System, currently being tested in 600 facilities around the country, captures cost and use data for electricity, natural gas and fuel oil bill management. This system will help prioritize energy investments and reduce utility contract costs.

Sustainable Facilities

• Postal buildings are going green.
• New postal facilities are being built with the environment in mind, using things like:
  • recycled fiberglass insulation
  • straw bale insulation
  • natural lighting
  • thermal window frames
  • solar electric systems
  • solar thermal systems
  • water tanks to harvest rainwater for reuse
• We are promoting conservation measures in facilities across the country, including long-life light bulbs, motion sensors on light switches and computer-controlled thermostats.
• Building systems are being retrofitted with more energy efficient systems that not only reduce operating costs, electricity use, and air emissions, but improve the working environment for our employees.
• Native species are used in landscaping at postal facilities around the country to minimize the use of resources.

Quick. Easy. Convenient.

The Postal Service web site allows customers to conduct their postal business online from the comfort of their home or business

• usps.com is one of the most frequently visited government sites, with 386 million visits in 2007 - averaging one million visitors each day.
• The Postal Store is the nation’s official online Post Office, featuring sales of postage stamps, stationery, philatelic collectibles and other gift items.
• In 2007, the Postal Store’s stamp and retail sales were more than $209 million.
• Working with the Department of State, the Postal Service accepted 9.8 million passport applications in Post Offices around the country in 2007 — more than half of what the State Department processed.
• Click-N-Ship allows customers to print shipping labels with or without postage for Priority Mail, Priority Mail International, Express Mail, Global Express Guaranteed and Express Mail International. More than 34 million Click-N-Ship labels were printed in 2007.
• CardStore, Premium Postcards, and Click2Mail (formerly Mailing Online) allow customers to create and send customized mailings from the convenience of their personal computer.
• Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes and envelopes allow customers to pay one low price for however much they can fit into the box.
• Internet Change-of-Address allows customers to change their address, sign up for long-distance phone service and order moving supplies from their personal computers.
• Hold Mail Service allows customers to have their mail held safely for them at their local Post Office while they are away from home. Scheduling can be done online.
• With Carrier Pickup, customers can go online to request Express Mail and Priority Mail packages be picked up at their home or office — for free.
• Redelivery Service allows customers to schedule the delivery of the package they missed.
• usps.com consists of approximately 250,000 pages — 11,000 are viewed on a daily basis.
• In order of popularity, the top five areas visited on usps.com are:
  • ZIP Code Lookup
  • Track N Confirm
  • Calculate Postage
  • PO Locator
  • Postal Store

21^st Century Postal Service — Innovation & Technology

We have a long, proud history of creating and using the most advanced technology available

Innovative Technologies

• Intelligent Mail barcodes are revolutionizing the mail. Like mini-GPS systems, the barcodes uniquely identify mailpieces and track them until they are delivered.
• We are a world leader in optical character recognition — more than 91 percent of the handwritten addresses on envelopes can be read using this technology.
• The Advanced Facer Canceller System (AFCS) positions letter mail and cancels stamps at 36,600 pieces per hour.
• The Multi-Line Optical Character Reader (MLOCR) machine reads and verifies the address on mail, sprays a barcode and sorts the mail at 36,000 pieces per hour.
• The Barcode Sorter (BCS) sorts mail by reading the barcode on a piece of mail at 38,200 pieces per hour.
• The Delivery Barcode Sorter (DBCS) sorts mail by reading the barcode, similar to the BCS, but the DBCS sorts mail for specific routes. At 39,500 pieces per hour, the DBCS sorts mail in the order the carriers deliver it.
• The Automated Flat Sorting Machine (AFSM) processes “flat” mail, such as large envelopes, at 17,000 pieces per hour.
• The Automated Package Processing System (APPS) uses state-of-the-art technology to process packages and bundles of mail at over 9,500 pieces per hour.

Information Technology

• For the fourth straight year, the Postal Service has been named one of the best places to work in Information Technology by Computerworld magazine.
• We have one of the world's largest e-mail systems, delivering more than 13 million emails a day with an average delivery time of less than 5 minutes.
• The Postal Service's intranet — the largest in the world — connects more than 28,000 locations to critical business systems 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
• We store more than 2 petabytes of data online — equivalent to more than 4,000 years of songs on an MP3 player with no repeats.
• We have more than 182,000 employees with a postal e-mail account.
• 3.6 billion email messages were delivered in 2007. This amount has been growing at a rate of 35 percent per year.
• In 2001, just over 90,000 postal employees used a computer every day. Today, nearly 340,000 postal employees use computers on a daily basis at work.
• The Postal Service has nearly 7,000 BlackBerry users.
• 297 million email messages are scanned for viruses every month.

It's today, and . . .

The Postal Service will:

• Deliver
  • 316 million pieces of First-Class Mail
  • 2.96 million pieces of Priority Mail
  • 181 thousand pieces of Express Mail
  • 2.8 million pieces of International Mail
  • 46 thousand cards and letters coming into the United States from other countries
  • 700 million total pieces of mail
  • about 85 million pounds of mail
  • to 119 million residences, 9 million businesses and 20 million PO boxes
• Drive nearly 4.1 million miles in our fleet of trucks
• Spend nearly $1 million on over 400,000 gallons of fuel for the fleet of trucks
• Add 6,000 new delivery points to our nationwide network
• Process 152,000 changes of address
• Forward more than 6.6 billion pieces of mail at no charge to the customer
• Serve 9 million customers at nearly 37,000 retail locations
• Accept nearly 20,000 passport applications
• Cancel 50 million postage stamps on automation equipment
• Issue more than 500,000 money orders
• Have one million visitors on usps.com
• Process more than 230,000 transactions at Automated Postal Centers
• Perform at least one heroic act by saving a customer's life, home, or both.
• Receive no tax dollars

Our customers will:

• Ship packages without leaving their desks at work or their kitchens at home
• Order shipping supplies between meetings or errands
• Create Customized Postage with their company logo or their kid's artwork
• Use free, eco-friendly packaging
• Track domestic and international shipments while on the train
• Buy stamps while watching TV
• Hold their mail from the airport
• Change their address while sitting in a coffee shop
• Create greeting cards with a family photo and mail them to relatives without leaving their home
• Download postage-paid mailing labels for packages they are sending from the convenience of their own mailboxes
• Reschedule the delivery of packages while making dinner
• Skip the trip, log onto usps.com, use Click-N-Ship and Carrier Pickup
• Use Global Express Guaranteed to ship packages to London, Paris, or Brussels — and know that it will get there in two days
• Save time knowing the U.S. Postal Service is helping them have more time to do the things they want to be doing