People get mail every day and go to the post office frequently, so it’s natural for them to think their knowledge of the Postal Service is up to date. But that isn’t always the case. Here are a few little-known facts about the organization that delivers your mail.

The Postal Service:

• Delivers mail to almost 138 million homes, businesses, and post office boxes. About 1.7 million new addresses are added each year.
• Carries more mail to more people over a larger geographic area than any other country.
• Serves 7 million customers daily at one of 38,000 postal retail units, and 10 million customers a month online.
• Collects mail from more than 326,000 street mail collection boxes.
• Employs 750,000 career employees, including 235,985 veterans and 47,937 employees with disabilities.
• Handles more than 200 billion pieces of mail a year, or five pieces per address per day.
• Operates a transport and delivery fleet of 215,530 vehicles driving approximately 1.15 billion miles a year.

There are many misconceptions about the nation’s mail delivery system, but the facts speak for themselves. Mail delivery is a huge business, and the Postal Service is working hard to meet the constantly changing and growing ways that people communicate.