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A World Without the Post Office
The U.S. Postal Service, one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the U.S.
Constitution, has seen better days. After a plan by the post office to end most Saturday mail delivery,
a proposed federal budget mandated six-day delivery, despite post office officials’ contention that the
independent federal agency needs to trim costs. With steadily declining revenue, the specter of a world
without the U.S. Postal Service becomes more plausible each year.
The Size and Reach of the Post Office:
31,272
Postal Service-managed retail offices
212,530
Vehicles, one of the largest civilian fleets in the world
1.3 billion
Miles driven each year by letter carriers and truck drivers
40%
World’s mail volume handled by the Postal Service
8 million
Employees
438,000,000
Pieces of mail processed every day
$65 billion
2012 revenue
$1.8 billion
Salaries and benefits paid every two weeks
423 million
Annual visits to usps.com
5.7 million
Passport applications accepted every year
0
Tax dollars received for operations
152 million
Total delivery points
Blame It on Gmail? Mail Volume Falls
With easy, free access to email, and thus email marketing, the demand for mail has fallen over the past
decade.
2 in 3
Americans have access to email; that is expected to rise to 72% by 2017
More Than Mail: Our Love Affair With Stamps
The fare for sending a letter—the stamp—is a huge part of U.S. culture. We celebrate with holiday-
themed stamps; we raise money with charity stamps; and we collect old stamps, well, because they’re
cool.
Charity
Stamps sold slightly above the cost of a regular stamp, semi-postal stamps raise funds for causes
identified by Congress.
Commemorative Stamps
The post office has released dozens of commemorative stamps over the years, whether related to
music, entertainment or Americana. Here are the most collected commemorative stamps.
SOURCES:
U.S. Postal Service
findyourstampsvalue.com
eMarketer
