Postal Facts - U.S. Postal Service
The Postal Service is always striving to increase the impact, excitement and value of mail. We’ve always embraced new technologies and innovation. We’re firmly focused on improving the mailing experience.
People, machines, vehicles, technology — it’s an impressive feat to get that card from grandma or that package from your favorite online store to your doorstep.
The Automated Package Verification program automates the detection and collection of postage due for short paid mailpieces through the use of automated package processing equipment. The Postal Service has collected $20 million in short paid revenue and $138 million in deterrence since August 2017.
In 2018, the Seamless Acceptance process handled 41 billion in volume from 353 participating mailers and collected $395,000 in additional postage from assessments.
The eInduction process simplifies the induction of drop shipments and expedited plant load mailings by leveraging eDoc, Intelligent Mail container barcodes and handheld scanner technologies to verify the payment and preparation of commercial mail containers. The Postal Service has 933 eInduction mailers.
The Enterprise Payment System allows customers to pay for and manage their use of Postal Service products and services online, using an integrated single payment account. In 2018, EPS collected $2 billion in revenue.
6.9 million
postage statements
The commercial mail acceptance program enables automation of verification and acceptance of commercial mail. USPS currently has 10,802 business mail entry units and 874 detached mail units. In 2018, commercial mail acceptance processed 6.9 million commercial postage statements.
The Electronic Verification System allows high-volume package mailers and package consolidators to document and pay for postage using electronic manifest files. In 2018, eVS processed 3.7 billion packages from 4,559 shippers and collected $8.8 billion in revenue.
More than $55 billion in postage was collected from more than 50,000 customers through permits, meters and PC Postage in 2018.
You call that scribble legible? Employees at the Remote Encoding Center in Salt Lake City, UT, are responsible for deciphering terribly handwritten or shoddily printed addresses.
In 2018, the Postal Service released several stamps that highlighted printing technologies that were new to the production of our stamps, including the Frozen Treats stamps -- the first "scratch and sniff" stamp.
The Delivery Barcode Sorter reads the barcode on letters and sorts them at 36,000 pieces per hour.
Tray sorting machines sort more than 18 million trays per day through conveyor systems.
8,500
processing equipment
The Postal Service uses more than 8,500 pieces of automation processing equipment to sort nearly half the world's mail.
260,000
Mobile Delivery Devices
Mobile Delivery Devices provide real-time scanning for daily delivery operations. There are more than 260,000 devices in use nationwide.
45,000
point-of-sale terminals
The Postal Service maintains 45,000 point-of-sale terminals and 2,821 self-service retail kiosks nationwide supported by the IT team.
Postal Customer Councils connect business mailers with local Post Office leadership to develop more effective and profitable mailings through training and information sharing. Since the 1960s, PCCs have been the go-to local resource for helping mailers learn, innovate and build their businesses.
Mailers
providing technical advice
Representing select mailing associations, the Postmaster General's Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee works to enhance the value of mail by providing technical advice and recommendations to the Postal Service.
100
workshops and seminars
The National Postal Forum is an annual mailing industry conference that provides educational and networking opportunities for thousands of business customers. Attendees learn about the latest mail trends and innovations through more than 100 workshops and seminars.
36,000
stamps postmarked per hour
The Advanced Facer Canceller System positions letter mail and postmarks stamps at 36,000 pieces per hour.
The Postal Service is one of the largest material-handling systems in the world for moving mail. There are more than 200 miles of conveyors within postal facilities.
Optical
character recognition
The Postal Service is the world leader in optical character recognition technology, with machines reading nearly 98 percent of all hand-addressed letters and 99.5 percent of machine-printed mail.
TRACKING
Intelligent Mail
A unique Intelligent Mail barcode identifies individual pieces of mail, trays, sacks and containers to track them through the postal processing system from induction to delivery.
Every Door Direct Mail is an online service that uses demographic data to help business mailers target their marketing mailpieces to customers in a select neighborhood, city or ZIP Code. Since 2011, there have been more than 4 million transactions, 18.5 billion mailpieces and $3 billion in revenue.
With Informed Delivery service, you can digitally preview your incoming mail and manage your packages from a computer, tablet or mobile device. More than 15 million customers have enrolled since it was launched in 2017.
310,000
handheld scanners
Our communications network supports and maintains more than 145,000 desktop computers, 23,000 notebook computers, 97,000 printers, 23,000 smartphones, 400,000 phone lines and 310,000 handheld scanners.
The Postal Service has the largest gantry robotic fleet in the world using 174 robotics systems to move 314,000 mail trays per day.
Trademarks
The Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following word marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service®:
Certified Mail®, Click-N-Ship®, Every Door Direct Mail®, Express Mail®, First-Class™, First-Class Mail®, Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, gopost®, Intelligent Mail®, Metro Post®, Parcel Select®, PO Box™, Post Office™, PostalOne!®, Postal Police®, Postal Service™, Premium Forwarding Service® , Priority Mail®, Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail Express International®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, Priority Mail International®, Priority: You®, Registered Mail™, Return For Good®, Standard Mail®, The Postal Store®, United States Postal Inspection Service®, United States Postal Service®, U.S. Mail®, U.S. Postal Inspector®, U.S. Postal Service®, USPS®, USPS BlueEarth®, USPS Mobile®, USPS Tracking®, USPS.COM®, ZIP + 4®, and ZIP Code™. This is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service trademarks.
Postal Facts provides the public with information about the Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, and in a business, informational, academic context and the like, and in the body of text discussing factual subject matter relevant to the fact being presented. However, these facts may become outdated after publication and seeking the latest information is advised.
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