The Postal Service is part of the fabric of the nation with employees making a difference in every community across the country. Here’s a look at some of the programs and causes our organization supports.
Vehicle Service Operations
Postal Vehicle Service (PVS) operations includes more than 10,000 uniformed motor vehicle and tractor trailer operators. The PVS fleet includes 2,202 cargo vans, 1,880 tractors and nearly 3,200 trailers. Commuting within a 170-mile radius of their facility, PVS drivers travel more than 167 million miles each year.
Those Who Serve
It’s not just any letter or package. It’s a picture of the kids. It’s a handmade scarf. It’s a favorite candy bar. It’s a piece of home. The Postal Service helps make sure these very special letters and packages make it to those who serve in the military — and their families with them — wherever they are around the globe. It's our honor to serve those who serve!
Proud!
We are Postal Proud! The Postal Proud program provides individuals at every level of the organization with an opportunity to share why they are proud to be a postal employee.
Thousands of employees in nearly 400 unique jobs have been recognized since its inception in 2018. #PostalProud
postal employees
Heads of industry. Hollywood legends. Sports heroes. Singers. Painters. Writers. And a couple presidents. All were postal employees before they became household names! Thirteen have even been featured on stamps.
mailman
John Prine, singer and songwriter, was a letter carrier in Maywood, IL, 1964-1969.
LINK
Link, a daily news site for Postal Service employees, is available on any computer with internet access. The content is produced by a team of writers and editors based at USPS headquarters in Washington, DC. Additional contributions come from postal employees across the nation. The site is updated with new articles, photos, graphics and videos each weekday.
Regular features include “Heroes’ Corner,” a column about employees who perform heroic deeds, and “On the Move,” a weekly roundup of employees who’ve received new appointments or recognition.
Employees with postal email addresses receive a Link email each weekday with links to the most recent stories. The team also produces an end-of-week Link Recap email with stories readers might have missed, along with Link Extra emails for breaking news.
Link mobile is a mobile-friendly version of the Link site. Link mobile has all the news you’ll find on the desktop version of Link, except it’s formatted for easy reading on handheld smart devices. Employees and others can receive a weekly Link mobile email by subscribing at www.usps.link.
diversity
The Postal Service workforce is one of the most diverse in the nation. We look like America. That is our strength.
The Postal Service is one of the most diverse organizations in the nation.
female PMG
The first female Postmaster General was Megan J. Brennan, Washington, DC, 2015.
African American on stamp
The first African American on a stamp was Booker T. Washington, 1940.
Native American on a stamp
The first Native American on a stamp was Pocahontas, 1907.
Hispanic American on a stamp
The first Hispanic American on a stamp was Adm. David Farragut, 1903.
African American Inspector
The first known African American postal inspector was Isaac Myers, Baltimore, MD, 1870.
Isaac Myers served from 1870 until 1879. During his employment he helped solve a number of notorious cases.
woman on a stamp
The first American woman on a U.S. postage stamp was Martha Washington, 1902.
African American Carrier
The first known African American mail carrier was James B. Christian, Richmond, VA, 1869.
African American Postmaster
The first known African American Postmaster was James W. Mason, Sunny Side, AR, 1867.
female mail carrier
The first known female mail carrier was Sarah Black, mail messenger, Charlestown, MD, 1845.
postmaster
The first known female Postmaster in the United Colonies was Mary Katherine Goddard, Baltimore, MD, 1775.
African American Postmasters
African Americans worked as Postmasters, clerks and carriers beginning in the 1860s — 100 years before the Civil Rights era brought wider opportunity in the American workplace.
postmasters
Women served as Postmasters in this country more than a century before they won the right to vote.
Veterans
We're patriotic. The Postal Service employs nearly 73,000 military veterans, making it one of the largest employers of veterans in the country.
The Postal Service has also issued more than 140 stamps honoring the nation’s military history, including the Service Cross Medals stamps.
workforce
The Postal Service encourages employees to take advantage of self-paced career development by offering 24,000 online courses and 28 educational partnerships offering discounts towards degree and certification programs.
DIVERSE
The Postal Service is diverse. The strength of the Postal Service lies in its amazing diversity. Historically underrepresented racial groups account for 53 percent of the workforce.
socially responsible
We're socially responsible. The Postal Service supports communities nationwide. These efforts include facilitating the nation’s largest one-day food drive, working with customers to prevent dog bites, educating customers on consumer protection, and delivering holiday magic through USPS Operation Santa.
every 2 weeks
In 2023, the Postal Service paid $2.03 billion every two weeks in salaries and benefits.
Postmaster General
Louis DeJoy is the 75th Postmaster General of the United States.
resolving disputes
The Postal Service's Judicial Officer Department is a court system that conducts hearings and neutrally resolves a wide variety of disputes involving postal matters. Its independent decisions involve contract disputes, employee debt disputes, mail disputes and mail fraud, among many other areas.
USPS and mailers
Postal Customer Councils (PCCs). These Postal Service-affiliated networks 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 business. More information can be found at postalpro.usps.com/pcc.
Find more information at postalpro.usps.com/pcc.
providing technical advice
Postmaster General’s Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC). Representing select mailing associations, this group works to enhance the value of mail by providing technical advice and recommendations to the Postal Service. More information can be found at postalpro.usps.com/mtac.
that motto
The U.S. Postal Service has no official motto. Nope, it’s not this: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” But we certainly appreciate the sentiment.
About that motto…
Those words are engraved on the front of the James A. Farley Post Office in NYC, set in stone by the architectural firm that built it. The phrase is taken from an ancient book by the Greek historian Herodotus and refers to messengers in the Persian Empire.
The phrase comes from book 8, paragraph 98, of The Persian Wars by Herodotus, a Greek historian. During the wars between the Greeks and Persians (500-449 B.C.), the Persians operated a system of mounted postal couriers who served with great fidelity.
The popular belief that Herodotus’s description of the Persian postal service is about the U.S. Postal Service is a tribute to the hundreds of thousands of men and women who have delivered the mail reliably and dependably, through all conditions, for centuries.
Postmaster General
The Post Office Department was founded in 1775 with Benjamin Franklin as the first Postmaster General. His annual salary was $1,000. Before 1971, the PMG was a Cabinet member.
MPSA formed
The Military Postal Service Agency was formed in 1980, consolidating the postal operations of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The Department of Defense designated the Secretary of the Army as the single military mail manager.
Military and Diplomatic Mail in brief.
Care Kit
The Postal Service is the best way to ship directly to APO, FPO and DPO locations. The Military Care Kit contains six Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes — two large-sized and four medium-sized — six address labels, one roll of tape and six customs forms, and can be ordered at no charge at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-610-8734.
The Military Care Kit — and the special pricing offered for APO, FPO and DPO destinations — makes it easy to send care packages to loved ones stationed overseas.
for consumers
National Consumer Protection Week. During the Federal Trade Commission’s annual awareness campaign, the Postal Service and U.S. Postal Inspection Service provide customers with education, tools and information to combat identity theft and mail fraud.
countries
The Military Postal Service (MPS) provides service in 56 countries. The MPS operates 1,624 military postal operations comprised of 386 land- and sea-based military Post Offices, 328 land- and sea-based unit mailrooms, 291 mobile units, 591 official mail centers and 28 mail processing facilities worldwide.
Military and Diplomatic Mail in brief
military veterans
We’re patriotic. The Postal Service employs nearly 73,000 military veterans, making it one of the largest employers of veterans in the country.
The organization has also issued more than 140 stamps honoring the nation’s military history, including the Service Cross Medals stamps.
BIG business
The U.S. Postal Service is the core of the nation’s $1.6 trillion mailing industry, which employs more than 7.3 million people.
The U.S. Postal Service is the core of the nation’s $1.58 trillion mailing industry, which employs more than 7.3 million people.*
These types of mail brought in most of the $78.2 billion in postal operating revenue in 2023:
heroes among us
We have heroes among us. Postal employees regularly go beyond the call of duty to protect the lives of the people they serve, including elderly or disabled customers through the Carrier Alert Program.
In 2023, the Postal Service recognized 128 heroic employees.
fleet of feet
More than 74,000 letter carriers drive to neighborhoods and then deliver the mail on foot. More than 6,500 carriers deliver mail entirely on foot -- the USPS Fleet of Feet. Mail is also delivered by bicycle on select routes in Arizona and Florida, reducing emissions and saving fuel.
Trademarks
The Sonic Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service: Click-N-Ship®, Deliver The Win®, EDDM®, ePostage®, Every Door Direct Mail®, Express Mail®, First-Class™, First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package International Service®, Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, IMb®, Informed Delivery®, Intelligent Mail®, Label Broker™, Parcel Select®, P.O. Box™, Post Office®, Pony Express®, Postal Inspection Service™, PostalOne!®, Postal Police®, #PostalProud®, Priority Mail Express International®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, Priority Mail International®, Priority: You®, Registered Mail™, 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 Operation Santa®, USPS Tracking®, usps.com®, We are people delivering to people™, ZIP+4® and ZIP Code™. This is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service trademarks.
Non-Postal Trademarks
Dollar General®, Forest Stewardship Council®, How2Recycle®, McDonald’s®, National Dog Bite Prevention Week®, Starbucks®, Subway®, Sustainable Forestry Initiative®, The Climate Registry®.
Postal Facts 2024 provides the public with information about the U.S. Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, in a business, informational or 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.
Produced by U.S. Postal Service Corporate Communications
© 2024 United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
© 2016-2024 United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
Trademarks
The Sonic Eagle Logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, the Letter Carrier Uniform and the Postal Truck and the following marks are among the many trademarks owned by the United States Postal Service: Click-N-Ship®, Deliver The Win®, EDDM®, ePostage®, Every Door Direct Mail®, Express Mail®, First-Class™, First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package International Service®, Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, IMb®, Informed Delivery®, Intelligent Mail®, Label Broker™, Parcel Select®, P.O. Box™, Post Office®, Pony Express®, Postal Inspection Service™, PostalOne!®, Postal Police®, #PostalProud®, Priority Mail Express International®, Priority Mail Flat Rate®, Priority Mail International®, Priority: You®, Registered Mail™, 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 Operation Santa®, USPS Tracking®, usps.com®, We are people delivering to people™, ZIP+4® and ZIP Code™. This is not a comprehensive list of all Postal Service trademarks.
Non-Postal Trademarks
Dollar General®, Forest Stewardship Council®, How2Recycle®, McDonald’s®, National Dog Bite Prevention Week®, Starbucks®, Subway®, Sustainable Forestry Initiative®, The Climate Registry®.
Postal Facts 2024 provides the public with information about the U.S. Postal Service. The facts in this publication may be reproduced for the purpose of stating the fact itself, in a business, informational or 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.
Produced by U.S. Postal Service Corporate Communications
© 2024 United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
© 2016-2024 United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
