The United States Postal Service (USPS) gets a lot of flack, is the inevitable butt of jokes, and the recipient of an amazing amount of criticism. For the process of creating political direct mail, however, we couldn’t do our work without them. So let’s take a moment to consider what the USPS does on a daily basis to move your direct mail into the hands of targeted recipients.
Every year, the USPS publishes a report of “postal facts” highlighting the accomplishments and value that the USPS brings to the American economy. Here are some interesting facts compiled from this report:
- The mailing industry is estimated to generate $1.3 trillion annually, employing 8 million Americans. The USPS is the heart or center of the mailing industry.
- 40% of the world’s mail is handled by the USPS
- In 2014, the USPS posted $67.3 billion dollars in revenue
- Letter carriers and mail truck drivers log 1.2 billion miles each and every year
- 262 Postal Service employees were recognized as heroes in 2013
- $20.1 billion stamps were sold in 2013
- $78.2 million has been raised for breast cancer research using the Breast Cancer stamp
- More than 74, 000 letter carriers drive to a neighborhood and deliver mail on foot each day, nearly 7, 600 work entirely on foot
- Tray sorting machines sort more than 18 million trays of mail per day
- 363, 300 mail pieces are processed each minute
- 523 million mail pieces are processed and delivered each day
- $0 tax dollars are received for operating the Postal Service