ED PPT

BY SHIBASHISH SAHU

REGD. NO: 7020

INTRODUCTION:

United States Postal Service

Agency overview

Formed July 1, 1971Washington, D.C.

Headquarters 475 L'Enfant Plaza SWWashington, DC 20260-2202

Employees 546,000 (2012 Career Employees)[2]

Annual budget $70.634 billion (2011)[3]

Agency executive Patrick R. Donahoe, Postmaster General

Key document Postal Clause of the United States Constitution

Website

HISTORY:

The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office and U.S. Mail, is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States.

The United States Post Office (USPO) was created in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin on Wednesday, July 26, 1775, by decree of the Second Continental Congress.

Based on the Postal Clause in Article One of the United States Constitution, empowering Congress "To establish post offices and post roads", it became the Post Office Department (USPOD) in 1792.

Until 1971, it was part of the Presidential cabinet and the Postmaster General was the last person in the United States presidential line of succession.

The Postal Reorganization Act signed by President Richard Nixon on August 12, 1970, replaced the cabinet-level Post Office Department with the independent United States Postal Service. The Act took effect on July 1, 1971.

CURRENT OPERATIONS: The USPS operates the largest civilian vehicle fleet in the world, with an estimated 218,684 vehicles, the

majority of which are the easily identified Chevrolet/Grumman LLV (Long-Life Vehicle), and the newer Ford/Utilimaster FFV (Flex-Fuel Vehicle), originally also referred to as the "CRV" (Carrier Route Vehicle).For every penny increase in the national average price of gasoline, the USPS spends an extra $8 million per year to fuel its fleet.

Some Rural Letter Carriers use personal vehicles. Standard postal-owned vehicles do not have license plates. These vehicles are identified by a seven digit number displayed on the front and rear.

The Department of Defense and the USPS jointly operate a postal system to deliver mail for the military; this is known as the Army Post Office (for Army and Air Force postal facilities) and the Fleet Post Office (for Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard postal facilities).

Five-year plans

In October 2008, the Postal Service released Vision 2013, a five-year plan required by law starting in 1993.One planned improvement is the introduction of the Intelligent Mail Barcode, which will allow pieces of mail to be tracked through the delivery system, as competitors like UPS and FedEx currently do.

GOVERNANCE AND ORGANIZATION:

The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service sets policy, procedure, and postal rates for services rendered, and has a similar role to a corporate board of directors.

Of the eleven members of the Board, nine are appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate.

The nine appointed members then select the United States Postmaster General, who serves as the board's tenth member, and who oversees the day to day activities of the service as Chief Executive Officer.

The ten-member board then nominates a Deputy Postmaster General, who acts as Chief Operating Officer, to the eleventh and last remaining open seat.

The Postal Service also has a Mailers' Technical Advisory Committee and local Postal Customer Councils, which are advisory and primarily involve business customers.

Universal service obligation and monopoly status:

Article I, section 8, Clause 7 of the United States Constitution grants Congress the power to establish post offices and post roads, which has been interpreted as a de facto Congressional monopoly over the delivery of mail. Accordingly, no other system for delivering mail – public or private – can be established, absent Congress's consent.

The mission of the Postal Service is to provide the American public with trusted universal postal service at affordable prices. While not explicitly defined, the Postal Service's universal service obligation (USO) is broadly outlined in statute and includes multiple dimensions: geographic scope, range of products, access to services and facilities, delivery frequency, affordable and uniform pricing, service quality, and security of the mail.

COMPETITORS:

FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) directly compete with USPS express mail and package delivery services, making nationwide deliveries of urgent letters and packages.

DHL Express was the third major competitor until February 2009, when it ceased domestic delivery operations in the United States.

SERVICES: PC postage ( Click-N-Ship,(USPS),eBay, Endicia, Pitney

Bowes,Stamps.com )

Paying postage : stamp purchases at USPS.com, bulk mailing, postal meter, prepaid envelope.

First class mail.

Parcel post

Media mail

Library mail.

Bulk mail

Standard mail

Periodicals etc.

Postal money order

International services

Airline and rail division

Types of postal facilities: A main post office (formerly known as a general post office) is the primary postal facility in a community.

A station or post office station, a postal facility that is not the main post office, but that is within the corporate limits of the community.

A branch or post office branch, a postal facility that is not the main post office and that is outside the corporate limits of the community.

A classified unit, a station or branch operated by USPS employees in a facility owned or leased by the USPS.

A contract postal unit (or CPU), a station or branch operated by a contractor, typically in a store or other place of business.[120]

A community post office (or CPO), a contract postal unit providing services in a small community in which other types of post office facilities have been discontinued.

A finance unit, a station or branch that provides window services and accepts mail, but does not provide delivery.

A processing and distribution center (P&DC, or processing and distribution facility, formerly known as a General Mail Facility), a central mail facility that processes and dispatches incoming and outgoing mail to and from a designated service area. (275 nationwide.)[118]

An international service center (ISC), an international mail processing facility. There are only five such USPS facilities in the United States, located in Chicago, New York, Miami, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Employment in the USPS:

The Postal Service is the USA's second-largest civilian employer. As of 2011, it employed 574,000 personnel, divided into offices, processing centers, and actual post offices. The United States Postal Service is a Fortune 500 company.

Labor unions representing USPS employees include: The American Postal Workers Union (APWU), which represents postal clerks and maintenance, motor vehicle, mail equipment shops, material distribution centers, and operating services and facilities services employees, postal nurses, and IT and accounting;[148] the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), which represents city letter carriers; the National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA), which represents rural letter carriers; and the National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU).