Top 10 Postal Facts

10. The Smithsonian Institution’s National Postal Museum is dedicated to the preservation, study and presentation of postal history and philately. The Museum, located in Washington, DC, was created by an agreement between the Smithsonian Institution and the United States Postal Service in 1990 and opened to the public in 1993. In 2013, the William H. Gross Stamp Gallery — the world’s largest gallery dedicated to philately — opened its doors. The gallery provides an experience available nowhere else and offers something for everyone, from casual visitors to experienced collectors.

9. The phrase by Herodotus etched atop the James A. Farley Building in Manhattan — “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” — is not the official Postal Service motto. The Postal Service does not have a motto. 

8. The Postal Service is environmentally friendly and is a respected sustainability leader. It promoted sustainable practices long before doing so was encouraged, mandated or governed. 

7. The Postal Service is the only organization in the country that has the resources, network infrastructure and logistical capability to deliver to every residential and business address in the nation. 

6. The Postal Service has the country’s largest retail network — larger than McDonald’s, Starbucks and Walmart combined, domestically. 

5. The Postal Service can and does compete with the private sector — and it collaborates with it, too. UPS and FedEx pay the Postal Service to deliver hundreds of millions of their ground packages to residences, taking advantage of the Postal Service’s expansive delivery network. The Postal Service pays UPS and FedEx for air transportation, taking advantage of their comprehensive air networks. 

4. Mail is a great communication tool. No monthly plans. No signal outages. No roaming charges. Regardless of geographic location, anyone can send a letter for just 49¢ to anywhere in the United States, its territories and U.S. military and diplomatic installations worldwide. 

3. Mail is reliable, trusted and secure — more than 200 federal laws protect the sanctity of the U.S. Mail. These laws are enforced by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. U.S. Postal Inspectors are federal agents, mandated to safeguard the nation’s mail — including the people who move it and the customers who use it. 


2. The Postal Service continues to improve customer service by increasing access to postal services online, on smart-phones and in the places people visit every day: grocery stores, drug stores, ATMs and local retailers. 

And most importantly…
1. The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.