1.4 Parcel Post

Used to send packages weighing up to 70 poundsOfficially the pound is the name for at least three different units of mass: the pound (avoirdupois the troy pound the obsolete imperial pound There also exists an unofficial metric pound . While most standards bodies define the pound as a unit of mass, m

• Rates based on distance, weight, and shape
• Delivery to every address in the United States

1.5 Media Mail

Formerly known as "Library mail" or "Book Rate," Media Mail is used to send books, printed materials, sound recordings, videotapes, CD-ROMs, diskettes, and similar, but cannot contain advertising. Maximum weight is 70 pounds.

• Rates based on weight
• Much cheaper than Parcel Post, but sometimes slower

1.6 Priority Mail

Priority Mail is an expedited mail service with a few additional features.

• Average delivery time is 2-3 days (but this is NOT guaranteed, may take much longer)
• Flat rate envelope available (one rate for whatever you put in the envelope)
• Packages up to 70 pounds.
• Label can be printed online
• Delivery to every address in the United States

1.7 Express Mail

Express Mail is the fastest mail service.

• Typically overnight or second-day delivery
• Flat rate envelope available
• Packages up to 50 pounds
• Delivery to most addresses in the United States
• Guaranteed on-time delivery
• Sunday and holiday delivery

1.8 Money Orders

• Provide safe alternative to sending cash through the mail
• Money orders are cashable only by the recipient, like a bank check

1.9 Global Priority and Global Express Mail

Expedited and express service to several countries.

1.10 Airline Division

The United States Postal Service does not directly own or operate any aircraft. The mail and packages are flown on airlines with which they have a contractual agreement. The contracts change periodically. Depending on the contract, you may see aircraft painted with the USPS paint scheme. Contract airlines have included: Emery Worldwide, Ryan International, Federal Express, Rhoades Aviation, and Express 1 International.

2 Add-on Services

2.1 Delivery Confirmation

• Confirms delivery of package
• Detailed package tracking is not included, but information is sometimes available
• Results available online or telephone
• Only available with First Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Package Services (Media Mail, Parcel Post, and Bound Printed Matter)

2.2 Signature Confirmation

• Confirms delivery with signature
• Recipient's signature is kept on file
• Only available with First Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Package Services (Media Mail, Parcel Post, and Bound Printed Matter)

2.3 Insurance

• Provides package with insuranceInsurance is the business of providing protection against financial aspects of risk, such as those to property, life, health and legal liability. It is one method of the overall concept known as risk management. Introduction In insurance, the insured make from loss or damage while in transit
• Available for amounts up to $5,000
• Covers material losses only minus depreciation

2.4 Certified Mail

• Provides proof of mailing, and a delivery record
• Available for First Class Mail and Priority Mail

2.5 Registered Mail

• Provides mailing receipt, delivery record, and protection for valuables
• Available for Priority Mail and First Class Mail

2.6 Collect On Delivery (C.O.D.)

• Allows merchants to offer customers a chance to pay upon delivery
• Insurance comes included with fee
• Amount to be collected cannot exceed $1,000
• Available for First-Class Mail, Express Mail, Priority Mail, and Package Services (Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter, and Media Mail)

3 Postage Stamps

3.1 Copyright and Reproduction

All US postage stamps and other postage items that were released before 1978 are in the public domainThe public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. Proprietary interest is typically represented by a cop. After this time they are copyright by the postal service under Title 17 of the United States Code. Written permission is required for use of copyrighted postage stamp images. [1]

3.2 PC Postage

In addition to using standard stamps, postage can now be printed from a Personal computer using a system called Information Based Indicia . Authorized providers of PC Postage are:

• Stamps.com
• Pitney Bowes
• Endicia Internet Postage

4 Sponsorships

For a number of years, the US Postal Service has been head sponsor of a professional cycling team, bearing its name. The team features Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France from 1999 to 2004. The sponsorship ends in 2004, and the Discovery Channel has stepped in as the main sponsor after that, with the team to be renamed the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team.

5 Employment in the US Postal Service

The US Postal Service employs more people than any other single company in the United States except Wal-Mart. It employed 790,000 personnel in 2003, divided into offices, processing centers, and actual post offices. USPS employees are divided into three major categories according to the work they engage in.

5.1 Carriers

Carriers, also referred to as mailmen, are the most public face of the USPS.

5.2 Mail Handlers and Processors

Mail handlers and processors often work at the evening and night to prepare mail and bulk goods for the carriers to deliver. Work is physically strenuous, especially for mail handlers; many mailbags loaded from and onto trucks weigh as much as 60 pounds.

5.3 Clerks

Clerks work in the post offices, handling customers' needs, receiving express mail, and selling stamps.

5.4 Other

Truck drivers deliver mail to and from facilities.

6 Postal Inspection Service

The United States Postal Inspection Service is the oldest federal law enforcement agency in the USA. It originated in 1772, when colonial Postmaster General Benjamin Franklin appointed a surveyor or special agent to regulate and audit the mails – 4 years before the Declaration of Independence.

As Franklin was Postmaster under the Continental Congress and was Washington’s first Postmaster, his system continued. By 1830, the special agents had grown to become the Office of Instructions and Mail Depredations.

USPIS investigates mail related crimes. This is not just theft or sending illegal material, but includes attacks on letter carriers; since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the USPIS has also investigated several cases of ricin, Anthrax and other toxic substances being sent through the mail.

In addition to plain-clothes inspectors there is the uniformed Postal Security Force whose security police officers protect major postal facilities, escort high-value mail shipments, and perform other protective functions.

The Postal Inspection Service operates four forensic crime laboratories, including forensic scientists and technical specialists so that the service can be an entirely independent agency enforcing more than 200 federal postal laws.

Many of its duties were transferred to the USPS Office of the Inspector General. These duties tended to be in the internal fraud, waste and abuse categories.

7 Public Reputation

In the early 1990s, there was a widely publicized wave of workplace shootings by disgruntled employees at USPS facilities. Thanks to sensationalistic media coverage, postal employees gained a mostly undeserved reputation among the general public as being mentally ill. This stereotype in turn has become the basis of jokes in movies like Men in Black II and computer games like Postal.

Due to the rash of shootings, the USPS made firearms possession by employees a criminal offense.

8 External links

• USPS Official web site
• History of the United States Postal Service
• US Postal Inspection Service Official Site
• US Postal Service cycling team

United States federal agencies * Postal organisations Transportation companies of the United States

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