A self-supporting, independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation: 155 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

With more than 31,600 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of nearly $69 billion and delivers 47 percent of the world’s mail. With more than half a million employees, the Postal Service is one of the nation’s largest employers. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 43rd in the 2015 Fortune 500 and 137th in the 2015 Global Fortune 500 list. The Postal Service has one of the world’s largest computer networks — linking nearly 32,000 facilities and making communication possible between hundreds of thousands of employees, as well as our customers.

The Postal Service mission is to provide a reliable, efficient, trusted and affordable universal delivery service that connects people and helps businesses grow. Everyone living in the United States and its territories has access to postal products and services and pays the same for a First-Class postage stamp regardless of their location.

The Postal Service has established a core set of enduring goals that guide all of its strategic initiatives and continuous improvement efforts:

• Deliver High-Quality Services
• Provide Excellent Customer Experiences
• Ensure a Safe Workplace and an Engaged Workforce

The Postal Service puts information and technology at the center of its business strategies. It’s finding ways to harness analytics and insights and information to empower employees and customers. It’s also speeding the pace of innovation, and developing mobile and digital tools to play a larger role in the daily digital lives of customers. The Postal Service is already a technology-centric organization. It uses the world’s most advanced tracking and information systems to speed the flow of mail and packages throughout its network, creating literally billions of data points every day. The Postal Service is leveraging the information derived from that robust scanning and tracking to add value to the senders and receivers of mail and packages — and to create new products and services to spur growth in the mailing industry.

The U.S. Postal Service continues to play an indispensable role as a driver of commerce and as a provider of delivery services that connects Americans to one another — reliably, affordably and securely, and to every residential and business address.

Postal Service Profile (PDF)

The Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service is comparable to a board of directors of a publicly held corporation. The Board normally consists of up to nine governors appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the Senate.

The nine governors select the Postmaster General, who becomes a member of the Board, and those 10 select the Deputy Postmaster General, who also serves on the Board. The Postmaster General serves at the pleasure of the governors for an indefinite term and the Deputy Postmaster General serves at the pleasure of the governors and the Postmaster General.

In 1970, when the Board was established by the Postal Reorganization Act, the governors of the Postal Service were appointed for terms of nine years. The first nine appointments were for staggered terms of one to nine years. Subsequent appointments were made for the full nine years. On December 20, 2006, President George W. Bush signed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act, P.L. 109-435, which changed the terms of subsequently appointed governors from nine to seven years. The Act also added professional qualifications for the governors. The governors are chosen to represent the public interest generally and cannot be representatives of special interests. Not more than five of the nine may belong to the same political party. They shall be chosen solely based on their experience in the field of public service, law or accounting. However, at least four of the governors shall be chosen solely based on their demonstrated ability in managing organizations or corporations (in either the public or private sector) that employ at least 50,000 employees.

Appointments are made when vacancies occur or for the remainder of unexpired terms. Each governor’s term expires on December 8 of a given year. Governors may continue to serve following expiration of their term or until a successor is appointed but not for more than one year. No person may serve more than two terms as a governor.

The Board directs the exercise of the powers of the Postal Service, directs and controls its expenditures, reviews its practices, conducts long-range planning, approves officer compensation and sets policies on all postal matters. The Board takes up matters such as service standards and capital investments.

In November 2014, the Governors adopted a resolution regarding the exercise of those powers conferred by law solely to the Governors as distinguished from the full Board, which include the appointment and removal of the Postmaster General and the establishment of prices and classifications for postal services. The Governors determined that their ability to exercise those powers reserved to the Governors was not impacted by the loss of a Board quorum. In calendar year 2016, the Board of Governors operated under authority delegated to the Temporary Emergency Committee (TEC), which included one Governor, the Postmaster General and the Deputy Postmaster General.

The TEC will continue in existence until the Board is again able to assemble a quorum.

The governors employ a full-time corporate secretary who serves as the primary staff assistant to the Board. The secretary is generally responsible for coordinating the resources of the Postal Service so that the Board fulfills its statutory duties in the most efficient and informed manner possible. Julie S. Moore is the secretary of the Board.

The Board of Governors meets on a regular basis. Meeting locations are generally in Washington, D.C., but may be scheduled in some other city where the members can see firsthand a Postal Service or large mailer’s operation.

All meetings are open to the public unless the Board specifically votes to close all or part of a meeting in line with exemptions permitted by the Government in the Sunshine Act [5 U.S.C. 552b(b)].

Each governor receives $300 per day for not more than 42 days of meetings each year and travel expenses, in addition to an annual salary of $30,000. Nine vacancies exist on the Board.