USPS Office of Inspector General

Even though the Internet has only been a part of our lives for a relatively short time, its transformative power is virtually unrivaled in modern history. It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without it.

Unfortunately, many Americans don’t have to imagine. According to the Federal Communications Commission, more than 18 million Americans don’t have access to high-speed Internet service. These “have-nots” constitute the so-called “digital divide” and are shut out of the myriad of economic, educational, and social benefits the Internet has to offer.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, the importance of the Postal Service has never been so evident. But did you know the Postal Service historically has played an important role in our nation’s response to natural disasters and emergencies? 

When you buy a car, how long do you tend to keep it? A few years? Six or seven? Ten? For the U.S. Postal Service, it’s a long, long time. The backbone of its delivery fleet – more than 200,000 vehicles – is the right-hand-drive Long Life Vehicle (LLV), which has an expected service life of 24 years. But almost 70 percent of the LLVs on urban and rural routes are now between 25 and 32 years old, and maintenance costs are high.

Ever wonder where parcels go if the labels fall off? Or what happens if a package is undeliverable?

The U.S. Postal Service’s Mail Recovery Center (MRC) serves as the “lost and found” center for the Postal Service, receiving items determined to be undeliverable for a number of reasons. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2019, the MRC received 67 million items from post offices and other facilities around the country. While that’s a large number, it’s a small fraction of a percent of the 142 billion mailpieces the Postal Service delivered that same year.

Say you run a business – a big one – and you come up with a new product, one you believe can benefit millions of potential customers. When it becomes available, you want to make sure your salespeople can tell customers about it…right?