Supply Chain · Profile from Supply Chain Research Companion
United States Postal Service
The self-funding independent federal establishment, created by the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970, that delivers to every US address (~170m delivery points, reported, verify) six days a week for mail and seven for some parcels, at uniform prices, with ~600,000+ employees (verify) and no taxpayer appropriation for operations. It is the largest US parcel carrier to residential and rural addresses and was the largest by volume as recently as 2023 (~31% of parcels, Pitney Bowes, reported). Its story is a universal-service obligation priced like a business — density without pricing freedom: its carriers pass every door anyway, which makes it the cheapest last mile in low-density America, but it cannot choose its customers, close routes, or set most of its prices, and its highest-margin product, First-Class Mail, has been shrinking for two decades. It lost ~$9.5bn in FY2024 and ~$9.0bn ($8,978m) in FY2025 on ~$80.5bn of revenue (USPS, 14 Nov 2025), reached its $15bn Treasury borrowing limit by 2026, told Congress in March 2026 that it could run out of cash as early as October 2026 or February 2027, and suspended employer pension contributions in April 2026 (reported). Its leaders' answers — Louis DeJoy's Delivering for America plan (2021) and David Steiner's continuation of it (from 2025) — have been as contested as its finances.
At a glance
- Founded
- Post Office Department from 1792 (Benjamin Franklin first Postmaster General under the Continental Congress, 1775); USPS created by the Postal Reorganization Act, signed 12 Aug 1970, operating from 1 Jul 1971
- Headquarters
- L'Enfant Plaza, Washington, DC
- Ownership / structure
- Independent establishment of the executive branch; governed by a presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed Board of Governors, which appoints the Postmaster General; prices and service overseen by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC); no shareholders, no operating appropriations (USPS)
- Leadership (2026)
- David Steiner, 76th Postmaster General (from Jul 2025; former Waste Management CEO and former FedEx director — reported, verify start date); predecessor Louis DeJoy (Jun 2020–Mar 2025, reported)
- Products
- Market-dominant: First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, Periodicals (price cap); competitive: Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, USPS Ground Advantage (from Jul 2023), Parcel Select (last-mile injection for Amazon, consolidators and regional carriers)
- Scale
- ~$80.5bn operating revenue FY2025 (+1.2%) (USPS); mail volume well under ~120bn pieces a year by the mid-2020s vs ~213bn in FY2006 (USPS reports, verify); ~31,000+ post offices (verify); one of the largest civilian vehicle fleets (~230,000 vehicles, verify)
- Finances
- Net loss ~$9.5bn (FY2024) and ~$9.0bn (FY2025) (USPS); FY2026 plan ~$8.1bn loss (USPS); Q1 FY2026 net loss ~$1.3bn (reported); $15bn statutory borrowing limit reached (blueprint Shared facts)
- Labour
- Four main unions (NALC city carriers, NRLCA rural carriers, APWU clerks and processors, NPMHU mail handlers); collective bargaining with interest arbitration, no right to strike (federal law)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Postal Reorganization Act (1970); PAEA retiree-health prefunding (2006); Amazon Sunday delivery (2013); Delivering for America (2021); next-generation delivery vehicles (2021); Postal Service Reform Act (2022); Ground Advantage (2023); regional processing centres (2023–24); air contract switch from FedEx to UPS (2024); leadership change and cash crisis (2025–26)
10 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
1970
Postal Reorganization Act
Founding; regulatory, customs or legal action
2006
PAEA Retiree Health Prefunding
Regulatory, customs or legal action (failure)
2013
Amazon Sunday Delivery
Customer or carrier contract
2021
Delivering for America Plan
Strategy pivot; restructuring
2021
Next Generation Delivery Vehicle Contract
Network build (fleet) — failure so far
2022
Postal Service Reform Act
Regulatory, customs or legal action
2023
Ground Advantage and Parcel Pricing
Pricing or service change
2023
Regional Processing Centres
Network build (hub, DC, terminal) — failure
2024
Air Cargo Contract Switch to UPS
Customer or carrier contract
2025
Leadership Change and Cash Crisis
Restructuring; leadership change