In the USA, mail services handle literally everything: bills (utilities, internet, medical insurance, loan payments), bank statements, credit cards, licenses, vehicle registration documents (including metal plates), and online store purchases.
To better describe the postal industry, here are some numbers: the governmental USPS alone employs 617,254 people, of whom 78% are mail carriers. There are 211,000 vehicles across the country.
Here are some figures for JUST ONE day of mail service (from their official website):
* 223.7 million — revenue in dollars
* 151.8 million — employee salaries in dollars
* 512.8 million — number of letters and packages processed and delivered
* 21.3 million — average number of letters and packages PER HOUR
* 356,103— average number of letters and packages per minute
* 5,935 —average number of letters and packages per second
* 0 — state funding
For comparison, Russian Post employs just half as many people (about 312,000), and the number of letters and packages processed and delivered differs by a factor of 121 (one hundred twenty-one times!). Yet, USPS continues to operate with significant losses.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 