United States Postal Service: Everything You Need To Know About USPS

The United States Supreme Court stated that everyday day, according to the Government’s statistics, the USPS (United States Postal Service) delivers almost 660 million packages of deliveries to at least 142 million delivery locations. This clearly explains how USPS works. It snatches the third position as the highest employer after Federal Government and Wal-Mart. The Department of Defence and the United States Postal Service (USPS) manage working side by side, a postal system to deliver mail meant for Military Personnel, and this particular service is known as the Army Post Office Service and the Fleet Post Office.

USPS International Mail Services

One of the main features of the United States Postal Services is its International Mail Services. It provides a variety of options for international purposes. There is variation in price according to the service but still are considered one of the most efficient ways of sending a package abroad. They are listed as follows:

  1. Global Express Guaranteed: This is the fastest international shipping service; it takes 1-3 business days. It delivers to 180 countries with the help of FedEx.
  2. Priority Mail Express International: This is the second fastest international shipping service, it takes 3 to 5 business days.
  3. Priority Mail International: This is an affordable service as per the price. It takes 6-10 business days.
  4. First Class Mail International: This is the most economical option for international shipping services. There can be restrictions regarding the size according to the country of destination.
  5. Air Mail M- Bags: This is considered to be the most affordable way to send printed material to other countries.

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USPS Domestic Mail and Shipping Services

Another commendable and obvious feature of the USPS is the domestic shipping and mailing services. The United States Postal Service provides all its customers with this service by servicing people all around the United States of America. Some of the services are as follows:

  1. Priority Mail Express: This is the fastest domestic delivery service, it is delivered overnight. This service is available all through the year.
  2. Priority Mail: The shipping is done within 1-3 business days. It is an extremely reliable service that is used mostly among other USPS services.
  3. First Class Mail: The shipping is done within 1-3 business days with regard to the envelopes and small packages.
  4. USPS Retail Ground: Reliable and economical and takes 2-8 Business days. Less than urgent and big packages can be sent with this service.
  5. Media Mail: Very economical to send educational materials. It takes 2-8 business days for the delivery to happen.

Restricted Shipping Items

However, for safety concerns, USPS has restricted certain items as a threat to delivery. All customers who make use of the United States Postal Services must be aware of these restrictions and must abide by all the rules and regulations put forth by the United States Postal Services. The restrictions are listed as follows:

The Domestic Items that are prohibited for delivery by the United States Postal Service are; Air Bags, Gasoline, Explosives, and Ammunition. The Internationally Prohibited Items by the United States Postal Service are Air Bags, Gasoline, Explosives, Ammunition, Aerosols, Alcoholic Beverages, Cigarettes, Dry Ice, Nail Polish, and Perfume; because they mostly contain Alcohol), Fresh Fruits and Vegetables because they tend to get spoiled fast and of course, Poison.

USPS Employee Benefits

There have been propositions to close down some of the USPS offices in some small towns and villages across America. This caused a great hue and then proposed some different ideas on working hours in those places. One cannot forget the number of employees the USPS has. It provides various benefits to its employees making it one of the most coveted jobs in the United States. So, the advice of closing down some of the offices was very unwelcoming. Some of the benefits are as follows. The employees get paid according to their workload. The employees are paid for working overtime and as well paid for working on Sundays. The perks are always great.

Health Insurance

The Postal Service participates in the Federal Employees Health Benefits also known as The FEHB Program. These facilities are not subjected to taxes making them more affordable for all USPS employees.

Dental and Vision Insurance

All USPS Employees are given the eligibility to participate in the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program also known as FEDVIP. Like Health insurance facilities, these too are not subjected to taxes, and hence, employees do not have to worry about paying up from their fees.

Flexible Spending Accounts

After a year of service, the employees at USPS are given an opportunity for Flexible Spending Accounts which takes care of most of their health and daycare finances. And thus all such finances are managed by USPS.

Long-Term Care Insurance

Employees can enroll in the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program (FLTCIP), which will take care of the costs of receiving care for long periods of time like a nursing home or assisted living, which is not covered by a normal health insurance plan.

Retirement

There is a defined benefit according to the age of the employee and the number of years in his or her service; it includes disability provision as well and hence the employees at USPS have really well cared for retired plans.

Thrift Savings Plan

Career postal employees may contribute to the Thrift Savings Plan also known as TSP. Employees will mostly receive automatic and similar contributions that go up to 5 percent of pay from the United States Postal Service.

Social Security & Medicare

Even the newly hired postal employees are taken very well care of by USPS and they are covered under Social Security and Medicare that USPS has affiliations with.

Life Insurance

The Postal Service provides a large coverage with the Federal Employees’ Group Life Insurance (FEGLI) Program to all its employees. The cost of Basic coverage is taken care of by the United States Postal Service, and extra coverage can be purchased through payroll deductions by the employees when required.

Commuter Program

USPS provides Tax-free purchase of public transportation and parking to its employees, and this is up to IRS’s top level, to reduce unnecessary costs for employees who are willing to participate. These are some of the benefits of the Commuter Program.

Leave

The Postal Service provides a pretty decent vacation plan and sick leave that extends up to 13 days for the initial three years. It, later on, increases to 20 days and after 12 years increases to 26 days as the employee keeps working for USPS. Part-time employees have their benefits accordingly. Annual and sick leave is prorated based on paid hours for part-time employees. The benefits are different for employees holding other positions in the agency.

Holidays

The Postal Service provides 10 holidays each year to their employees.

Career Development & Training

The Postal Service offers a learning atmosphere that garners achievement through training initiatives that place employees to improve basic operational knowledge and gain leadership skills.

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WHY USPS?

Overall, The United States Postal Service is a top postal service preference for entrepreneurs. By far it’s the best available option when it comes to price; it’s the cheapest when compared to FedEx and UPS. It as well offers insurance for overnight delivery. USPS also delivers to most locations such as post office boxes which are located in small towns and villages. It has more pick-up options, a wide array of packaging some for free, and it offers insurance for Priority Express mail and Priority Mail ( the different postal service options as mentioned above) as well as free tracking for various services. Using the flat box rate makes all the shipping-related decisions relatively straightforward for any product that is 70 pounds or less. The benefit for the customer is that he can pay a flat rate no matter what the weight or where the package is going. It is important that a customer avails of insurances that are available for the types of services. If you are using insured services, you will be reimbursed in case the deliveries are late or do not arrive at all.

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