U.S Usps United Service Delivery States Postal Independent

The United States Postal Service ("USPS") is an independent U.S. government agency. It has not received "taxpayer dollars" (money collected by the government from Americans and American businesses) since 1983, although it does borrow some money from the U.S. Treasury.

Even though the USPS is financially independent, it is not really independent of the U.S. government. The U.S. "Constitution" (the most important legal document in the United States) "explicitly" (openly and very clearly) "authorizes" (allows something to exist; says that something is legal) the agency and sets clear expectations for how the USPS should operate. The USPS is required to serve all Americans, "regardless of" (no matter) where they live with the same-quality service for the same price. Obviously, it is more expensive to deliver mail to people who live in very "isolated" (hard to reach; far from others) areas, but the USPS cannot charge more money for serving those people.

An 11-member "Board of Governors" creates policies and procedures and sets "postage rates" (how much it costs to send something through the mail). The U.S. President "appoints" (suggests; names) nine of those members, who then must be "confirmed" (approved) by the U.S. Senate. Those members choose the "Postmaster General" (the leader of the USPS, like a CEO) and the "Deputy Postmaster General" (the second in command, like a COO).

The USPS has a "monopoly" (with total control over a type of business, without competition) over mail delivery and no other companies are allowed to compete with it. However, there is an "exception" (a time when the rules are different) for "urgent" (very important and needing to be done very quickly) mail, and that is why private delivery services like FedEx (Federal Express) and UPS (United Parcel Service) are able to sell "express" (very quick) delivery services.