508-05/28/21-mh

United States Postal Service

Fiscal Year 2020 

Annual Report 

to Congress

An Essential 

Public Service

Fiscal Year 2020 Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2020 Comprehensive Statement 

on Postal Service Operations

Fiscal Year 2020 Performance Report

Fiscal Year 2021 Performance Plan

Updated May 14, 2021
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FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service iii

Contents

Report Structure and Purpose 1

FY 2020 Annual Report 1

Letter from the Postmaster General and USPS Board of Governors Chairman 2

United States Postal Service Board of Governors 4

USPS Executive Leadership Team (ELT) 8

USPS Organizational Chart 10

FY 2020 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Service Operations 12

USPS History and Mission Statement 12

Overview of Postal Service Operations 13

Key Financial and Operating Statistics 23

Executive Compensation 30

FY 2020 Performance Report and FY 2021 Performance Plan 31

Corporate-wide Goals and Targets 31

High-Quality Service 34

Excellent Customer Experience 37

Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce 41

Financial Health 44

Strategic Initiatives 55

Additional Information 58

Trademarks 58

Year References 58
USPS mail handler wearing mask places 

letters in sorting tray.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 1

Report Structure and Purpose

This document consists of the following four reports:

 The Fiscal Year (FY1

) 2020 Annual Report, including

a statement from the United States Postal Service

(USPS) Postmaster General and USPS Board of

Governors Chairman on our2 operations 

 The FY 2020 Comprehensive Statement on Postal

Service Operations 

 The FY 2020 Annual Performance Report 

 The FY 2021 Annual Performance Plan 

This document’s purpose is to provide information to 

stakeholders The document fulfills the requirements 

of the following articles in Title 39 of the United States 

Code (U S C ):

 414(f), on the reporting of financial information

related to special postage stamps (p 18) 

 416(f), on the reporting of information related to

semipostal stamps (p 18) 

 2401(e), on the submission of a Comprehensive

Statement (pp 12–30) 

 2402, on the submission of an Annual Report (pp 

1–11) 

 2803, on the submission of an Annual Performance

Plan (pp 31–53) 

 2804, on the submission of an Annual Performance

Report (pp 31–53) 

 3652(g), on the submission of the Comprehensive

Statement, Annual Performance Report and Annual

Performance Plan (pp 12–53) 

 3686(d), on the reporting of executive compensation

in excess of Federal Level Executive 1 (p 30) 

1

 All references to a specific year or “the year” refer to the Postal Service fiscal year 

ending Sept. 30, 2020. However, specific month and year references pertain to 

the calendar dates. 

2 The terms “we,” “us” and “our” refer to the United States Postal Service. 

FY 2020 Annual Report

Financial and Operational Highlights

Totals at Sept. 30 Percent change

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018 FY 2020 FY 2019

(in millions, except percentages)

Total mail and package volume 129,171 142,562 146,402 (9.4)% (2.6)%

Total revenue with investment and interest income $ 73,225 $ 71,306 $ 70,783 2.7% 0.7%

Total expenses1 $ 82,401 $ 80,119 $ 74,696 2.8% 7.3%

Net loss $ (9,176) $ (8,813) $ (3,913) 4.1% 125.2%

Purchases of property and equipment $ 1,810 $ 1,419 $ 1,409 27.6% 0.7%

Debt $ 14,000 $ 11,000 $ 13,200 27.3% (16.7)%

Capital contributions of U.S. Government $ 3,132 $ 3,132 $ 3,132 0.0% 0.0%

Deficit since 1971 reorganization $ (83,840) $ (74,664) $ (65,769) (12.3)% (13.5)%

Total net deficiency $ (80,708) $ (71,532) $ (62,637) (12.8)% (14.2)%

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

Number of career employees 495,941 496,934 497,157 (0.2)% (0.04)%

Number of non-career employees 148,092 136,174 137,290 8.8% (0.8)%

Total delivery points 161,374,152 159,901,312 158,558,256 0.9% 0.8%

Change in delivery points served 1,472,840 1,343,056 1,229,580 9.7% 9.2%

1

 Includes interest expense
2 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Letter from the Postmaster General and USPS Board of Governors Chairman

The past year has been extraordinary for the United 

States Postal Service — presenting unique challenges, 

revealing hidden strengths and demonstrating our 

essential role in the life of the nation and in the lives of 

the American public 

As the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic spread 

throughout America’s communities, the 644,000 

women and men of the Postal Service delivered — 

demonstrating constant commitment to our mission of 

service and ensuring that our customers received the 

medicines, health supplies, benefit checks, financial 

statements and other important correspondence and 

goods they depend upon 

We lost 92 of our colleagues to COVID-19 and more 

than 14,000 employees contracted the disease This 

human tragedy continues to confront USPS; we remain 

intensely focused on ensuring the health and safety of 

our employees and customers, and in providing staffing 

resources as we address high rates of absenteeism in 

hot spots throughout the country 

Amid the tumult of the outbreak, we drew strength from 

public support, expressed by many thousands of our 

customers across the nation in the form of handwritten 

messages of thanks to our employees Opinion polls 

also showed the public ranked the Postal Service 

ahead of all organizations — in the public and private 

sector — in admiration and response to the pandemic 

We are proud as well to be rated as the nation’s most 

trusted government institution 

This report documents that the pandemic had a 

dramatic impact on our business, as it did throughout 

the global economy Mail volumes declined precipitously 

as marketers restrained from spending and adapted 

to changes in consumer behaviors Package volumes 

rapidly increased as people minimized in-person 

shopping and ordered goods delivered to their homes 

These offsetting changes in our volume mix helped 

sustain revenues, but nevertheless created new 

operational stresses and exacerbated systemic financial 

imbalances For the year, we recorded a loss of $9 2 

billion, adding to a decade of losses totaling $66 8 

billion Absent substantial changes, our financial losses 

will continue to widen and our ability to invest in the 

future of the organization will lessen Our long-term 

financial sustainability, burdened by $116 6 billion in 

net liabilities, depends upon aggressive management 

actions, and legislative and regulatory reforms 

During the fiscal year, we began the process of building 

a portfolio of initiatives capable of providing billions of 

dollars in annual benefit to our finances This portfolio 

will be finalized following the 2020 general election We 

began implementing a new organizational structure 

to enable better visibility, accountability and lines 

of authority, and better align people and resources 

to desired outcomes We also began instituting 

measures to improve operational precision, to improve 

performance across the enterprise and produce more 

reliable and predictable delivery for the public 

We are mindful always that we must build upon the 

core strengths of the Postal Service: Our mission of 

public service and our people — who live, work and 

serve in every community in America We strive to be 

the preferred delivery service for the American public, 

providing world-class affordable and dependable 

service to every American home and business six 

and seven days a week — today, tomorrow and for 

generations to come 

We believe the following defines a positive future for the 

Postal Service:

 Universal access to the digital economy with

enhanced destination and store-front services across

the nation;

 The most professional, efficient, trusted and visible

delivery services in the marketplace — driven by

significantly greater operational precision;

 A winning culture that champions employee

advancement, engagement and collaboration; and

celebrates diversity and inclusion;

 Innovative, cost-effective platforms to power

business customer growth; and

 Greater revenue diversity, revenue growth and

financial sustainability 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 3

The Postal Service is uniquely a business with 

a public service mission, operating without 

federal appropriations and competing for 

customers to generate revenues.

As we move forward and bring this vision into greater 

focus, we embrace that the Postal Service is uniquely 

a business with a public service mission, operating 

without federal appropriations and competing for 

customers to generate revenues Inherent in this 

mandate, and to compete in an increasingly dynamic 

communications and delivery marketplace — in which 

the mailing and shipping needs of our residential and 

business customers evolve constantly — requires that 

we change and improve continually 

To best serve the public, we must strengthen our role 

as part of the nation’s economic infrastructure, enabling 

e-commerce and the delivery marketplace to continue 

to flourish, providing a robust and efficient marketing 

and communications channel to support America’s 

businesses, and serving as a strategic partner to 

companies in nearly every sector of the economy 

To address our urgent financial challenges, to change 

and improve the organization and to bring greater 

value to the public and the nation, we are committed to 

working collaboratively with stakeholders — including 

the Congress, the Administration, our regulators, 

customers, unions and the public — who depend on us 

every day to fulfill our essential and indispensable role 

On behalf of the women and men of the Postal Service 

— who take great pride in serving the nation and 

customers reliably, securely, affordably and universally 

— we hope you find this report informative and useful 

Thank you for your interest in the United States Postal 

Service 

Louis DeJoy

Postmaster General and Chief Executive Officer

Robert M Duncan

Chairman, Board of Governors
4 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

United States Postal Service Board of Governors

The Board of Governors of the United States Postal 

Service is comparable to the board of directors of 

a publicly held corporation The Board consists of 

up to nine Governors appointed by the President of 

the United States with the advice and consent of the 

Senate 

3

The Governors select the Postmaster General, who 

becomes a member of the Board, and those 10 select 

the Deputy Postmaster General, who also serves on the 

Board The Postmaster General serves at the pleasure 

of the Governors for an indefinite term, and the Deputy 

Postmaster General serves at the pleasure of the 

Governors and the Postmaster General 

As of Sept 30, 2020, the Board consisted of six 

appointed Governors and the Postmaster General 

Robert M. Duncan, 

USPS Board of 

Governors Chairman

Robert M Duncan’s 

appointment to the 

Postal Service Board of 

Governors by President 

Donald Trump was 

confirmed by the Senate 

in August 2018 Duncan, 

of Kentucky, served 

the remainder of a seven-year term expiring Dec 

8, 2018 Duncan served in his holdover year during 

most of calendar year 2019 Duncan was confirmed 

by the Senate in December 2019 for another sevenyear term, which expires Dec 8, 2025 Duncan was 

elected chairman of the Board of Governors on Sept 

13, 2018, and was re-elected Chairman on Nov 14, 

2019 Beginning in June 2020, Duncan also served as 

a member of the Operations Committee 

Duncan is chairman of the board of trustees at Alice 

Lloyd College, a private four-year liberal arts college in 

Pippa Passes, Kentucky, and chairman and CEO of the 

Inez Deposit Bank in Inez, Kentucky In 2017, Duncan 

was named the 17th chairman of the President’s 

Commission on White House Fellowships 

Duncan is a former chairman of the board of directors 

of the Tennessee Valley Authority and former chairman 

of the Republican National Committee 

David C. Williams, 

Former USPS Board 

of Governors Vice 

Chairman

David C Williams’ 

appointment to the 

Postal Service Board of 

Governors by President 

Donald Trump was 

confirmed by the Senate 

in August 2018 Williams, 

a native of Illinois, served the remainder of a seven-year 

term expiring Dec 8, 2019 Williams was serving in his 

hold over year until his resignation from the Board on 

April 30, 2020 Williams was elected vice chairman of 

the Board on Sept 13, 2018, and was re-elected Vice 

Chairman on Nov 14, 2019 Williams was Chairman 

of the Operations Committee from October 2019 until 

April 30, 2020 

Williams is a distinguished professor at the Schar 

School of Government and Policy at George Mason 

University in Arlington, Virginia, and a fellow with the 

National Academy for Public Administration 

Williams is a former Inspector General of the United 

States Postal Service and former vice chair of the 

Government Accountability and Transparency Board 

John M. Barger, 

Governor

John M Barger’s 

appointment to the 

Postal Service Board of 

Governors by President 

Donald Trump was 

confirmed by the Senate 

on Aug 1, 2019 Barger 

is serving the remainder 

of a term that expires 

Dec 8, 2021 Barger has served as chairman of the 

Compensation and Governance Committee and as 

a member of the Strategy and Innovation Committee 

since September 2019 Beginning in September 

2020, Barger began serving as Chairman of the 

Communications Committee and a member of the 

Election and the Communication committees 

3

 All “Board” and/or “BOG” references in this document refer to The Board of 

Governors of the United States Postal Service.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 5

Barger is managing director of NorthernCross Partners, 

an investment and advisory firm, and serves as a 

director on a number of company boards, including 

several involved in e-commerce, logistics and supply 

chain, data analytics, digital visualization and electronic 

displays 

Barger served as a board member of the Los Angeles 

County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) 

for seven years, including as chairman of the Board of 

Retirement, and the Board of Investments 

Ron A. Bloom, 

Governor

Ron A Bloom was 

nominated to serve on 

the Postal Service Board 

of Governors by President 

Donald Trump and was 

confirmed by the Senate 

on Aug 1, 2019 Bloom 

served the remainder of 

a seven-year term that 

expired Dec 8, 2020, and is currently in his holdover 

year that expires Dec 8, 2021 Bloom has served as 

the chairman of the Strategy and Innovation Committee 

and as a member of the Audit and Finance Committee 

since September 2019 Beginning in September 2020, 

Bloom began serving as a member of the Election Mail 

Committee 

Bloom is a vice chairman and managing partner of 

Brookfield Asset Management, in the Private Equity 

group As part of his work at Brookfield, he serves 

on the board of directors of Westinghouse Electric 

Company and Clarios 

Bloom is a former vice chairman, U S Investment 

Banking, Lazard 

Roman Martinez IV, 

Governor

Roman Martinez IV 

was appointed to the 

Postal Service Board 

of Governors by 

President Donald Trump 

and confirmed by the 

Senate on Aug 1, 2019 

Martinez is serving for the 

remainder of a seven-year 

term that expires Dec 8, 2024 Martinez has served 

as chairman of the Audit and Finance Committee and 

as a member of the Compensation and Governance 

Committee since September 2019 Beginning in 

September 2020, Martinez began serving as a member 

of the Communications Committee 

Martinez serves on the board of directors of Cigna 

Corporation; on the board of trustees of New York 

Presbyterian Hospital; and on the board of overseers of 

the International Rescue Committee 

Martinez is a former vice chairman of the Investment 

Advisory Council of the State Board of Administration 

of Florida and former managing director, Lehman 

Brothers 

Donald L. Moak, 

Governor

Donald L Moak was 

appointed to the Postal 

Service Board of 

Governors by President 

Donald Trump and 

confirmed by the Senate 

on June 18, 2020 

Moak will serve for the 

remainder of a seven-year 

term that expires Dec 8, 2022 Moak has served as 

a member of the Operations and Compensation and 

Governance Committees since August 2020 Starting 

in September 2020, Moak began serving as chairman 

of the Election Mail Committee and a member of the 

Communications Committee 

Moak is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer 

of The Moak Group, a public affairs, advocacy and 

business consulting firm 

Moak is a former Marine Corps captain, Navy fighter 

pilot, Delta Airlines B-767 pilot and president of the Air 

Line Pilots Association 

William D. Zollars, 

Governor

William D Zollars 

was appointed to the 

Postal Service Board of 

Governors by President 

Donald Trump and 

confirmed by the Senate 

on June 18, 2020 

Zollars will serve for the 
6 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

remainder of a seven-year term that expires Dec 8, 

2022 Zollars has served as chairman of the Operations 

Committee and as a member of the Audit and Finance 

Committee since August 2020 

Zollars currently serves on Board of Directors of Cerner 

Corporation, ProLogis Inc , C2FO, RedStone Logistics 

and Main Street Data 

Zollars is the former president and chief executive 

officer of YRC Worldwide, Inc 

Louis DeJoy, USPS 

Postmaster General and 

Chief Executive Officer

Louis DeJoy is the 75th 

Postmaster General of 

the United States and the 

Chief Executive Officer of 

the world’s largest postal 

organization by mail 

volume delivered 

Appointed by the Governors of the Postal Service, 

DeJoy began his tenure as Postmaster General in June 

2020 Prior to joining the Postal Service, he spent more 

than 35 years growing and managing a successful 

nationwide logistics company 

As chairman and CEO of New Breed Logistics, DeJoy 

spent decades in collaboration with the U S Postal 

Service, Boeing, Verizon, Disney, United Technologies 

and other public and private companies to provide 

supply chain logistics, program management and 

transportation support New Breed Logistics was a 

contractor to the U S Postal Service for more than 

25 years, supplying logistics support for multiple 

processing facilities The company received Quality 

Supplier Awards from the Postal Service on four 

separate occasions 

In 2014, New Breed merged with XPO Logistics, with 

DeJoy serving as CEO of XPO Logistics’ supply chain 

business in the Americas before his retirement in 

December 2015 He then joined the company’s board 

of directors, where he served until 2018 

As Postmaster General, DeJoy has committed to 

creating a long-term, viable operating model for the 

Postal Service that will ensure the organization can 

fulfill its public service mission while remaining selfsustaining Since August 2020, DeJoy has served as 

a member of the Board of Governors’ Strategy and 

Innovation Committee 

DeJoy is a member of the Board of Trustees at Elon 

University in North Carolina, and the Fund for American 

Studies in Washington, DC He received his Bachelor of 

Business Administration from Stetson University 

Megan J. Brennan, 

Former USPS 

Postmaster General and 

Chief Executive Officer

Megan J Brennan was 

the 74th and the first 

female Postmaster 

General of the United 

States and the Chief 

Executive Officer 

Brennan began her 

tenure as Postmaster General in February 2015, and 

also served on the Postal Service Board of Governors 

Brennan resigned from her position June 12, 2020 

In the four years prior to serving as Postmaster General, 

Brennan served as the chief operating officer and 

executive vice president of the Postal Service, and held 

prior roles as vice president of both Eastern Area and 

Northeast Area operations Brennan began her 33-year 

Postal Service career as a letter carrier in Lancaster, 

Pennsylvania 

Brennan earned a Master of Business Administration 

degree as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute 

of Technology She is also an alumna of Immaculata 

College in Pennsylvania 

Ronald A. Stroman, 

Former USPS Deputy 

Postmaster General and 

Chief Government 

Relations Officer

Ronald A Stroman was 

named the 20th Deputy 

Postmaster General 

(DPMG) in March 2011 

As the second-highest 

ranking Postal Service 

executive, he served on the Postal Service Board of 

Governors and on former Postmaster General Megan 

Brennan’s Executive Leadership Team Stroman 

resigned from his position June 1, 2020 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 7

Stroman had more than 30 years of professional 

experience in government, legislative affairs and 

leadership before becoming DPMG From 1978 to 

1984, he was an attorney with the Department of 

Housing and Urban Development He then served as 

counsel on the Judiciary Committee of the U S House 

of Representatives He also worked for the Committee 

on Government Operations and became a minority 

staff director and counsel for the House Committee on 

Oversight and Government Reform 

In 1997, Stroman took a director’s position with the 

U S Department of Transportation In 2001, he joined 

the General Accounting Office as managing director 

for the Office of Opportunity and Inclusiveness He 

returned to the House in 2009, where he served as 

staff director, Committee on Oversight and Government 

Reform, before joining the Postal Service 

Stroman earned his Juris Doctorate from Rutgers 

University Law Center 

USPS letter carrier wears mask in vehicle 

and delivers mail to a customer’s mailbox.
8 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

USPS Executive Leadership Team (ELT)

Postmaster General and 

Chief Executive Officer 

Louis DeJoy

Deputy Postmaster 

General and 

Government Relations 

Officer (Vacant)

Chief Retail and 

Delivery Officer and 

Executive V.P. 

Kristin Seaver

Chief Logistics and 

Processing Operations 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. David E. Williams

Chief Logistics and 

Processing Operations 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. Isaac Cronkhite

Chief Commerce and 

Business Solutions 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. Jacqueline Krage

Strako

Chief Technology 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. Scott Bombaugh

Chief Information 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. Pritha Mehra
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 9

Chief Customer and 

Marketing Officer and 

Executive V.P. 

Steve Monteith

Chief Financial Officer 

and Executive V.P. 

Joseph Corbett

Finance and Strategy 

Senior V.P. 

Luke Grossmann

Chief Human Resources 

Officer and Executive 

V.P. Douglas Tulino

General Counsel and 

Executive V.P. 

Thomas Marshall
10 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

USPS Organizational Chart 

Executive Leadership Team (ELT): 12 

Officers — non ELT: 34
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 11

As of Nov. 19, 2020
12 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

FY 2020 Comprehensive Statement on Postal Service 

Operations

USPS History and Mission Statement

Our history

The United States Postal Service has a storied history 

as the institution of our Government guaranteeing safe 

and secure communication among and between the 

Government and the American people 

Many are familiar with our history, which began with the 

Second Continental Congress and Benjamin Franklin in 

1775 and continued in 1787 when the Postal Clause of 

the U S Constitution empowered Congress to establish 

Post Offices and post roads Congress exercised those 

powers with the passage of The Post Office Act of 

1792, which made postal services a permanent fixture 

of the Federal Government The act included provisions 

to facilitate freedom of the press, ensure the privacy 

of personal correspondence and expand the nation’s 

physical infrastructure, all vital to our nation’s growth 

and prosperity 

These principles and objectives endure While radio, 

television and the Internet have irrevocably altered our 

information-gathering habits, postal correspondence 

remains the most secure and resilient form of 

communication, providing the American people with a 

delivery infrastructure vital to our national security 

USPS retains the largest physical and logistical 

infrastructure of any non-military government institution, 

providing an indispensable foundation supporting an 

ever-changing and evolving nationwide communication 

network Capitalizing on its expertise in scheduling 

and high-volume sorting, USPS also serves a vital role 

enabling digital commerce 

Our mission 

In April 2020, the Board of Governors adopted the 

following mission statement for the Postal Service 

to conduct long-range planning and set strategic 

policy:

 To serve the American people and, through the

universal service obligation, bind our nation

together by maintaining and operating our

unique, vital and resilient infrastructure.

 To provide trusted, safe and secure

communications and services between

our Government and the American people,

businesses and their customers and the

American people with each other.

 To serve all areas of our nation, making full use

of evolving technologies.

To meet this mission we will:

 Remain an integral part of the United States

Government, providing all Americans with

universal and open access to our unrivaled

delivery and storefront network.

 Maintain and enhance our reputation and role as

a trusted face of the federal government in every

community and provide all levels of government

with access to our network and services.

 Provide frequent, reliable, safe and secure

delivery of mail, packages and other

communications to all Americans.

 Use technology, innovation and where

appropriate, private sector partnerships, to

optimize and adapt our network, operations and

business model to meet the changing needs

of our customers and delivery recipients, while

maintaining our core mission.

 Operate in a modern, efficient and effective

manner that allows us to minimize what we

charge for our services, consistent with meeting,

in a fair way, our obligations to our current and

retired employees and other stakeholders.

 Remain an employer of choice, able to attract,

retain and develop high quality employees who

possess the skills necessary to excel in a rapidly

changing business environment.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 13

Overview of Postal Service Operations

After the passage of the Postal Reorganization 

Act (PRA), the United States Postal Service began 

operations July 1, 1971, succeeding the cabinet-level 

Post Office Department The PRA established the 

Postal Service as an “independent establishment of 

the executive branch of the Government of the United 

States ”

According to U S C Title 39 subsection 101, “The 

United States Postal Service shall be operated as a 

basic and fundamental service provided to the people 

by the Government of the United States, authorized 

by the Constitution, created by an Act of Congress 

and supported by its people The Postal Service shall 

have as its basic function the obligation to provide 

postal services to bind the Nation together through 

the personal, educational, literary and business 

correspondence of the people It shall provide prompt, 

reliable and efficient services to patrons in all areas and 

shall render postal services to all communities ”

In accordance with the provision of the PRA, the Postal 

Service fulfills its legal mandate to provide universal 

services at fair and reasonable prices by offering 

a variety of postal services to its many customers 

Although the Postal Accountability and Enhancement 

Act (PAEA) classifies the services offered as Market 

Dominant and Competitive “products,” the term 

“services” is often used in this report for consistency 

with other descriptions of services the Postal Service 

offers 

Services

Services are sold at approximately 31,000 Postal 

Service-managed Post Offices, stations and branches, 

plus approximately 3,100 additional Contract Postal 

Units, Community Post Offices, Village Post Offices and 

a large network of commercial outlets that sell stamps 

and services on behalf of the Postal Service Services 

are also offered through the website www.usps.com.

Mail deliveries are made to more than 161 million city, 

rural, PO Box and highway delivery points 

Services include the following:

 First-Class Mail — This category includes letters,

cards or large envelopes destined for either domestic

(up to 13 ounces) or international (up to 4 pounds)

delivery First-Class Mail letters include postcards,

correspondence, bills or statements of account and

payments 

 Marketing Mail — This category includes

advertisements and marketing packages weighing

less than 16 ounces and meeting the criteria of not

being required to be mailed using First-Class Mail

service because of their content Marketing Mail

is typically used for direct advertising to multiple

delivery addresses Every Door Direct Mail is one

Marketing Mail service: it enables customers

to prepare direct mailings without names and

Public Opinion

Public interest and opinion of the organization 

remained strong, particularly during the 

COVID-19 pandemic. The Harris Poll 

“Essential 100,” which measures public 

perception of corporate responses to the 

pandemic, ranked the Postal Service as the 

No. #1 most essential company during the 

COVID-19 pandemic4

.

According to a poll from the Pew Research 

Center released in April 2020, 91 percent 

of respondents held a favorable opinion of 

the Postal Service, ranking it first among 

government agencies5

. Morning Consult, a 

global data intelligence company, also ranked 

the Postal Service as the most trusted6

 and 

most loved7

 brand in America in 2020.

4

 Feider, M. (2020, June 25). The Harris Poll Releases List of 100 Essential 

Companies Tied to Corporate Response to COVID-19 Pandemic. Retrieved Oct. 

14, 2020, from https://theharrispoll.com/harris-poll-100-essential-companiescorporate-response-covid-19/

5

 Public Holds Broadly Favorable Views of Many Federal Agencies, Including CDC and 

HHS. (2020, July 02). Retrieved Oct. 14, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.

org/politics/2020/04/09/public-holds-broadly-favorable-views-of-many-federalagencies-including-cdc-and-hhs/

6

 Most Trusted Brands. (2020, Sept. 22). Retrieved Oct. 14, 2020, from https://

morningconsult.com/most-trusted-brands/

7

 Morning Consult Reveals Most Loved Brands of 2020. (2020, Sept. 22). Retrieved 

Oct. 14, 2020, from https://morningconsult.com/2020/07/30/morning-consultreveals-most-loved-brands-of-2020/
14 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

addresses for distribution to all business and 

residential customers on individual carrier routes.

 Periodicals — This category encompasses the

Periodicals class of mail offered for distribution of

newspapers, magazines and newsletters that have

a required frequency. Customers must receive prior

USPS authorization to use this service.

 Shipping and Packages — This category includes

the following services:

First-Class Package Service — Commercial, 

a shipping option for high-volume shippers of 

packages that weigh less than 1 pound.

First-Class Package Service — Retail, for 

shipment of boxes, thick envelopes or tubes of 13 

ounces or less.

Package Services for merchandise or printed 

matter, such as library and media mail weighing up 

to 70 pounds.

Parcel Services — Parcel Select and Parcel 

Return services, including “last-mile” products, 

and USPS Marketing Mail Parcels which provide 

commercial customers with a means of package 

shipment.

Priority Mail, which is offered as a service both 

within the U.S. and abroad with domestic, dayspecified (non-guaranteed) delivery.

Priority Mail Express, which provides overnight 

to 2 day delivery, with money-back guaranteed 

service including tracking, proof of delivery and 

basic insurance up to $100. Priority Mail Express 

delivery is offered to most U.S. destinations for 

delivery 365 days a year.

 International Mail — This category offers

international mail and shipping services with

individual customer contracts and agreements with

foreign postal administrations. Priority Mail Express

International and Priority Mail International services

compete in the e-commerce cross-border business

to more than 190 countries. In addition, First-Class

Package International Service offers competitive

solutions to both retail and commercial mailers

for shipping to many countries. Global Express

Guaranteed is a co-branded service with FedEx

to more than 190 countries. As of Sept. 30, 2020,

this product’s guarantee was suspended due to the

COVID-19 pandemic.

 Other — This broad category includes PO Box

services, money orders and USPS Extra Services.

PO Box services provide customers an additional

method for private and convenient mail delivery.

Money orders offer customers a safe, convenient

and economical method for payment remittance.

Money orders are available for amounts up to

$1,000, can be purchased and cashed at most

Post Offices, or deposited or negotiated at financial

institutions. USPS Extra Services offer a variety

of service enhancements that provide security,

proof of delivery or loss recovery. These services

include: Certified Mail, Registered Mail, Signature

Confirmation, Adult Signature and insurance up to

$5,000. Extra Services are available online, at Post

Offices or at USPS self-service kiosks.

Due to the significant declines in Market Dominant 

services and the surge in Shipping and Packages 

services during the second half of FY 2020, resulting 

from the COVID-19 pandemic, revenue from Market 

Dominant services declined to approximately 58 percent 

of FY 2020 operating revenues. This represented a 

significant decline from FY 2019, when Market Dominant 

services accounted for approximately 66 percent of 

FY 2019 operating revenue. Such services include, 

but are not limited to, First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, 

Periodicals, Bound Printed Matter parcels, Marketing 

Mail parcels and Library/Media Mail. Price increases for 

these services are currently generally subject to a price 

cap based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban 

Consumers (CPI-U). Price changes were implemented 

on certain Market Dominant services that averaged 

increases of 1.9 percent in January 2020, 2.5 percent in 

January 2019 and 1.9 percent in January 2018.

Competitive services, such as Priority Mail, Priority 

Mail Express, First-Class Package Service, Parcel 

Select, Parcel Return Service and some types of 

International Mail, are not limited by a price cap. By law, 

the price for each Competitive service must cover its 

“attributable costs” (meaning the Postal Service’s costs 

attributed to such service through reliably identified 

causal relationships). Further, Competitive services 

collectively must contribute an “appropriate share” 

to the institutional costs of the Postal Service, which 

in FY 2020 was 8.8 percent, as determined by the 

PRC. In general, the Postal Service attempts to set its 

prices for Competitive services to maximize profitable 

revenue. The FY 2020 average price increases varied 

by Competitive services product.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 15

In fulfilling its universal service obligation, USPS 

provides services to patrons in all areas and 

communities in the United States The Postal Service 

serves rural areas, communities and small towns where 

Post Offices are not financially self-sustaining and 

uses a variety of transportation methods to move mail 

through this large network, including both surface and 

air transportation 

Operations

In FY 2020 the Postal Service realigned core business 

operations in support of its mission and strategy, 

focusing on what it does best: collect, process, move 

and deliver mail and packages This organizational 

change will capture operating efficiencies by providing 

clarity and economies of scale that will allow the Postal 

Service to reduce its cost base and generate new 

revenue 

The new organizational structure is centered around 

three operating units:

 Retail and Delivery Operations — Focused

on accepting and delivering mail and packages

efficiently and with a high level of customer

satisfaction 

 Logistics and Processing Operations —Focused

on processing and moving mail and packages

efficiently to delivery units within determined service

standards 

 Commerce and Business Solutions — Focused

on leveraging Postal Service infrastructure to enable

growth 

As part of the operational realignment, the Postal 

Service adjusted its Retail and Delivery Operations 

areas and districts, as well as its Logistics and 

Processing Operations regions and divisions, to better 

serve the American public Image #1 shows the new 

Retail and Delivery Operations Areas and Districts, and 

Image #2 shows the new Logistics and Processing 

Operations Regions and Divisions 
16 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Image #1: USPS – Retail and Delivery Operations Areas, Districts
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 17

Image #2: USPS – Logistics and Processing Operations Regions, Divisions
18 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Postal Rates

Postal rates are established to be fair, equitable and 

affordable. Prices and fees are reviewed and approved 

by the Governors and are subject to a review process 

by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). In FY 

2020, the retail price of $0.55 for a First-Class Mail 

1-ounce stamp continued to be one of the lowest lettermail postage rates in the industrialized world.

Global Bargain*

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0

Italy

First-Class Letter Prices

United States

Australia

Japan

Germany

Canada

United Kingdom

France

$1.23 Mean price

$0.55

$0.79

$0.81

$0.94 

$0.80

$0.99

$1.67

$3.29

*Postage prices are nominal prices, not adjusted for purchasing power parity. 

Exchange rates are as of Oct. 14, 2020.

Semipostal Stamps

Semipostal stamps are postage stamps with a postage 

value equal to the First-Class Mail single-piece, 1-ounce 

stamp rate in effect at the time of purchase, plus an 

amount to fund a designated cause. By law, revenue 

from sales of semipostal stamps, less the postage 

paid and the reasonable costs incurred by the Postal 

Service, is distributed to designated agencies to 

support the approved cause(s).

Semipostal stamps are either congressionally mandated 

or issued through discretionary authority granted to the 

Postal Service through the Semipostal Authorization 

Act, Pub.L.106-253. Under this act, the Postal 

Service may issue and sell semipostal fundraising 

stamps to advance such causes as it considers to 

be “in the national public interest and appropriate.” 

The law specified that USPS can issue up to five new 

semipostal fundraising stamps over a 10-year period, 

with each stamp to be sold for no more than two years.

In August 2020, the Postal Service used the Federal 

Register process to initiate a rule change removing the 

limitations of both the two-year rule and the specific 

number of semipostal stamps able to be issued over 

the 10-year period. The rule change became effective 

Oct. 5, 2020.

In FY 2020, the Postal Service sold four semipostal 

stamps: the congressionally mandated Breast Cancer 

Research semipostal stamp, the congressionally 

mandated Save Vanishing Species semipostal stamp, 

and, under the Postal Service’s discretionary authority, 

both the Alzheimer’s semipostal stamp and the Healing 

PTSD semipostal stamp.

The Breast Cancer 

Research semipostal 

stamp generated 

approximately $1.6 

million in funds in 

excess of the postage 

value in FY 2020. As of 

Sept. 30, 2020, and 

since the stamp’s 

inception, the Postal 

Service had distributed 

approximately $63 

million, or 70 percent of 

the proceeds, to the 

National Institutes of 

Health within the 

Department of Health and Human Services and 

approximately $27 million, or 30 percent of the 

proceeds, to the Breast Cancer Research Program 

within the Department of Defense.

The Save Vanishing 

Species semipostal 

stamp generated 

approximately $358,000 

in funds in excess of the 

postage value in FY 

2020. As of Sept. 30, 

2020, and since the 

stamp’s inception, USPS 

had distributed 

approximately $6 million, 

100 percent of the funds collected in excess of the 

postage value, to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to 

support its Multinational Species Conservation Fund.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 19

The Alzheimer’s 

semipostal stamp 

generated approximately 

$71,000 in funds in 

excess of the postage 

value in FY 2020 As of 

Sept 30, 2020, and 

since the stamp’s 

inception, the Postal 

Service had distributed 

approximately $1 million, 

100 percent of 

proceeds, to the National 

Institute on Aging within 

the U S Department of 

Health and Human

Services 

The Healing PTSD

semipostal stamp 

generated approximately 

$1 0 million in funds in 

excess of the postage 

value in FY 2020 Funds 

raised will be distributed 

to the U S Department 

of Veterans Affairs to 

help treat those affected 

by post-traumatic stress 

disorder (PTSD) 

Sustainability

The Postal Service is committed to making a positive 

impact in the communities it serves and will strive to 

improve its environmental sustainability performance as 

it works to invest in future platforms The Postal Service 

remains committed to being a sustainability leader 

by creating a culture of conservation throughout the 

organization and by driving efficiencies in sustainable 

business practices with customers, suppliers, the 

mailing industry and government agencies 

Solar Power. The Postal Service is committed to 

increasing conservation efforts with the installation of 

on-site renewable energy projects at multiple facilities, 

including at the South Jersey Mail Processing Center 

in New Jersey This large solar project adds to the 

Postal Service’s solar energy portfolio and includes the 

installation of more than 13,000 solar panels, which is 

enough electricity to power more than 650 homes each 

year 

Green Energy Purchases. The Postal Service is 

exploring the use of renewable energy certificates 

Electricity contract suppliers in 13 states will now 

provide 25 percent of their power from renewable 

energy sources, including wind power, hydro power 

and solar installations As a result, the Postal Service 

will consume more than 880,000 megawatts of green 

power over a four-year period 

Hydrogen Fuel Cells. The Postal Service is committed 

to accelerating the path of innovation and to investing 

in the future through initiatives such as using hydrogen 

fuel cells to replace lead acid batteries in powered 

industrial vehicles Building on previous success at 

the Washington Network Distribution Center mail 

processing facility, four facilities are now under 

review for expansion of the technology, and USPS 

is constantly working to determine the practicality of 

regular use of hydrogen fuel cells in additional locations 

Recycled Materials. USPS Priority Mail and Priority 

Mail Express corrugated boxes are recyclable and meet 

Sustainable Forestry Initiative or Forest Stewardship 

Council Certification standards The Postal Service 

partners with the organization How2Recycle to help 

customers understand how to properly recycle postal 

products How2Recycle is a labeling system that gives 

consumers clear recycling instructions 

Environmentally Preferable Products. The Postal 

Service is committed to using environmentally 

preferable products where possible The Postal 

Service continues to promote the integration of 

sustainability into its supply chain by increasing the 

use of sustainability contract clauses when working 

with suppliers, increasing availability of these products 

through the internal online catalog, and taking steps 

toward increased accountability by improving the 

USPS’ supplier tracking and reporting system 

USPS BlueEarth. The Postal Service helps customers 

reduce waste, increase recycling and improve their 

carbon footprints through several USPS BlueEarth 

programs:

 USPS BlueEarth Secure Destruction is a mail service

that reduces costs for handling return-to-sender

First-Class Mail letters for business customers who

use Intelligent Mail barcode technology Mail that

is undeliverable can be intercepted, inspected and

handled in a secure manner by the Postal Service

rather than returning it to the sender In FY 2020, the
20 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

service intercepted and securely handled more than 

143 million pieces of undeliverable First-Class Mail 

letters that would have otherwise been returned to 

the sender 

 USPS BlueEarth Federal Recycling Program enables

federal agencies to recycle small electronics and

used toner cartridges Participating agencies can

get online reports on their recycling activity and the

disposition of each item recycled 

 USPS BlueEarth Carbon Accounting Service

provides major mailers an online report of the

emissions produced due to their mailing and

shipping activity This information can be used for

their corporate inventory or to purchase carbon

credits to offset and provide carbon neutral shipping

for their customers 

National Recycling Operation. This program 

transports materials — primarily paper, cardboard 

and plastic — from Post Offices to central hubs for 

recycling, using available space in USPS vehicles The 

Postal Service encourages recycling initiatives across 

the organization to increase recycling performance and 

improve the organization’s bottom line at the same 

time 

The Postal Service is “Putting its Stamp on a Greener 

Tomorrow” by taking sustainable actions and 

integrating environmental business practices into dayto-day operations Additional information on the Postal 

Service’s sustainability efforts is available in the 2020 

Annual Sustainability Report, available at www.usps.

com/green.

Commitment to a Safe and Secure Network to 

Prevent Illicit Drug Distribution and Delivery

The Postal Service works aggressively to prevent 

the flow of illicit drugs through the mail and takes all 

practical measures to ensure the safety and security 

of USPS employees and the American people As 

the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service, the 

United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) 

leads efforts to eliminate opioids and other illicit drugs 

from the mail by investigating mail-related crime and 

working closely with other law enforcement agencies 

to share intelligence, coordinate cases and conduct 

joint enforcement operations USPIS employs a 

whole-of-government approach that relies heavily on 

interagency cooperation, specifically with Customs and 

Border Protection, Homeland Security Investigations, 

the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation and the White House’s Office of 

National Drug Control Policy These national partners, 

among others, help USPIS advance efforts to increase 

employee safety, awareness and engagement; expand 

and enhance intelligence and analytics capabilities; 

identify and invest in new tools and technologies; and 

enhance law enforcement capacity, capabilities and 

readiness 

As America’s most trusted brand, the Postal Service is 

always working to keep that trust, and the Inspection 

Service is committed to protecting the sanctity of U S 

Mail from the threat of illicit activity 

COVID-19 Pandemic Response

In March 2020, the Postal Service established the 

COVID-19 Response Command team to ensure 

proactive management of the pandemic’s effect on 

employees, operations and customers The COVID-19 

Response Command team monitored the daily effects 

of the pandemic, identifying potential and actual 

impacts throughout the nation The Command team 

developed and issued policies, plans and procedures 

to ensure continued high-quality service to the public, 

with employee and customer safety at the forefront 

The team also established a COVID-19 Supplies 

Command Center to ensure that Postal Service facilities 

had adequate supplies to keep employees safe and 

meet ongoing facility cleaning needs throughout the 

pandemic 

Core responsibilities of the COVID-19 Response 

Command team included:

 Reinforcing proper workplace behaviors in

accordance with guidance issued by the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on social

distancing, face coverings and hand-washing

etiquette 

 Updating cleaning policies consistent with CDC

guidance 

 Updating leave policies to comply with the Families

First Coronavirus Response Act 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 21

 Expanding telework for employees able to perform

their jobs remotely 

 Issuing stand-up talks, articles, videos and other

communications — including special COVID-19

intranet and extranet webpages — to ensure

employees had the latest information 

 Maintaining steady communication with residential

customers and business mailers, regarding postal

facility disruptions and delivery impacts, through

USPS Service Alerts at about.usps.com/newsroom/

service-alerts/.

The Postal Service is proud of its ability to provide 

a trusted, valued service to the American public, 

while safeguarding its employees and customers 

during an ongoing national public health 

emergency 

National Preparedness

The Postal Service National Preparedness function 

ensures that plans, procedures and protocols are in 

place to respond to emergencies that could disrupt 

operations, and provides tools and resources to enable 

senior and field management to respond and resume 

operations quickly, safely and efficiently National 

Preparedness coordinates actions with management 

when employees and property are affected by 

natural disasters or national emergencies, working 

to minimize disruptions to employees, operations 

and customers The Postal Service’s commitment 

to resuming mail delivery as soon as safely possible 

after disruptions would not be possible without the 

National Preparedness team and the resilience of USPS 

employees and the USPS network The Postal Service 

takes its mission of providing universal service across 

the nation seriously and strives to keep communities 

connected and deliver a sense of normalcy, even during 

local, regional or national disruptions to service 

Commitment to Diversity

The Postal Service defines diversity as “the 

richness of cultures, perspectives, experiences 

and backgrounds.” USPS recognizes the value 

of a diverse workforce and is one of the leading 

employers of both minorities and women. 

Minorities comprise 49% and women comprise 

46% of the total workforce. Further, minorities 

comprise 39% and women comprise 40% of 

senior USPS management positions. The Postal 

Service is also a leading employer of veterans 

with approximately 11% of its workforce 

comprised of veterans, nearly double the 

national average employment rate for veterans 

(5.8%) according to the Bureau of Labor 

Statistics8

.

In May 2020, The Pew Research Center 

recognized USPS as “more racially and 

ethnically diverse than the U.S. labor force 

as a whole, according to Census Bureau 

data from 20189

”. Approximately half of USPS 

employees are non-Hispanic white compared 

with 78% of the overall U.S. workforce. More 

than a quarter of Postal Service workers 

are Black (27%), 12% are Hispanic and 7% 

are Asian. In contrast, according to 2018 

Census Bureau data, Black Americans 

make up 13% of the national workforce, 

Hispanics 17% and Asian Americans 6%9

.

The Postal Service was ranked the top federal 

agency for multicultural business opportunities 

for the ninth consecutive year by Omnikal, a 

social media and networking organization. USPS 

received the 2020 Omni50 Award for its efforts 

to do business with companies led by women 

and minorities and for supporting opportunities 

for small businesses and entrepreneurs10.

8 Table 5. Employed persons 18 years and over by industry, class of worker, sex, 

veteran status and period of service, 2019 annual averages. (2020, April 22). 

Retrieved Nov. 09, 2020, from https://www.bls.gov/news.release/vet.t05.htm

9

 DeSilver, D., & Schaeffer, K. (2020, May 14). The state of the U.S. Postal Service 

in 8 charts. Retrieved Nov. 05, 2020, from https://www.pewresearch.org/facttank/2020/05/14/the-state-of-the-u-s-postal-service-in-8-charts/

10 Omni50 Top Government Agencies: USPS: SBA: Defense Dept. (2020, March 

12). Retrieved Oct. 14, 2020, from https://www.omnikal.com/2020/02/announcing-americas-top-25-government-agencies-for-multicultural-business-opportunities-2-2-2/
A masked USPS employee scans a package 

for delivery.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 23

Key Financial and Operating Statistics

Financial History Summary

(in millions)

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Operating results

Total revenue1 $ 73,133 $ 71,154 $ 70,660

Operating expenses

Compensation and benefits2 48,730 47,519 46,525

Retirement benefits3 6,964 6,197 5,877

Retiree health benefits 4,660 4,564 4,481

Workers’ compensation 2,903 3,504 4

Transportation 8,814 8,184 7,861

All other operating expenses 10,116 9,911 9,697

Loss from operations $ (9,054) $ (8,725) $ (3,785)

Investment and interest income (expense), net (122) (88) (128)

Net loss $ (9,176) $ (8,813) $ (3,913)

Financial position

Cash and cash equivalents4 $ 14,358 $ 8,795 $ 10,061

Property and equipment, net 14,567 14,352 14,616

All other assets5 6,979 2,486 2,011

Total assets $ 35,904 $ 25,633 $ 26,688

Retiree health benefits $ 51,865 $ 47,205 $ 42,641

Workers’ compensation liability 20,074 18,529 16,409

Debt 14,000 11,000 13,200

Retirement benefits 11,583 8,385 5,707

All other liabilities5 19,090 12,046 11,368

Total liabilities $ 116,612 $ 97,165 $ 89,325

Total net deficiency $ (80,708) $ (71,532) $ (62,637)

1

 Includes other non-operating income such as sale of land and buildings, sale of miscellaneous equipment and sale of motor vehicles.

2

 Excludes Federal Employees Retirement Systems (FERS) normal costs, amortization of unfunded retirement benefits, retiree health benefits and 

workers’ compensation.

3

 Includes FERS normal costs and amortization of unfunded retirement benefits.

4

 Cash and cash equivalents are unrestricted.

5

 In FY 2020, All other assets and All other liabilities include approximately $4.5 billion of operating right-of-use assets and approximately $4.6 billion 

of corresponding operating lease liabilities, respectively, as a result of adopting ASC 842 on Oct. 1, 2019. See Form 10-K Note 2 – Recent Accounting 

Pronouncements, Recently Adopted Pronouncement and Note 15 – Leases for further details.
24 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Revenue, Pieces and Weight Statistics

(in millions of units indicated, unaudited)

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

First-Class Mail1

Revenue $ 23,778 $ 24,431 $ 24,948

Number of pieces 52,624 54,936 56,712

Weight, pounds 2,644 2,780 2,869

Marketing Mail2

Revenue $ 13,909 $ 16,359 $ 16,512

Number of pieces 64,143 75,653 77,270

Weight, pounds 5,715 6,917 7,402

Shipping and Packages3

Revenue $ 28,537 $ 22,783 $ 21,467

Number of pieces 7,323 6,165 6,149

Weight, pounds 15,859 12,568 12,118

International Mail

Revenue $ 2,400 $ 2,474 $ 2,630

Number of pieces 729 855 941

Weight, pounds 433 476 504

Periodicals

Revenue $ 1,024 $ 1,194 $ 1,277

Number of pieces 4,006 4,635 4,994

Weight, pounds 1,283 1,572 1,744

U.S. Postal Service Mail4

Number of pieces 321 284 293

Weight, pounds 109 101 114

Free Matter for the Blind5

Number of pieces 25 34 43

Weight, pounds 10 13 15

Other services – revenue5 $ 3,475 $ 3,895 $ 3,788

Postal Service totals

Operating revenue $ 73,123 $ 71,136 $ 70,622

Number of pieces 129,171 142,562 146,402

Weight, pounds 26,053 24,427 24,766

Note: The Postal Service has reclassified the totals for certain mail categories in prior years to conform to classifications used in the current year.

1 Excludes First-Class Mail Parcels.

2

 Excludes Marketing Mail Parcels.

3

 See Shipping and Packages and Other Services Statistics table on the following page.

4

 No revenue is received or recorded for this category of mail.

5

 By law, the Postal Service is required to offer below-cost postage prices to certain categories of mailers including blind individuals. Congress 

reimbursed the Postal Service for revenue it had forgone by offering these below-cost postage prices.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 25

Shipping and Packages and Other Services Statistics

(in millions of units indicated, unaudited)

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Priority Mail Express

Revenue $ 697 $ 716 $ 752

Number of pieces 24 26 28

Weight, pounds 29 28 30

First-Class Packages1

Revenue $ 6,236 $ 4,465 $ 3,878

Number of pieces 1,848 1,398 1,279

Weight, pounds 696 532 497

Priority Mail2

Revenue $ 11,831 $ 9,728 $ 9,342

Number of pieces 1,272 1,097 1,085

Weight, pounds 3,472 2,937 2,837

Parcel Select Mail and Marketing Mail Parcels

Revenue $ 8,739 $ 6,849 $ 6,451

Number of pieces 3,536 2,947 3,026

Weight, pounds 10,322 7,593 7,182

Parcel Return Service Mail

Revenue $ 202 $ 204 $ 220

Number of pieces 72 75 89

Weight, pounds 181 199 229

Package Services

Revenue $ 832 $ 821 $ 824

Number of pieces 571 622 642

Weight, pounds 1,159 1,279 1,343

Total shipping and packages

Revenue $ 28,537 $ 22,783 $ 21,467

Number of pieces 7,323 6,165 6,149

Weight, pounds 15,859 12,568 12,118

Other services

Certified Mail

Revenue $ 597 $ 653 $ 678

Number of articles 168 187 198

Return Receipts

Revenue $ 280 $ 314 $ 327

Number of articles 120 138 144

USPS Tracking

Revenue $ 1 $ 1 $ 1

Number of articles 1,565 5,422 5,338

PO Box Services revenue $ 1,095 $ 1,037 $ 999

Money Orders

Revenue $ 146 $ 148 $ 147

Number of articles 77 81 83

Insurance

Revenue $ 93 $ 78 $ 79

Number of articles 17 14 15

Shipping and mailing supplies

Revenue $ 135 $ 107 $ 109

Number of articles 60 53 54

Miscellaneous other services revenue $ 1,128 $ 1,557 $ 1,448

Total other services revenue $ 3,475 $ 3,895 $ 3,788

Note: The Postal Service has reclassified the totals 

for certain mail categories in prior years to conform 

to classifications used in the current year.

1

 Includes First-Class Mail Parcels, First-Class 

Package Services — Retail and First-Class Package 

Services — Commercial.

2

 USPS Retail Ground (formerly Standard Post) is 

a non-expedited, retail-only product and is now 

classified as Competitive (as is the expedited Priority 

Mail service). Even though USPS Retail Ground is 

priced identically to Priority Mail for Zones 1-4, its 

service standards are not identical since it is not an 

expedited service.
26 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Post Offices and Delivery Points

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Post Offices, stations and branches

Postal Service-managed

Post Offices 26,362 26,362 26,365

Classified stations, branches and carrier annexes 4,968 4,960 4,959

Total Postal Service-managed 31,330 31,322 31,324

Contract Postal Units 2,094 2,175 2,240

Village Post Offices 590 667 743

Community Post Offices 437 449 465

Total offices, stations and branches 34,451 34,613 34,772

Residential delivery points

City 84,233,373 83,739,561 83,279,977

Rural 45,320,604 44,425,454 43,591,733

PO Box 16,015,289 15,985,189 15,960,945

Highway Contract 3,050,749 3,001,015 2,959,424

Total residential delivery 148,620,015 147,151,219 145,792,079

Business delivery points

City 7,789,025 7,734,259 7,709,827

Rural 1,736,436 1,707,145 1,673,267

PO Box 3,146,028 3,226,893 3,301,930

Highway Contract 82,648 81,796 81,153

Total business delivery 12,754,137 12,750,093 12,766,177

Total delivery points 161,374,152 159,901,312 158,558,256

Change in delivery points 1,472,840 1,343,056 1,229,580

Number of Routes by Type of Delivery

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

Route FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

City 142,018 142,672 143,358

Rural 79,900 79,404 78,737

Highway Contract Route 9,661 9,731 9,748

Total 231,579 231,807 231,843
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 27

Postal Vehicle Inventory

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

Vehicle type FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Delivery and collection (0.5–2.5 tons) 207,945 204,274 208,133

Mail transport (tractors and trailers) 5,719 5,481 5,566

Mail transport (5–11 tons)1 2,782 3,460 2,389

Administrative and other 6,697 6,925 7,196

Service (maintenance) 5,464 5,858 6,398

Inspection Service and law enforcement 2,934 2,942 2,920

Total 231,541 228,940 232,602

1

 Previously referred to as Mail transport (3-9 tons)

Real Estate Inventory

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

Real estate inventory FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Owned properties 8,440 8,393 8,362

Owned interior square feet 193,867,670 193,355,127 192,842,955

Leased properties 23,050 23,118 23,147

Leased interior square feet 78,860,472 79,027,452 79,047,136

GSA1

/other government properties 291 292 294

GSA/other government interior square feet 1,732,001 1,792,744 1,797,769

1 General Services Administration.

Real Estate Inventory Actions

(in actual units indicated, unaudited)

Real estate inventory actions FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Lease actions (alternate quarters, new leases and renewals) 5,414 4,410 4,667

Property disposals1 5 8 14

New construction2 98 76 77

Repair and alteration projects 61,483 59,864 58,653

Repair and alteration expense project totals (in thousands, rounded) $ 268,000 $ 240,000 $ 215,000

Repair and alteration capital projects 4,312 4,428 4,464

Repair and alteration capital project totals (in thousands, rounded) $ 555,000 $ 519,000 $ 483,400

1 Total partial and complete property sales (does not include non-property sales such as right-of-ways/easements, sale of rights, defaults, installment payments, 

etc.).

2 Includes the build-out of pre-existing spaces that the Postal Service did not previously own (alternate quarters), the new construction of leased or owned space 

and the expansion of existing spaces.
28 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Employees

(actual numbers, unaudited)

FY 2020 FY 2019 FY 2018

Headquarters and HQ-related employees

Headquarters 3,477 3,311 3,254

Headquarters – field support units 3,425 3,447 3,491

Inspection Service – field 2,399 2,441 2,389

Inspector General 1,017 1,031 1,029

Total HQ and HQ-related employees 10,318 10,230 10,163

Field employees

Area offices 923 946 899

Postmasters/installation heads 13,667 13,729 13,742

Supervisors/managers 25,189 25,581 25,590

Professional administration and technical personnel 4,792 4,752 4,672

Clerks (including nurses) 119,171 121,573 121,622

Mail handlers 36,721 36,939 37,535

City delivery carriers 167,934 166,343 168,199

Motor vehicle operators 9,189 8,742 8,411

Rural delivery carriers – full-time 74,255 73,165 70,852

Building and equipment maintenance personnel 28,675 29,751 30,219

Vehicle maintenance employees 5,107 5,183 5,253

Total field employees 485,623 486,704 486,994

Total career employees 495,941 496,934 497,157

Non-career employees

Casuals 10,261 849 879

Postal support employees 25,778 26,251 26,386

Non-bargaining temporary 341 339 285

Rural part-time 58,747 58,224 59,183

Postmaster relief and leave replacements 1,959 2,021 2,168

City carrier assistant 38,079 42,121 42,115

Mail handler assistant 12,927 6,369 6,274

Total non-career employees 148,092 136,174 137,290

Total employees 644,033 633,108 634,447
A masked retail associate hands a masked 

customer a panel of stamps. 
30 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Executive Compensation

Federal law requires the Postal Service to provide 

compensation and benefits to employees at a level 

comparable to the private sector The Postal Service 

will continue to pursue this goal for all of its employees 

In addition, the organization supports, develops and 

provides a wide range of tools and development 

resources that assist employees in reaching their full 

potential 

The Board of Governors establishes executive officer 

compensation and benefits, subject to the requirements 

and limitations of federal law Although USPS governing 

law provides that executives should be compensated 

at a level comparable to the private sector, the Postal 

Service does not have the resources to achieve this 

level of compensation Compensation for executive 

officers remains significantly below that of similarly 

ranked senior executives in the private sector 

In most circumstances, the Postal Service cannot 

compensate its executives more than the rate for 

Level 1 of the Executive Schedule ($213,600 in 

calendar year 2019) Under certain programs, bonuses 

or other rewards can be awarded, which raise the 

level of compensation beyond this limit; however, 

compensation is still limited by federal law 

Performance-based payments for FY 2018 were 

paid in Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Performance-based 

payments were determined by the Postal Service Board 

of Governors 

In accordance with legal reporting requirements, 

the following table reports CY 2019 compensation 

information including 1) Postal Service executives 

compensated in excess of Federal Executive Level 

1 in CY 2019 and 2) the amount of bonus or other 

payments that caused pay to exceed Level 1 of the 

Executive Schedule in CY 2019 The terms “bonus 

or other payment” in the second column of the table 

are statutory terms that represent various amounts 

which are a part of an executive’s total compensation; 

these amounts are predicated on the Postal Service’s 

maintenance of a performance appraisal system 

that makes meaningful distinctions based on relative 

performance 

Executive Name

CY 2019 Bonus or 

Other Payment

CY 2019 Reportable 

Earnings in Excess 

of CAP I

Megan J. Brennan $ 78,092 $ 77,367

Eric D. Chavez 19,660 19,660

Joseph Corbett 47,478 47,478

Isaac S. Cronkhite 20,862 20,862

Michael J. Elston 718 2,396

Luke T. Grossmann 16,290 16,290

Thomas J. Marshall 45,418 45,419

Pritha Mehra 5,548 5,589

Shaun E. Mossman 8,885 19,107

Abelardo P. Munoz Jr. 8,885 8,885

Gary C. Reblin 7,485 7,485

Tom A. Samra 8,885 8,885

Kristin A. Seaver 47,478 47,479

Jacqueline K. Strako 47,478 47,479

Ronald A. Stroman 69,266 69,267

David E. Williams Jr. 47,478 47,478

Note: Legislation requires reporting compensation in the last full calendar year. 

This timeframe does not align with the Postal Service’s fiscal year, which is 

from October to September.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 31

FY 2020 Performance Report 

and FY 2021 Performance Plan

Corporate-wide Goals and Targets

The Postal Service is a self-supporting, independent 

federal establishment and the only delivery service that 

reaches every address in the United States Everyone 

living in the United States and its possessions and 

territories — regardless of their location — has access 

to postal products and services and pays the same 

price for a First-Class postage stamp 

The Postal Service puts information and technology 

at the center of its business strategies We are 

speeding the pace of innovation, developing mobile 

and digital tools to play a larger role in the daily digital 

lives of customers, and using one of the world’s most 

advanced tracking and information systems to speed 

the flow of mail and packages throughout our network 

USPS leverages the information derived from robust 

scanning and tracking systems to add value to the 

senders and receivers of mail and packages — and to 

create new products and services, spurring growth in 

the mailing industry 

The Postal Service continues to play an indispensable 

role as a driver of commerce and as a provider of 

delivery services that connect Americans to one 

another — reliably, affordably and securely — and to 

every residential and business address 

To provide reliable, efficient, trusted and affordable 

universal delivery service, the Postal Service established 

the following four strategic areas of focus:

 Deliver a World-Class Customer Experience

 Equip, Empower, Connect and Engage Employees

 Innovate Faster to Deliver Value

 Invest in Future Platforms

To assess the organization’s efforts in achieving these 

strategies, USPS measures performance through 

progress against corporate performance outcomes as 

follows:

 High-Quality Service

 Excellent Customer Experience

 A Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce

 Financial Health

For each of these outcomes, the following subsections 

describe both the outcomes and measures used to 

assess organizational progress, provide the FY 2020 

performance report, and layout the FY 2021 plan, 

including indicator targets The following table shows 

corporate performance from FY 2017-FY 2020 and 

targets for FY 2020-FY 2021 for each outcome 

These targets are aligned with the FY 2021 Integrated 

Financial Plan (IFP), which includes planned revenue 

and expenses for FY 2021 Every fiscal year, USPS 

develops a budget and plan intended to be sufficient for 

field offices to meet their targeted financial and nonfinancial performance outcomes The Postal Service 

designs all corporate-wide targets to be achievable 

given the planned expenses in the IFP 

The Postal Service measures “Controllable Income 

(Loss)” as one of its indicators for the outcome 

“Financial Health ” This measure is based on planned 

expenditures and revenues for every program activity 

(i e , budget item contributing to controllable income 

[loss]) outlined in the IFP Controllable income (loss) 

is a non-GAAP (United States generally accepted 

accounting principles) measure defined as total revenue 

less controllable expenses Controllable expenses 

consist of compensation and benefits; transportation; 

depreciation; supplies and services; and rent, utilities 

and other controllable expenses They do not include 

non-controllable expenses, discussed in detail later in 

this document The subsection “Controllable Income 

(Loss)” details planned revenues and expenditures for 

FY 2021 This plan yields a target controllable loss for 

FY 2021, which is stated as the organizations target 

for the FY 2021 IFP, for the reasons discussed in that 

subsection 

In day-to-day business operation, USPS focuses on 

costs within management control, such as salaries 

and transportation The Postal Service calculates 

controllable income (loss) by excluding items the 
32 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

organization cannot control, such as Postal Service 

Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) actuarial 

revaluation and amortization expenses, workers’ 

compensation expenses caused by actuarial 

revaluations and discount rate changes, retirement 

expenses caused by actuarial revaluations and 

adjustments for non-recurring items Controllable 

income (loss) should not be considered a substitute for 

net income (loss) and other GAAP reporting measures 

A masked USPS employee moves mail in a 

Processing and Distribution Center. 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 33

FY 2020-FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance Outcomes

Corporate 

Performance 

Outcome Measure

FY 2021 

Target

FY 2020 FY 2019 

Actual

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual Target Actual

High-Quality 

Service1

Single-Piece First-Class Mail

Two-day 87.816 91.47 96.50 92.05 93.78 94.72

Three-to-five-day 68.646 78.83 95.25 80.88 82.48 85.57

Presort First-Class Mail

Overnight 93.996 94.72 96.80 95.46 96.00 96.46

Two-day 89.206 92.77 96.50 94.10 94.92 95.58

Three-to-five-day 84.116 89.89 95.25 91.95 91.96 93.16

First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite (FCLF)2 84.886 89.73 96.00 91.3610 92.07 93.29

Marketing Mail and Periodicals Composite 86.626 88.38 91.80 88.7310 89.26 91.44

Market Dominant Composite3,4,5 85.866 89.00 NA 89.86 89.66 91.53

Excellent 

Customer 

Experiences

Customer Experience Composite Index7 76.90 72.40 75.73 69.04 67.47 88.30

Safe Workplace 

and Engaged 

Workforce

Total Accident Rate 13.75 13.09 15.00 14.19 15.09 15.43

Engagement Survey Response Rate8 51% 33% 51% 38% 42% 46%

Financial 

Health9

Controllable Income (Loss, $ in billions) (5.60) (3.75) (4.00) (3.42) (1.95) (0.81)

Deliveries per Total Work Hours, Percent Change NA 0.90 1.50 (0.60) (0.50) (0.50)

Note: NA indicates that either no data was collected or no target was set for the relevant indicator and year.

1

 The Postal Service is providing nonpublic service performance data for certain competitive products as part of the Nonpublic Annex in the Annual Compliance Report 

proceeding conducted by the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).

2

 For the FY 2017-FY 2020 actuals and FY 2020 target, the Postal Service reports the First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite (FCLF) in lieu of the First-Class Composite, 

which was reported in previous Annual Reports to Congress. FCLF Composite does not include First-Class Mail parcels. FCLF Composite numbers are based on the externallymeasured quarterly service performance data filed with the PRC pursuant to Part 3055 of U.S.C. Title 39; they do not include mitigating factors used internally for compensatory 

purposes. Additionally, service measurement adjustments altered one previously reported end-of-year actual (FY 2017 First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite), which is 

accurately reflected in this table.

3

 In FY 2021, High-Quality Service will report Market Dominant Composite, which includes all First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Flats, Bound Printed Matter Parcels, 

Marketing Mail Parcels and Library/Media Mail. This metric replaces both the First-Class Mail Letter and Flat (FCLF) Composite and Marketing Mail and Periodicals Composite, 

which were reported in previous Annual Reports to Congress.

4

 The FY 2020 Actual and FY 2019 Actual scores are sourced from the Service Performance Measurement (SPM) system. In FY 2017-FY 2018, data was sourced from legacy 

SPM systems (e.g. External First-Class Measurement System and Intelligent Mail Accuracy and Performance System).

5

 FY 2017-FY 2020 actuals are provided for comparability purposes only. Market Dominant Composite is a new indicator that will be included in FY 2021.

6

 On May 6, 2021, the USPS Board of Governors approved the FY 2021 service performance targets. These targets are based on first-half fiscal year service 

performance. Meeting the targets will require substantial improvement in service performance over the second half of the fiscal year. For further explanation, see page 36.

7

 In FY 2019-FY 2021, the Customer Experience Composite Index is based on survey responses from the following touchpoints: Business Service Network, Point of Sale, Delivery, 

Customer Care Center, C360 a customer relationship management platform, usps.com and Business Mail Entry Units.

8

 For FY 2017-FY 2020 actuals and FY 2020-FY 2021 targets, the Postal Service used the Postal Pulse survey.

9

 The FY 2021 Integrated Financial Plan information contained in this document will be revised if needed upon approval by the Board of Governors.

10 FY 2019 Actual scores were corrected after subsequent review.
34 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

High-Quality Service

The Postal Service is committed to “ bind the Nation 

together through the personal, educational, literary 

and business correspondence of the people [We] 

shall provide prompt, reliable and efficient services to 

patrons in all areas and shall render postal services 

to all communities”11 This forms the core of USPS 

operations 

To measure performance relative to its mission, 

the Postal Service evaluates its delivery service 

performance continuously using Service Performance 

Measurement This internal measurement system 

provides data from the time mail is deposited in a Postal 

Service facility to when a USPS employee delivers it to 

a home, business or PO Box 

The Postal Service operates a highly complex network 

of distribution and delivery facilities interconnected by 

multiple modes of transportation across the country 

The Postal Service measures service performance at 

the product level against specific service standards 

The integrated nature of the Postal Service’s network 

and the commingling of products during processing 

and delivery results in operational performance being 

reflected across multiple products at the same time and 

to varying degrees 

The annual service performance measures are reported 

as a cumulative score throughout the year and are 

volume weighted Service performance during the first 

half of the year — when mail volume is highest — sets 

the pace for the remainder of the year 

In FY 2020 the Postal Service measured service 

performance in the following categories:

Single-Piece First-Class Mail. The measures for this 

category represent the performance of single-piece FirstClass Mail letters, postcards and flats throughout the 

fiscal year The indicators show the estimated percent of 

total mail by service standard (two-day and three-to-fiveday) that was delivered to customers on time 

Presort First-Class Mail. The measures for this 

category represent the performance of commercial 

presorted First-Class Mail letters, postcards and flats 

delivered throughout the fiscal year The indicators 

show the estimated percent of total mail by service 

standard (overnight, two-day and three-to-five-day) that 

was delivered on time 

First-Class Mail Letter and Flat (FCLF) Composite. 

This category represents the weighted average of 

the performance of single-piece First-Class Mail and 

Presort First-Class Mail across all service standards, 

weighted by volume 

Marketing Mail and Periodicals Composite. This 

category is a composite indicator of the percent of all 

Marketing Mail and Periodicals that was delivered within 

the service standard established during the year This 

includes Marketing Mail letters, Marketing Mail flats and 

Periodicals Approximately two-thirds of mail volume 

in this composite is Marketing Mail letters, while the 

remainder is Marketing Mail flats and Periodicals 

Market Dominant Composite. The Market Dominant 

Composite is a new FY 2021 High-Quality Service 

indicator This composite includes letters and flats of 

all First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, Periodicals, Bound 

Printed Matter and all parcels of Library Mail, Media 

Mail and Bound Printed Matter 

The Market Dominant Composite score is generated 

by dividing the total volume (of all classes, shapes and 

service standards) by the number of pieces delivered on 

time and is reported as a cumulative year-to-date score 

11 U.S.C. Title 39
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 35

FY 2020 Performance Report

The following table includes both FY 2020 Actuals 

(unmitigated) and FY 2020 Targets for the High-Quality 

Service metrics 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target

Delta 

(pp1)

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

Single-Piece FirstClass Mail Two-Day 91.47 96.50 (5.03) Not Met

Single-Piece FirstClass Mail Three-toFive-Day

78.83 95.25 (16.42) Not Met

Presort First-Class 

Mail Overnight 94.72 96.80 (2.08) Not Met

Presort First-Class 

Mail Two-day 92.77 96.50 (3.73) Not Met

Presort First-Class 

Mail Three-to-FiveDay89.89 95.25 (5.36) Not Met

First-Class Mail Letter 

and Flat Composite 89.73 96.00 (6.27) Not Met

Marketing Mail and 

Periodicals Composite 88.38 91.80 (3.42) Not Met

1

 PP refers to the percentage point difference between FY 2020 Actuals and FY 

2020 Targets.

While the Postal Service did not meet any of the service 

performance targets in FY 2020, a snapshot view of the 

full year of service performance would not adequately 

describe the service provided to customers FY 2020 

service performance can best be viewed as a year 

of two distinct phases: the pre-COVID-19 pandemic 

period covering the first half of the year, and the 

COVID-19 period covering the second half of the year 

While service performance during the first half of 

the year was below target, there was noticeable 

improvement Three service performance categories — 

First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite, First-Class 

Mail three-to-five day and Marketing Mail — achieved 

notable service improvements compared to the same 

period last year 

First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite performance 

improved year-over-year by 1 90 percent and 1 85 

percent in the first and second quarters respectively, 

while the First-Class Mail three-to-five day service 

segment experienced the largest performance 

improvement of all First-Class products For the first 

half of the year, First-Class Mail three-to-five day 

performance improved by nearly 2 5 percentage points 

compared to the same period last year 

Marketing Mail performance for the first and second 

quarters of the fiscal year improved 4 38 percent and 

3 07 percent, respectively, compared to the same 

periods last year 

Beginning in March 2020 and continuing throughout 

the second half of the fiscal year, the COVID-19 

pandemic affected USPS processing, transportation, 

retail and delivery operations, leading to a decrease in 

overall service performance Employee availability rates 

dropped significantly across the organization, due to 

COVID-19 exposure, illness or need to quarantine As a 

result, several major metropolitan areas operated with 

less than 80 percent of their employees for extended 

periods of time Multiple mail processing facilities 

operated with less than 70 percent of their employees, 

with larger retail and delivery units operating with 

less than 50 percent of their employees for extended 

periods of time 

In delivery operations, employee availability affected the 

Postal Service’s ability to deliver mail While the number 

of deliveries affected changed from day to day, at its 

peak the lack of sufficient delivery employees impacted 

over 735,000 deliveries On many days, more than 

200,000 deliveries were affected 

Aside from employee availability, imposed shelter-inplace orders prevented normal retail operations Nearly 

100 retail offices were closed or operated with reduced 

hours in FY 2020 At the height of the pandemic, 

more than 360 alternate access offices were closed 

or operating with reduced hours The location and 

operating hours of impacted offices fluctuated based 

on local orders and circumstances, even as the overall 

number of offices affected eventually stabilized 

As the pandemic proliferated throughout the country, 

Postal Service contracted resources were also 

negatively affected, including surface and air contracted 

transportation Highway Contract Route drivers, who 

are contracted to provide surface transportation of mail, 

recorded hundreds of contract failures daily, with some 

districts experiencing failures for extended periods 

The effects of COVID-19 severely disrupted air 

transportation around the world, which negatively 

impacted USPS transportation and delivery operations 

The pandemic shut down the commercial air industry, 

immediately eliminating air capacity and depriving 

access to the air network In some cases, this 

accounted for nearly 80 percent reduction of the 
36 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

planned USPS air capacity Mail that was typically 

transported by the air network was diverted to the 

surface transportation network, resulting in service 

delays from longer transportation times 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

FY 2021 Performance Plan

The Market Dominant Composite is a new FY 2021 

High-Quality Service indicator This composite includes 

letters and flats of all First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail, 

Periodicals, Bound Printed Matter and all parcels of 

Library Mail, Media Mail and Bound Printed Matter 

On May 6, 2021, the USPS Board of Governors 

approved the FY 2021 service performance targets 

The Board delayed setting targets in order to ensure 

that it could set meaningful targets that would account 

for the ongoing and unprecedented impacts of the 

COVID-19 global pandemic on the Postal Service  

Both service performance achieved through the 

first half of the fiscal year and the ongoing effects 

of the COVID-19 global pandemic were considered 

in setting the service performance targets Service 

performance in the first half of the year suffered due 

to multiple challenges facing the Postal Service, 

including significant employee shortages because of 

the pandemic, multiple winter storms, capacity issues 

with transportation, and a historic level of mail and 

package volume received during the peak holiday 

season, which the Postal Service was not capable of 

handling effectively given its misaligned and outdated 

network The Postal Service will have to achieve 

substantial improvement in service performance across 

all products over the second half of the year in order to 

meet its end-of-fiscal-year targets 

The following table identifies the FY 2021 service 

performance target by metric and the second-half of FY 

2021 run-rates required to achieve end-of-fiscal-year 

targets:

FY 2021 

Target

2nd Half of 

FY 2021 

Run Rate to 

Achieve 

Target

Single-Piece First-Class Mail

Single-Piece First-Class Mail Two-Day 87.81% 92.76%

Single-Piece First-Class Mail Three-to-Five-Day 68.64% 84.78%

Presort First-Class Mail

Presort First-Class Mail Overnight 93.99% 95.99%

Presort First-Class Mail Two-day 89.20% 93.70%

Presort First-Class Mail Three-to-Five-Day 84.11% 92.89%

First-Class Mail Letter and Flat Composite 84.88% 92.18%

Marketing Mail and Periodicals Composite 86.62% 89.42%

Market Dominant Composite 85.86% 90.64%

Furthermore, on March 23, 2021, the Postal Service 

issued its 10-year strategic plan, Delivering for America, 

which seeks to substantially improve service reliability 

By implementing the elements of the plan, the Postal 

Service intends to set and achieve service performance 

targets of 95% across all product categories 

In FY 2021, the national presidential election is 

scheduled for Nov 3, 2020 Leading up to Election Day, 

the Postal Service has committed to the proper handling 

and timely delivery of Election Mail as the organization’s 

number one priority To support that commitment, 

extraordinary measures to ensure Election Mail is 

prioritized and delivered on-time have been instituted 

These extraordinary measures include, but are not limited 

to, expedited handling of all election mail irrespective of 

mail class or postage paid, extra deliveries when needed 

and special pickups to deliver blank ballots to voters or 

completed ballots to boards of elections 

After the 2020 presidential election, the Postal Service 

will build upon peak holiday plans that were successfully 

implemented in FY 2020, including robust processing, 

transportation and delivery operations to support what is 

expected to be a record of package volume processed 

and delivered during the holiday season 

In an effort to operate more efficiently and better 

serve customers, the Postal Service instituted an 

Operations organizational realignment in late FY 2020 

The new organizational structure will allow postal 

leadership to focus on priorities and establish clear 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 37

communication channels to drive service performance 

improvements through a direct line of accountability, 

improved communication and oversight and quicker 

implementation of strategies and initiatives The new 

alignment will allow for more focus on what the Postal 

Service does best — collect, process, move and deliver 

mail and packages 

The Postal Service will continue to improve product flow 

within the ground transportation network throughout FY 

2021 This will simplify routing decisions and improve 

ground reach while eliminating many of the longest 

(and also lowest-performing) surface trips to improve 

network capability and service performance These 

changes are expected to have positive impacts on the 

three-to-five-day service 

Processing operations will continue to focus on 

improving service Machines will be efficiently utilized 

through optimized run-plans to achieve efficiency Near 

real-time analytics will be used to identify mail at risk of 

service failure and take proactive measures to prevent 

these failures Benchmark targets will be set to reduce 

cycle time, improve throughputs and maintain first-in, 

first-out integrity 

The Postal Service will also focus on fostering 

employee collaboration and engagement to deliver 

high service performance, by working to establish a 

diverse culture that promotes inclusion to keep USPS 

competitive in the marketplace The Postal Service will 

build capability, competency and confidence for its 

employees by equipping them with the best technology 

and providing meaningful, actionable data to improve 

daily performance management Additionally, USPS 

will continue to hire and use additional non-career 

employees to supplement employee absenteeism due 

to COVID-19, and to support the timely delivery of 

higher package volumes 

Further, the Postal Service will continue to drive service 

performance improvement efforts with a focus on 

reducing first- and last-mile (collection and delivery) 

failures by conducting national service reviews in field 

operations These reviews contain an assessment of 

potential failure modes and mitigation strategies to 

improve service performance 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance

Excellent Customer Experience

Excellent customer experience is foundational to 

the Postal Service’s success To evaluate Postal 

Service customers’ satisfaction with services 

provided, customers are surveyed at every primary 

interaction point USPS refers to these interactions 

as “touchpoints ” The Customer Experience (CX) 

Composite Index provides a comprehensive view of the 

customer’s experience across the most frequently used 

customer-facing channels The CX Composite Index 

is comprised of seven component surveys: Customer 

Care Center (CCC), usps com, Business Mail Entry Unit 

(BMEU), Business Service Network (BSN), Delivery, 

Point of Sales (POS) and Customer 360 (C360) These 

surveys are defined below 

To calculate the FY 2020 CX Composite Index 

score, the Postal Service multiplies each customer 

touchpoint’s raw overall satisfaction score by its 

respective weighting and adds the products This total 

represents the CX Composite Index score for the year 

The following describes each component within the CX 

Composite Index:

Business Service Network (BSN) Survey The BSN 

provides nationwide support to qualified business 

customers on service issues, information and requests 

The BSN survey measures businesses’ satisfaction 

with the overall experience provided by the BSN The 

national weighting of the BSN score used to calculate 

the CX Composite Index is 10 percent 

Point of Sale (POS) Survey The POS survey 

measures customers’ overall satisfaction with their 

experiences at retail locations The national weighting 

of the POS score used to calculate the CX Composite 

Index is 15 percent 

Delivery Survey The Delivery survey measures the 

overall satisfaction of residential and small/medium 

business customers’ delivery experience, including 

both street address and PO Box deliveries The national 

weighting of the Delivery score used to calculate the CX 

Composite Index is 20 percent 

Customer Care Center (CCC) Survey The CCC 

survey measures customer satisfaction for customers 

who call the Customer Care Center The national 

weighting of the CCC score used to calculate the CX 

Composite Index is 20 percent 
38 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Customer 360 (C360) Survey In August 2019, the 

Postal Service launched a new customer relationship 

management platform called Customer 360 (C360) 

to resolve issues more efficiently For better alignment 

and clarity in reporting, the Postal Service renamed 

this customer touchpoint from the former “Enterprise 

Customer Care (eCC)” to the current “Customer 360” in 

the FY 2020 annual report The C360 survey measures 

satisfaction with issue resolution for customers who file 

service requests with the Postal Service The national 

weighting of the C360 score used to calculate the CX 

Composite Index is 20 percent 

usps.com Survey. The usps com survey measures 

customer satisfaction with the USPS website The 

national weighting of the usps com score used to 

calculate the CX Composite Index is 5 percent 

Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU) Survey The 

BMEU survey measures business customers’ overall 

satisfaction with their experience at the BMEU The 

national weighting of the BMEU score used to calculate 

the CX Composite Index is 10 percent 

FY 2020 Performance Report

The following table includes both FY 2020 Actuals and 

FY 2020 Targets for the Excellent Customer Experience 

metrics 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target

Delta 

(pp)5

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

CX Composite Index1 72.40 75.73 (3.33) Not Met

BSN 97.33 96.73 0.60 Met

POS 87.46 90.42 (2.96) Not Met

Delivery 80.94 86.33 (5.39) Not Met

CCC2 60.03 55.00 5.03 Met

C3603 40.05 55.00 (14.95) Not Met

USPS.com4 73.41 72.58 0.83 Met

BMEU4 96.72 96.01 0.71 Met

1

 In FY 2019-FY 2021, the Customer Experience Composite Index is based on BSN, 

POS, Delivery, CCC, C360, usps.com and BMEU.

2

 The FY 2018-FY 2020 actuals and FY 2020-FY 2021 targets are based on satisfaction with both live agents and the interactive voice response telephone system, 

while the FY 2017 actuals are based on satisfaction with live agents only.

3

 The Customer 360 (C360) metric replaced the Enterprise Customer Care (eCC) 

metric in FY 2021. The metric definition did not change. The C360 FY 2018-FY 

2020 actuals and FY 2020-FY 2021 targets are based on overall customer satisfaction with the resolution quality received as compared to the same period last 

year, while the FY 2017 actuals were based on the percentage of cases that were 

reopened.

4

 The usps.com and BMEU performance indicators were added to the Customer 

Experience Composite Index in FY 2018.

5

 PP refers to the percentage point difference between FY 2020 actuals and FY 

2020 targets.

In FY 2020, the Postal Service improved its overall CX 

Composite Index score (72 40 percent) from FY 2019 

(69 04 percent), including improvements in six of seven 

CX touchpoint scores, but did not achieve the FY 2020 

CX Composite Index target (75 73 percent) 

The Postal Service continued to evolve and improve 

its measurement, reporting and evaluation of 

customers’ experiences in FY 2020 However, the 

overall satisfaction question was carried forward from 

FY 2019 and was included within each FY 2020 CX 

Composite Index subcomponent survey for year-toyear comparability As such, all FY 2020 CX Composite 

Index scores are comparable to FY 2019 12 

The Postal Service identified additional opportunities 

to assess the customer experience in FY 2020 For 

example, in the C360 and Delivery surveys, new 

questions were added and existing questions were 

updated to better capture customer sentiment in those 

two interaction points 

BSN, CCC, usps com and BMEU met their respective 

FY 2020 targets, with CCC achieving a dramatic 

improvement in its score compared to last fiscal year 

POS, Delivery and C360 did not achieve their respective 

FY 2020 targets Since C360 and Delivery missed their 

target by a large margin, the Postal Service was unable 

to meet its overall CX Composite score target, as each 

of these two components were weighted 20 percent of 

the overall CX Composite Index 

The following sections address FY 2020 actual 

scores, FY 2020 targets, accomplishments achieved 

throughout the year, and other related information for 

each CX touchpoint metric 

BSN Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service achieved 

a score of 97 33 percent, slightly higher than its target 

of 96 73 percent BSN customers identified issue 

resolution as their primary issue In FY 2020, a closedloop feedback process was created, giving customers 

the ability to directly email the BSN team to let the 

team know of dissatisfaction with the issue resolution 

process Additionally, BSN score reports are shared 

with USPS areas, and improvement plans are created 

for districts with low scores 

12 For additional comparability information, reference the United States Postal Service 

FY 2018 Annual Compliance Review response to question 6d in the Chairman’s 

Information Request No. 2 for historical Customer Experience-related comparability 

information on the PRC’s website: prc.gov/dockets/document/108111
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 39

POS Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service achieved 

an overall satisfaction score of 87 46 percent, lower 

than its target of 90 42 percent The fiscal year target 

was not met largely due to unforeseen consequences 

resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic To protect 

the safety of its customers and employees, the Postal 

Service adopted the following procedures at retail 

locations in response to customer feedback:

 Limit the number of customers in retail facilities to no 

more than 10 at a time 

 Place markings on the floor to maintain the CDC’s 

6-foot social distancing recommendation 

 Install cough and sneeze barriers at the retail 

counters 

Delivery Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service 

achieved a score of 80 94 percent, lower than its target 

of 86 33 percent Challenges from the COVID-19 

pandemic, including high employee absenteeism which 

affected service scores, contributed to impacts in 

customer experience scores in FY 2020 

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the Postal 

Service continued its efforts to provide world-class 

customer experience One of the initiatives piloted in 

FY 2020 to improve customer experience was Mobile 

Delivery Device (MDD) Geo Alert The MDD Geo Alert 

was designed to enhance the customer experience 

and reduce complaints related to mail delivery National 

deployment is scheduled for FY 2021 

CCC Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service achieved 

a score of 60 03 percent, — an improvement of 

13 09 points compared to the FY 2019 actual score 

(46 94), — and exceeded its FY 2020 target of 55 00 

percent The Postal Service achieved this result by 

focusing on reducing wait time to speak to a live 

agent, enhancing self-serve options in the interactive 

voice response system (IVR) and providing consistent 

quality interactions Frequently asked questions (FAQs) 

on usps com were enhanced to reduce the need for 

customers to contact the call center, short message 

service was expanded as a self-service option in the 

IVR and virtual hold technology was optimized to 

shorten wait times 

C360 Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service achieved 

a score of 40 05 percent, lower than its target of 

55 00 percent While the C360 actual score did not 

meet its FY 2020 target, performance improved by 

2 60 percentage points from the FY 2019 actual score 

(37 45) The primary reasons customers cited were that 

their issues were not adequately resolved and that they 

were not contacted quickly by case managers 

To help resolve issues more efficiently, a state-ofthe-art customer relationship management system 

was implemented at the end of FY 2019 to simplify 

the case management process Throughout FY 

2020, enhancements were made to the system that 

streamlined case management for certain inquiry types 

and increased visibility with additional real-time reports 

Further, additional training was provided to employees 

to more efficiently use the system for handling customer 

cases Although these improvements were made, 

COVID-19 resulted in sustained high case volumes and 

higher-than-expected employee unavailability to help 

resolve customers’ issues 

usps.com Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service 

achieved a score of 73 41 percent, exceeding 

its target of 72 58 percent To address customer 

needs and improve the digital experience, the Postal 

Service implemented several changes to its website, 

including optimizing the “Postal Store” for mobileuse experiences and allowing customers to use their 

mobile devices to order USPS products, stamps 

and merchandise The website content pages and 

applications were refreshed or redesigned and 

enhanced for search engine optimization, and the 

usps com Help section was updated to make it easier 

for customers to self-help on the site if they have 

questions 

BMEU Survey In FY 2020, the Postal Service 

achieved a score of 96 72 percent, exceeding its target 

of 96 01 percent Customers cited issue resolution and 

positive employee attitudes as the two primary drivers 

of satisfaction To drive improvement, new training 

was offered to BMEU personnel on how to create and 

deliver world-class customer experience 

Job aids were updated to make it easier for employees 

to use them Additionally, coaching and mentoring was 

provided to ensure employees have the resources they 

need to deliver superior issue resolution performance 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.
40 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

FY 2021 Performance Plan

In FY 2021, delivering excellent customer experiences 

across multiple channels will continue to be a priority for 

the Postal Service This includes improving customer 

engagement, making it easier for employees to deliver 

excellent customer service, enhancing how customer 

experiences are measured in a timely manner and 

providing a consistent customer experience across all 

channels 

In FY 2021, the Postal Service will include the same 

touchpoints as the FY 2020 CX Composite Index and 

keep their weighted values as-is in the CX Composite 

Index 

The Postal Service will continue to improve how it 

measures customer experience by ensuring questions 

accurately measure both customer sentiment and 

attributes of customer satisfaction across the surveys 

The Postal Service will empower its workforce to 

prevent undesirable customer experiences by providing 

actionable data to help them resolve customer pain 

points and improve the customer experience 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 41

Safe Workplace and Engaged Workforce

Employee Safety

Employee safety is a top priority for the Postal Service 

For the sixth consecutive year, the Postal Service 

reduced its total number of accidents Prevention is 

the guiding principle for both occupational safety and 

health-related legislation and the underlying philosophy 

of the USPS Safety Program To avoid accidents and 

occupational diseases, USPS has adopted standard 

requirements for safety and health protection at the 

workplace and has established compliance protocols to 

ensure effective implementation 

Risk assessment and management are fundamental 

to preventing and controlling risks to safety and 

health in the workplace This includes accounting for 

all relevant risks, checking the efficacy of the safety 

measures adopted, documenting the outcomes of 

the assessment and reviewing and updating the 

assessment regularly 

In FY 2020, a new risk emerged — the COVID-19 

pandemic — which pressed the Safety Program to 

evaluate pandemic-related risks and implement controls 

to protect employees and contribute to reducing the 

disease’s spread The Postal Service marshaled all 

possible resources to meet the challenges posed by 

the pandemic Early in the pandemic, the organization 

established a dedicated USPS COVID-19 Command 

Response leadership team to direct employee, 

operational, business and customer continuity efforts 

during this extraordinary time USPS followed guidance 

from CDC and other public health authorities, and 

continues to provide employees with the most upto-date information USPS will continue to meet its 

responsibility of protecting employees so they can 

continue fulfilling their indispensable role of serving the 

American people 

The Postal Service’s safety performance is measured 

using a total accident rate metric The total accident 

rate is calculated by multiplying the total number of 

accidents per year by the approximate number of 

annual work hours per employee (2,000), multiplied by 

100 This number is then divided by the annual number 

of exposure hours 

The total accident rate formula is:

Total Number of Accidents x 200,000 ________________ ______________________

Exposure Hours

This rate uses the same calculation developed by the 

Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 

for OSHA Illness and Injury (I&I) rates, but expands 

it to include accidents that do not result in medical 

expenses, days away from work, or restrictions from 

performing full duty Using the total accident rate is an 

industry best practice that enables the Postal Service 

to design targeted prevention strategies to eliminate 

accidents and reduce the severity of impact on both 

employees and the organization 

FY 2020 Performance Report

In FY 2020, the total accident rate was 13 09 — 

exceeding the target for the year, which was 15 00 

This resulted in a 7 9 percent total accident rate 

reduction compared to FY 2019 The following table 

includes both the FY 2020 Actual and FY 2020 target 

for the corporate safety metric 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target Delta

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

Total Accident Rate 13.09 15.00 (1.91) Met

The Postal Service was able to meet its FY 2020 target 

by continuing the Safety Intervention and Recognition 

program that tracked district-level performance each 

month Any district identified as having a high accident 

rate or showing a trend toward an increasing accident 

rate was targeted for intervention The program 

required the district to create an action plan that 

identified root cause(s) and to implement activities to 

mitigate the hazards associated with these accidents 

Proactive leadership engagement resulted in a safer 

work environment 

In FY 2020, the Postal Service enhanced its new safety 

database, the Informed Mobility Safety Observation 

Tool, which automated data and response input from 

safety-related workplace observations and made it 

possible for any manager or supervisor to use the 

system, regardless of whether they had a Postal 

Service-issued mobile device The implementation 

of the automated quality safety observations helped 

prevent accidents in FY 2020 by providing management 

insight into common unsafe behaviors 

The Postal Service also made forecasting and trend 

data available to all levels of the organization, which 

was critical to its success in achieving its FY 2020 

total accident rate target One of the platforms used in 

FY 2020 was the Safety Dashboard, which provided 
42 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

daily information on current performance levels and 

spotlighted areas of opportunity Additionally, the 

Delivery Management System recorded unsafe driving 

behaviors using the Mobile Delivery Devices (MDDs 

carried by city and rural carriers) The MDDs track 

reversing incidents, U-turns, left turns, speeding and 

rapid decelerations This data allowed a local manager 

or supervisor insight into safety concerns in their office 

and provided an opportunity for them to proactively 

address safety issues and behaviors before an accident 

may have occurred 

Overall, the total accident count for FY 2020 decreased 

more than 10 percent compared to FY 2019 

Additionally, motor vehicle accidents decreased by 

more than 9 percent compared to FY 2019 

The table below shows accidents by type in FY 2020 

and FY 2019 

Accident Count by Type

Accident Type FY 2020 FY 20192 Percent Change

OSHA I&I 31,434 36,257 (13.03)%

Non-Recordable 49,468 53,751 (7.97)%

Motor Vehicle1 26,110 28,927 (9.74)%

Total 107,012 118,935 (10.02)%

1

 Motor vehicle accidents are included in both the OSHA I&I and non-recordable 

accident counts.

2

 FY 2019 accident counts by type may differ from reported accident totals in previous Annual Reports to Congress due to either coding changes or additional claims 

being submitted after the end of the fiscal year.

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical performance.

FY 2021 Performance Plan

The FY 2021 target for the total accident rate is 13 75 

The Postal Service will continue proactive safety and 

prevention efforts to achieve the target Outreach efforts 

will be concentrated on the most frequent workplace 

hazards, including dog bites; distracted driving; extreme 

weather events; and slip, trip and fall injuries 

The Postal Service will also focus on equipping local 

leaders with the tools and awareness training needed 

to maintain a culture of safety Field leadership will use 

improved tools, enabling them to analyze and forecast 

accident trends and implement proactive safety efforts 

as soon as possible The cooperation and support 

of employees will be crucial to establish effective 

accident reduction action plans and promote early 

safety interventions within processing facilities and Post 

Offices 

The Postal Service will also continue to leverage 

its delivery management systems, such as the 

Informed Mobility Safety Observation Tool, to increase 

understanding of motor vehicle accident risks, including 

unsafe driving behaviors and dangerous roads, and 

ensure the safety of all employees 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

Employee Engagement

The Postal Service aims to provide employees with an 

engaged workplace, one in which teams, individuals 

and leaders thrive and perform at high levels Research 

shows that higher levels of employee engagement 

correlate to healthier work environments, successful 

teams and positive business outcomes for organizations 

To measure the level of engagement at the Postal 

Service, the organization administers the Postal Pulse 

survey This survey instrument, developed by Gallup, 

Inc is administered annually to all employees Postal 

Pulse results identify a grand mean score, along 

with the survey response rates, which serve as the 

corporate measure of progress 

The grand mean score assesses overall engagement 

levels of surveyed respondents The survey response 

rate identifies the level of participation of all potential 

respondents during each survey administration 

FY 2020 Performance Report

In FY 2020, the Postal Pulse survey response rate was 

33 percent, which was lower than both the FY 2020 

target of 51 percent and the FY 2019 response rate of 

38 percent The following table includes both FY 2020 

Actual and FY 2020 Target for the corporate Employee 

Engagement metric 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target Delta (pp)

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

Engagement Survey 

Response Rate 33% 51% (18) Not Met

The survey has always been a snapshot in time, and 

the FY 2020 survey response rate is a reflection of 

current events both external and internal to USPS The 

FY 2020 response rate is not benchmarked against 

past performance Previously, survey administration 

was done in the second quarter of the fiscal year; in 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 43

FY 2020, it was delayed to the fourth quarter, due to 

a nationwide focus on keeping employees safe while 

continuing to provide essential services to the American 

public during the pandemic During the fourth quarter, 

the survey took place amidst not only the pandemic, 

but also the advent of Political and Election Mail 

season, the re-alignment of core operations and during 

periods of high employee absenteeism Any of these 

issues may have served as a detriment to the resources 

needed to execute the promotion and completion of the 

Postal Pulse employee survey 

In FY 2020, the Postal Service continued to evaluate 

employees’ perception of local improvements made 

during the year based on previous survey feedback 

During the FY 2020 Postal Pulse survey administration, 

a comment box asked employees to provide direct 

feedback regarding positive changes seen in the 

workplace This language was added as a result of 

FY 2019 employee feedback, which requested more 

positivity in the workplace Additionally, this survey 

revision reinforced the idea that employee feedback 

aligns with future initiatives More than 79,000 

employees responded with comments After response, 

employee comments are aggregated to ensure 

confidentiality and shared with USPS leaders at all 

levels of the organization to directly influence workplace 

improvements 

To further drive local improvements in employee 

engagement, employees in mid-level leadership roles 

were provided with additional training throughout FY 

2020 that focused on developing relationships based 

on the elements of engagement The Next Level 

Connection process, a one-on-one conversation 

between supervisors and employees designed to 

assess and address employee engagement needs, 

was implemented in FY 2019 and was a primary tool in 

driving employee engagement in FY 2020 To increase 

FY 2020 survey participation rates, one new survey 

question was included to measure the effectiveness of 

the Next Level Connection process (see below) 

 “My immediate supervisor has recently spent oneon-one time with me to discuss my workplace

needs ” — a closed response on a 1-to-5 scale

In FY 2020, 46,000 employees strongly agreed 

(responded with a 5) that the one-on-one conversation 

occurred with their leader The grand mean score, 

which measures the overall engagement levels of 

surveyed respondents, was 3 29, a decrease from FY 

2019 (3 36) FY 2020 marked the first decline in grand 

mean score throughout the 7 administrations of the 

survey The decrease does not meet the threshold to 

be considered “meaningful,” measured as any delta 

of 10 or greater Given the challenges that the Postal 

Three masked USPS employees converse near the 

dock of a Processing and Distribution Center. 
44 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Service faced in FY 2020, avoiding a meaningful decline 

can be considered an achievement. The USPS survey 

score measures the degree to which an employee 

can agree that their needs (e.g. basic, emotional and 

social) are being met in the workplace. Even with the 

comprehensive USPS response to COVID-19, the 

disruptive and uncertain nature of doing business 

amidst a pandemic would influence the perception 

of employee’s experiences at the Postal Service. It is 

noteworthy that the percentage of engaged employees 

and the number of top quartile teams still show overall 

improvements in the workplace environment since the 

first survey results.

Without a benchmark to compare, it is difficult to know 

how much of the result change is attributed to the 

unique challenges of FY 2020. The Postal Service is 

committed to the long-term nature of organizational 

culture change and will take assertive short-term 

actions to prevent future erosion of its engagement 

progress thus far.

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

FY 2021 Performance Plan

The Postal Service will continue to target a 51 percent 

response rate for the Postal Pulse survey in FY 2021.

To meet this aggressive target, the Postal Service 

will focus on supporting and expanding the Next 

Level Connection process across all levels of the 

organization. This will provide the necessary training 

and tools to all employee leaders to allow them to 

identify, assess and address engagement strengths 

and areas of opportunity specific to their local work 

environments. Employees will use the USPS integrated 

HR platform “HERO” to document these critical 

conversations. This accountability feature is new for FY 

2021.

The Postal Service’s ongoing commitment to employee 

engagement and leadership has enabled more than 

50,000 leaders to complete the instructor-led “Creating 

an Engaging Workplace at USPS” training over the past 

four years and supported “Engagement Matters,” a 

training course designed for bargaining unit employees 

with responsibility for leading other bargaining unit 

employees, which was rolled out in FY 2019. The 

Postal Service will continue to provide these workshops 

in a virtual classroom experience.

Further, established engagement activities, including 

active one-on-one engagement coaching and a 

weekly published newsletter with tips and articles on 

engagement best practices, will continue in order to 

increase engagement throughout the Postal Service.

Finally, new employee-focused direct mail campaigns 

and internal communications will be used to share 

survey response results more quickly, allowing 

local leaders to review results with their teams and 

implement goal-oriented action plans to improve 

employee engagement.

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

Financial Health

The Postal Service’s FY 2020 financial results were 

significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, 

which increased customer demand for package 

delivery services while exacerbating ongoing declines in 

traditional mail services. In addition, the Postal Service’s 

ability to manage its cost structure was challenged 

due to staffing shortages, transportation shortages 

and increased expenditures for personal protective 

equipment (PPE) and cleaning supplies. The shortterm effects of the pandemic, including the unexpected 

growth in revenue in FY 2020, do not alter the longterm systemic challenges facing the organization: 

declines in mail volume and growth in both network 

delivery requirements and legacy retirement and retiree 

health benefit costs.

First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail continued to 

provide the majority of the Postal Service’s operating 

revenue in FY 2020. As a percentage of operating 

revenue, First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail combined 

represented 51.5 percent, 57.3 percent and 58.7 

percent for the years ended Sept. 30, 2020, 2019 

and 2018, respectively. The COVID-19 pandemic 

significantly shifted the typical mail mix in FY 2020, 

which accelerated a steep decline in Market Dominant 

services and increased a surge in Shipping and 

Packages services during the second half of the year.

Combined First-Class Mail and Marketing Mail volume 

represented 90.4 percent, 91.6 percent and 91.5 

percent in FY 2020, FY 2019 and FY 2018, respectively.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 45

Consumer and business responses to the COVID-19 

pandemic resulted in a surge in package volume, 

beginning in late March 2020 As a result, FY 2020 

Shipping and Packages revenue surpassed those of 

First-Class Mail for the first time, representing 39 0 

percent of operating revenue, compared to FirstClass Mail, which represented 32 5 percent Further, 

the Shipping and Packages business generated 5 7 

percent of Postal Service volume in FY 2020, compared 

to 4 3 percent in FY 2019 

Although revenue and volume have historically been 

closely linked to the strength of the U S economy 

and customer utilization of the mail, FY 2020 was 

heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic Despite 

increased uncertainty, the Postal Service continued to 

proactively target opportunities to grow its business 

throughout FY 2020 The Postal Service continued 

to focus on its customers’ needs and has increased 

its investment in mail and package innovation 

However, USPS also recognizes that revenue growth 

is constrained by laws and regulations restricting the 

types of products, services and pricing that may be 

offered to its customers, and the speed with which the 

organization can bring new products to market 

The Postal Service anticipates that the volume of FirstClass Mail will continue to decline in future years with 

the ongoing migration to electronic communication and 

transactional alternatives resulting from technological 

changes To address the long-term trend that such 

changes have had on First-Class Mail revenue and 

volume, the Postal Service has focused on providing 

new services and innovations with Marketing Mail The 

Postal Service has expanded service offerings, such as 

Informed Delivery, which enables customers to preview 

mail and packages scheduled to arrive as a means of 

merging digital and physical mail 

Within the Shipping and Packages business, the 

Postal Service has focused on growing e-commerce 

and implementing marketing campaigns to increase 

business By offering day-specific delivery, improved 

tracking, text alerts and up to $50 or $100 of free 

insurance included on most Priority Mail packages 

based on applicable barcodes, the Postal Service has 

demonstrated its responsiveness to its customers 

In FY 2020 and years prior, the Postal Service 

implemented price increases on various Market 

Dominant and Competitive services to remain 

competitive within the industry However, these price 

increases have not fully offset the organization’s losses 

due to overall mail volume decline 

Controllable Income (Loss)

As noted in prior years, the Postal Service’s financial 

results remain significantly affected by expenses that 

are not reflective of operational decisions and are 

subject to large fluctuations outside the organization’s 

control The Postal Service uses controllable income 

(loss), rather than net income (loss), as its principal 

indicator to assess its financial performance, as net 

income includes the effects of factors (such as interest 

rate changes) that cannot be controlled or influenced by 

management 

Non-Controllable Expenses

Non-controllable expenses include: revaluations of the 

Postal Service Retiree Health Benefits Fund (PSRHBF) 

normal cost by the Office of Personnel Management 

(OPM); the amortization of the Postal Service’s 

unfunded PSRHBF liabilities; the amortization of 

unfunded liabilities for the Postal Service’s participation 

in the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) 

and Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS); and 

non-cash expenses related to changes in the liability 

for participation in the federal workers’ compensation 

program These items are excluded from the calculation 

of controllable income (loss) 

Fluctuations in non-controllable expenses are caused 

by changes in interest rates for workers’ compensation 

and by changes in actuarial assumptions related to 

other retirement plans The Postal Service can only 

marginally influence these expenses over the long term 

by changing the number of employees or compensation 

rates, but this effect is very small and gradual compared 

to the effect of external factors For example, a 1 

percent increase in the discount rate would cause a 

decrease in the Sept 30, 2020, workers’ compensation 

liability and related expense by approximately $2 3 

billion Similarly, a 1 percent decrease in the discount 

rate would cause an increase in the Sept 30, 2020, 

workers’ compensation liability and related expense by 

approximately $2 9 billion 

The following table includes revenue, controllable 

income (loss) and net income (loss) and shows planned 

revenues and expenses by category for FY 2021 and 

FY 2020, as well as actual data for FY 2017-FY 2020 
46 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

Revenue and Expenses

(in billions, unaudited)

FY 2021 

Plan (IFP)1

FY 2020 

Actual

Actual 

vs Plan

FY 2020 

Plan (IFP)

FY 2019 

Actual

FY 2018 

Actual

FY 2017 

Actual

First-Class Mail $ 22.8 $ 23.8 $ (0.6) $ 24.4 $ 24.4 $ 25.0 $ 25.7

Marketing Mail 12.0 13.9 (2.1) 16.0 16.4 16.5 16.6

Shipping and Packages 29.2 28.5 4.9 23.6 22.8 21.5 19.5

International 2.2 2.4 0.0 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.6

Periodicals 0.9 1.0 (0.2) 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.4

Other2 3.8 3.6 (0.6) 4.2 4.0 3.9 3.9

Total Revenue $ 70.9 $ 73.2 $ 1.4 $ 71.8 $ 71.3 $ 70.8 $ 69.7

Salaries and Benefits3 49.5 50.0 0.6 49.4 48.9 47.9 47.0

FERS Normal Cost 4.1 3.8 0.0 3.8 3.5 3.5 3.5

PSRHBF Normal Cost4 3.9 4.0 0.0 4.0 4.0 3.7 2.8

Transportation 8.7 8.8 0.3 8.5 8.2 7.9 7.2

Depreciation 1.7 1.7 0.0 1.7 1.7 1.7 1.7

Supplies and Services 3.1 3.1 0.3 2.8 2.8 3.0 3.0

Rent, Utilities and Other5 5.5 5.6 (0.1) 5.7 5.6 5.3 5.3

Controllable Expenses $ 76.5 $ 77.0 $ 1.2 $ 75.8 $ 74.7 $ 72.8 $ 70.5

Controllable Income (Loss) $ (5.6) $ (3.8) $ 0.2 $ (4.0) $ (3.4) $ (2.0) $ (0.8)

PSRHBF Normal Cost Actuarial Revaluation and Amortization4 0.0 0.1 0.1 0.0 0.2 (0.1) (0.5)

PSRHBF Unfunded Liability Amortization (0.9) (0.8) 0.1 (0.9) (0.8) (0.8) (1.0)

FERS Unfunded Liability Amortization (1.4) (1.3) (0.2) (1.1) (1.1) (1.0) (0.9)

CSRS Unfunded Liability Amortization (1.8) (1.8) (0.2) (1.6) (1.6) (1.4) (1.7)

Workers’ Comp. Fair Value and Other Non-Cash Adjustments 0.0 (1.6) (1.6) 0.0 (2.1) 1.4 2.2

Non-Controllable Items $ (4.1) $ (5.4) $ (1.8) $ (3.6) $ (5.4) $ (1.9) $ (1.9)

Net Income (Loss) $ (9.7) $ (9.2) $ (1.6) $ (7.6) $ (8.8) $ (3.9) $ (2.7)

Note: Due to rounding, numbers presented throughout this table may not add up precisely to totals provided elsewhere in this report and percentages may not precisely 

reflect the absolute figures.

1

 The FY 2021 IFP information contained in this document will be revised if needed upon approval by the Board of Governors.

2

 Includes investment and interest income, gain or loss on sale and income from the out-lease of property.

3

 Previously labeled “Compensation and Benefits” in prior year Annual Reports to Congress and included FERS Normal Cost. Excludes PSRHBF pre-funding, normal cost, 

amortization and actuarial revaluation; non-cash adjustments to workers’ compensation liabilities; and FERS and CSRS unfunded liabilities amortization, which are excluded 

from controllable expenses. Includes workers’ compensation cash expenses.

4

 Total PSRHBF normal cost expense in FY 2020 was $3.9 billion, which included a $0.1 billion non-controllable benefit due to revised actuarial assumptions. The PSRHBF 

unfunded liability amortization expense in FY 2020 was $0.8 billion.

5

 Includes interest expense.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 47

A masked rural letter carrier delivers mail to a 

neighborhood cluster box.
48 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

FY 2020 Performance Report

In FY 2020, the Controllable Income (Loss) was $(3 75) 

billion, which was less than the FY 2020 target of 

$(4 00) billion The following table includes both the FY 

2020 Actual and FY 2020 Target for the Controllable 

Income (Loss) metric 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target Delta

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

Controllable Income 

(Loss) ($ in billions) (3.75) (4.00) 0.25 Met

The major factors that affect the organization’s 

controllable loss include overall customer demand; the 

mix of postal services and contribution associated with 

those services; volume of mail and packages processed 

through the network, and the Postal Service’s ability to 

manage its cost structure in line with the shifting volume 

mix; an increasing number of delivery points; increased 

leave, transportation and supplies and services costs 

associated with the COVID-19 pandemic; and legacy 

costs for retirement and retiree health benefits 

In FY 2020, total revenue, including interest and 

investment income, was $73 2 billion Total expenses, 

including interest expense, were $82 4 billion, resulting 

in a net loss of $9 2 billion This was $1 6 billion more 

than the $7 6 billion net loss planned in the FY 2020 

IFP The higher-than-anticipated net loss was primarily 

due to $1 9 billion of unfavorable non-cash adjustments 

to the workers’ compensation liability arising from lower 

interest (discount) rates Other contributing expenses 

included higher than planned personnel compensation 

and pandemic-related expenses 

Revenue Revenue includes: funds received from 

the sale of postage, mailing and shipping services; 

passports; PO Box rentals; gain or loss on sale and 

income from the leasing of property; and interest and 

investment income The Postal Service’s FY 2020 total 

revenue of $73 2 billion was $1 4 billion more than 

planned, due to a surge in package volumes in the 

last seven months of the fiscal year, as a result of the 

pandemic 

First-Class Mail primarily consists of single-piece 

and presorted letters and postcards Revenue from 

First-Class Mail was $23 8 billion, $0 6 billion below 

plan, mainly due to lower-than-expected volume The 

majority of the shortfall to plan occurred in the second 

half of FY 2020, as a result of the economic slowdown 

due to the pandemic 

Marketing Mail consists of mail weighing less than 16 

ounces, and that is not required to use First-Class 

Mail service Marketing Mail is typically used for direct 

advertising to multiple delivery addresses Marketing 

Mail may include advertising, newsletters, catalogs, 

small marketing parcels and other printed matter 

Revenue from Marketing Mail was $13 9 billion, $2 1 

billion below the planned amount, primarily due to 

lower-than-expected volume As was the case with 

First-Class Mail, the vast majority of the shortfall to plan 

occurred in the second half of FY 2020 

Shipping and Packages consist largely of Competitive 

services that can be priced to reflect current market 

conditions These include Priority Mail and Priority Mail 

Express, business-oriented services such as Parcel 

Select and Parcel Return, First-Class Mail parcels and 

certain other package delivery services Revenue from 

Shipping and Packages was $28 5 billion, $4 9 billion 

more than the planned amount, due to the surge in 

volumes resulting from the pandemic 

International Mail includes services that enable both 

domestic and international customers to send mail and 

packages through either standard or express delivery 

options to other countries The majority of International 

Mail revenue is generated from outbound services that 

allow customers in the U S to send mail and packages 

to other countries Revenue from International Mail was 

$2 4 billion, in line with plan 

Periodicals mail is comprised primarily of newspapers, 

magazines and other periodic publications whose 

primary purpose is transmitting information to an 

established list of subscribers or requesters Revenue 

from Periodicals was $1 0 billion, $0 2 billion below 

plan Declines in hard-copy reading and advertising 

shifts away from print have depressed this segment for 

several years; financial pressures on publishers brought 

about by the pandemic exacerbated this trend in FY 

2020 

Other revenue includes ancillary services, such as 

Certified Mail, PO Box services, Return Receipt services 

and money order and passport services Other revenue 

was $3 6 billion, $0 6 billion lower than the FY 2020 

plan 
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 49

Controllable Expenses The Postal Service’s ability 

to affect its amount of controllable expenses is limited 

by various legal requirements, including the universal 

service obligation, collective bargaining agreements and 

the obligation to participate in federal benefits programs 

This section describes the various categories of 

controllable expenses and their performance in FY 2020 

Salaries and benefits expenses include salaries, health 

benefit expenses for active employees and workers’ 

compensation cash outlays These expenses were 

$50 0 billion, $0 6 billion more than the FY 2020 plan 

Included in this was more than $0 3 billion due to 

additional overtime hours needed for higher Shipping 

and Packages volumes during the second half of the 

year, contractual wage increases and new paid leave 

categories provided during the second half of the year, 

including negotiated sick leave provided to bargainingunit employees, and new sick leave as provided by 

the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) 

The FFCRA authorized new paid sick leave that may 

be used by an employee in COVID-19 situations for 

themselves, or to care for sick family members, as well 

as Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)-protected 

unpaid and paid leave if a school or child care facility is 

closed For the year ending Sept 30, 2020, the Postal 

Service incurred $278 million in expense associated 

with FFCRA leave 

FERS normal cost expense is the expense the 

organization incurs to fund retirement benefits for active 

employees The normal cost of $3 8 billion was in line 

with the planned amount 

PSRHBF normal cost expense is the expense the 

organization incurs to fund retirement health benefits for 

active employees The normal cost of $3 9 billion was 

$0 1 billion below the planned amount; however, this 

difference is considered a non-controllable benefit, as 

it is the result of differences between amounts forecast 

and OPM’s final calculation, due to revised actuarial 

assumptions The controllable portion of PSRHBF 

normal costs was $4 0 billion 

Transportation expenses include the contractual costs 

incurred to transport mail and other products between 

Postal Service facilities, including highway, air and 

international transportation contracts, plus contract 

delivery services Transportation expenses do not 

include the compensation and benefits of employees 

responsible for transporting mail and other products 

between facilities or to delivery points The nonpersonnel costs of transportation to delivery points, 

excluding contract delivery services, are included in 

rent, utilities and other expenses Total transportation 

expenses were $8 8 billion, $0 3 billion more than 

plan, primarily due to increased transportation costs 

due to significant package volume growth and a 

sharp reduction in available commercial air lift capacity 

resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic 

Depreciation expense allocates the cost of long-lived 

assets to the periods in which they are used These 

assets include items such as buildings, equipment, 

vehicles, leasehold improvements and capitalized 

software Depreciation expense in FY 2020 was $1 7 

billion, in line with the IFP estimate 

Supplies and services expenses include minor 

equipment, spare parts, furniture, services, cost of 

sales, office supplies and cleaning supplies and PPE 

Supplies and services expenses in FY 2020 were $3 1 

billion, $0 3 billion above plan, largely due to additional 

expenditures for cleaning and PPE required to keep 

Postal Service employees and customers safe during 

the pandemic 

Rent, utilities and other expenses include the cost 

of leasing buildings, utilities, building repairs and 

alterations, vehicle fuel, information technology, interest 

expense and all other miscellaneous items These 

items collectively cost $5 6 billion, which was $0 1 

billion below plan, primarily due to lower-than-expected 

vehicle fuel expense 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

FY 2021 Performance Plan13

In FY 2021, the Postal Service anticipates a $5 6 billion 

controllable loss, in which reductions in work hours, 

salaries and benefits and non-personnel expenses 

(to be achieved in spite of inflationary and contractual 

cost increases and an anticipated increase in the FERS 

normal cost) are not enough to offset the anticipated 

decline in revenue 

Revenue. Revenue is expected to decrease by 

$2 3 billion compared to FY 2020 This decrease is 

expected to be driven primarily by declines in FirstClass Mail, Periodicals and Marketing Mail volumes 

13 The FY 2021 IFP information contained in this document will be revised if needed 

upon approval by the Board of Governors.
50 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

A masked letter carrier walks down the street 

holding mail to be delivered.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 51

as the pandemic accelerates the downward trend of 

First-Class and Periodicals volumes Marketing Mail is 

expected to see somewhat depressed volumes and a 

downward shift due to accelerated electronic diversion 

and the ongoing effects of the pandemic Overall, 

revenue for these three categories of mail is expected 

to decline by $3 0 billion, despite a proposed January 

2021 CPI-U price increase 

Shipping and Packages revenue is estimated to 

increase by $0 7 billion because of price increases and 

higher volumes, particularly in the first half of the fiscal 

year International revenue is estimated to decrease by 

$0 2 billion Other revenue is estimated to increase by 

$0 2 billion 

Controllable Expenses Salaries and benefits 

expenses are planned to decrease by $0 5 billion 

in FY 2021 due to fewer work hours, despite wage 

increases resulting from contractual general increases 

and cost-of-living (COLA) adjustments FERS normal 

cost expense is expected to increase by $0 3 billion 

over FY 2020, in line with the increased employer 

compensation rate required by OPM Transportation 

expenses are estimated to decrease by $0 1 billion, 

largely due to lower expected spending for chartered 

air transportation Depreciation expenses and supplies 

and services expenses are expected to remain 

flat compared to FY 2020 Rent, utilities and other 

expenses are expected to decrease by $0 1 billion 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

Non-Controllable Expenses The Postal Service’s FY 

2020 IFP included $4 0 billion for PSRHBF normal cost 

as part of controllable expenses, based on projections 

from OPM The actual amount billed by OPM was $3 9 

billion; the $0 1 billion difference was reflected as an 

offset to non-controllable expenses There is no plan for 

a normal cost revaluation expense, as the organization 

cannot predict calculation changes by OPM 

OPM calculates the PSRHBF amortization expense 

to allow the Postal Service to pay down its unfunded 

liability obligations in the PSRHBF program The FY 

2020 IFP included $0 9 billion in expenses, based 

on the most recent OPM data available at the time of 

IFP publication The actual billed amount in FY 2020 

was $0 8 billion This lower amortization requirement 

primarily resulted from a lower-than-estimated number 

of career postal employees enrolled in FEHB Based 

on the latest available information, the FY 2021 IFP 

includes a $0 9 billion expense for PSRHBF unfunded 

liability amortization 

OPM calculates both FERS and CSRS amortization 

payments to allow the Postal Service to pay down its 

unfunded liability obligations to the FERS and CSRS 

programs These expenses are considered to be noncontrollable because the amount depends on actuarial 

assumptions, including interest and inflation rates, over 

which the organization has no control FY 2020 planned 

expenses for FERS and CSRS amortization were $1 1 

billion and $1 6 billion, respectively, based on the most 

recent data available at the time of IFP publication The 

actual charged amounts in FY 2020 were $1 3 billion 

and $1 8 billion, respectively The difference between 

the actual amount and the plan was primarily due to 

changes in discount, inflation, wage and COLA rates 

used by OPM in calculating the amount of the payment 

The FY 2021 IFP includes CSRS and FERS amortization 

expenses equal to their actual FY 2020 values 

GAAP requires the Postal Service to record its Sept 

30, 2020, workers’ compensation liability based on the 

prevailing interest rates on that date The adjustment 

to the liability is non-controllable, as it is a function of 

events taking place in the general economy and well 

outside the organization’s control The Postal Service 

does not plan for this adjustment in its IFP, as it cannot 

predict future interest rates In FY 2020, the Postal 

Service recorded a $1 6 billion net non-controllable 

portion of workers’ compensation expense, due 

primarily to the unfavorable impact that increasing 

interest rates has on its workers’ compensation liability 

Return to Long-Term Stability For the Postal Service 

to effectively leverage the best available technologies 

and solutions to enhance its operations and services, 

and best serve its customers by providing reliable 

postal services, the organization will continue to take 

aggressive management actions to control costs, 

increase efficiency and return to long-term financial 

stability However, the Postal Service needs both 

Congress and the PRC to make necessary statutory 

and regulatory business model changes to assist 

internal efforts The Postal Service is relying on 

Congress to enact effective Postal Service reform 

legislation, the centerpiece of which must be a 

requirement that postal retirees enroll in Medicare This 
52 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

is a near-universal practice for those businesses that 

still provide retiree health benefits and would ensure 

that the Postal Service’s retiree health benefits program 

aligns with private-sector best practices 

Also critical to solving the organization’s long-term 

financial challenges is the 10-year statutory review of 

the system for regulating rates and classes for Market 

Dominant services that the PRC began in 2017 

Changes to the current pricing system are necessary 

because the current regulatory structure restricts 

the Postal Service’s ability to adjust prices of Market 

Dominant services This current model is predicated 

on a price cap that does not take changes in Postal 

Service volumes and costs into account As the past 

13 years have illustrated, this system is not suitable 

for ensuring the Postal Service’s continued ability to 

provide prompt and reliable universal services, and to 

meet its other statutory obligations in a self-sufficient 

manner The Postal Service needs a structure that 

gives the organization the ability to set prices at levels 

necessary to ensure its financial stability 

Deliveries per Total Work Hours, Percent Change14

Deliveries per total work hours (DPTWH) is a measure 

of the organization’s overall efficiency It is calculated by 

multiplying the total possible deliveries by the number 

of delivery days and dividing that product by total work 

hours 

The Postal Service adjusts work hours to reflect 

changes in workload compared to the prior year This 

adjustment accounts for changes in the network size 

(the addition of delivery points), changes in the number 

of non-Sunday delivery days, and changes in the mix of 

mail types (for example, a package usually contributes 

much more to workload than a letter or flat) The 

adjustment ensures that DPTWH is comparable from 

year to year 

Finally, the percent change in DPTWH is calculated 

by comparing the current year DPTWH (based on 

adjusted work hours) with prior year DPTWH (based 

on unadjusted work hours) In FY 2020, the Postal 

Service recorded adjusted work hours of 1,180 6 million 

(adjusted for earned workload) and made 48,994 million 

deliveries 

FY 2020 Performance Report

The following table includes both FY 2020 Actual and 

FY 2020 Target for the corporate DPTWH, Percent 

Change metric 

Metric

FY 2020 

Actual

FY 2020 

Target Delta

FY 2020 

Target 

(Met/

Not Met)

DPTWH, Percent Change 0.90 1.50 (0.60) Not Met

While delivery points grew, and package volume 

increased sharply in FY 2020, letter and flat volumes 

decreased significantly The number of deliveries grew 

by approximately 724 million, which was driven by 

the addition of about 1 5 million new delivery points 

There were also two additional delivery days in FY 2020 

(304) as compared to FY 2019 (302) One additional

delivery day was because FY 2020 was a leap year The

second additional delivery day in FY 2020 accounted

for the delivery day difference from the national day of

mourning in FY 2019 to honor former President George

H W Bush on Dec 5, 2018 

The FY 2020 plan anticipated a 1 50 percent 

improvement in DPTWH However, in FY 2020 DPTWH 

increased by 0 90 percent The Postal Service missed 

its DPTWH target due to overrunning the work hour 

plan Work hour overruns occurred mainly in the 

second half of the fiscal year due to the sudden, 

extreme increases in package volume, as well as 

the sudden, extreme decline in letter and flat volume 

caused by the COVID-19 pandemic 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

FY 2021 Performance Plan

Starting in FY 2021, the DPTWH metric will no longer 

be tracked as a corporate indicator Total Factor 

Productivity (TFP), Labor Productivity and other 

operational productivity measures will continue to be 

monitored internally to drive real-time performance 

Reference the FY 2020–FY 2021 Targets and FY 2017–

FY 2020 Actuals for Corporate-wide Performance 

Outcomes table on page 33 for historical 

performance.

14 The FY 2021 IFP information contained in this document will be revised if needed 

upon approval by the Board of Governors.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 53

Other Productivity Measures

Total Factor Productivity (TFP) measures how efficiently 

the organization uses its resources An increase in 

TFP indicates that the ratio of work completed to the 

resources used is increasing, and the organization is 

operating more efficiently Work completed depends 

on three primary components: the number of delivery 

points, mail volume weighted by product type and 

miscellaneous output (such as other services the 

organization provides, including passport services) 

TFP for FY 2020 was -1 0 percent TFP had increased 

significantly between FY 2009 and FY 2015, but 

began declining in FY 2016 The decrease in TFP in 

FY 2020 was primarily attributable to sharp increases 

in transportation costs (loss of commercial air lift and 

surge in package volume) related to the COVID-19 

pandemic Supplies and services also contributed to 

the TFP reduction as significant costs were incurred for 

personal protective equipment and cleaning supplies 

due to COVID-19 

Labor productivity measures the efficiency of labor An 

increase in the labor productivity index indicates that 

more workload is being handled per unit of labor In 

FY 2020, labor productivity increased 0 2 percentage 

point, marking the tenth time in the last eleven years 

that USPS labor productivity has been positive 

For both TFP and labor productivity, resource usage 

is based on the constant-dollar amounts of labor, 

capital and materials used Because some productivity 

improvements take years for the effects to be realized, 

it is more informative to consider changes in TFP and 

labor productivity over a period of years, rather than 

year to year 

The following chart15 starts with the cumulative TFP and 

labor productivity improvement from FY 1971 to FY 

2007 and then shows the cumulative change each year 

since FY 2007 

15 FY 2019 TFP and labor productivity were recast after the final Cost and Revenue 

Analysis (CRA) was issued in January 2020. FY 2020 TFP and labor productivity is 

preliminary until the CRA report is released in January 2021.

Total Factor Productivity and Labor Productivity, Cumulative Percent Change FY 2007 to Present (Base Year FY 1971) 

 
54 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

A masked mail handler wearing gloves moves 

mail from one sorting tray to another.
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 55

Strategic Initiatives

The Postal Service has established strategic goals as 

described in its FY 2020-FY 2024 Five-Year Strategic 

Plan To help achieve these goals, the organization has 

implemented a portfolio of strategic initiatives and a 

rigorous portfolio management process This process is 

based on well-established methods to apply strategic 

and financial rigor to decision making and navigate 

significant organizational changes 

Each strategic initiative has a specific set of measures 

to track performance aligned to optimize short-term 

performance and build long-term capabilities The 

portfolio of initiatives is dynamic and changes as 

priorities and resources change, and as programs are 

completed or adjusted based on external events 

The changes to the initiatives from FY 2020 to FY 2021 

fall into the following categories:

 Refined: Initiative was modified to achieve greater

alignment with organizational goals and the current

business environment 

 New: Initiative was established to prioritize present

organizational goals and strategies 

The following table shows how the strategic initiatives 

started in FY 2020 and planned for FY 2021 align 

to the strategies from the FY 2020-FY 2024 FiveYear Strategic Plan, as well as to the corporate-wide 

performance metrics Note: The strategic initiatives 

identified in the USPS Five-Year Strategic Plan for FY 

2020-FY 2024 are subject to change by the Board of 

Governors as changes in strategy become necessary 

or business conditions warrant 

A masked retail associate 

completes a USPS customer 

transaction in a Post Office.
56 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress

FY 2020 and FY 2021 Strategic Initiatives Matrix

Accessible Matrix

Strategies 

from the FY 

2020–2024 

Five-Year 

Strategic 

Plan

FY 2020 

Strategic 

Initiatives

FY 2020 Corporate Outcomes Supported

Change 

from FY 

2020 to 

FY 2021

FY 2021 

Strategic 

Initiatives

FY 2021 Corporate Outcomes Supported

HighQuality 

Service

Excellent 

Customer 

Experiences

Safe 

Workplace 

and 

Engaged 

Workforce

Financial 

Health

HighQuality 

Service

Excellent 

Customer 

Experiences

Safe 

Workplace 

and 

Engaged 

Workforce

Financial 

Health

Deliver 

World-Class 

Customer 

Experience

Build a 

World-Class 

Customer 

Experience

X X X Refined

Build a 

World-Class 

Customer 

Experience

X X X

Equip, 

Empower, 

Connect 

and Engage 

Employees

Improve 

Employee 

Experience

X X Refined

Improve 

Employee 

Experience

X X

Innovate 

Faster to 

Deliver Value

Accelerate 

Innovation 

to Maximize 

Business 

Value

X X X X Refined

Accelerate 

Innovation 

to Maximize 

Technology 

Infrastructure

X X X X

Accelerate 

Innovation 

to Create 

Customer 

Value and 

Increase 

Profitability

X X X Refined

Accelerate 

Innovation 

to Create 

Mailing 

Customer 

Value and 

Increase 

Profitability

X X

Build 

Platform 

to Grow 

Profitable 

Packages 

Business

X X X Refined

Build 

Platform 

to Grow a 

Profitable 

Packages 

Business

X X

Invest in 

Our Future 

Platforms

Optimize 

Network 

Platform

X X Refined

Rationalize the 

Processing 

and 

Transportation 

Network

X X

Delivery 

Structure 

Optimization

X X X Refined

Rationalize 

the Retail 

and Delivery 

Network

X X X X

Support the 

Legislative and 

Regulatory 

Changes to 

Enable This 

Vision

New

Legislative 

and 

Regulatory 

Change 

Initiatives

X
FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress — United States Postal Service 57

The following portfolio of initiatives will support the 

Postal Service’s FY 2021 strategic goals:

Build a World-Class Customer Experience. This 

initiative aims to improve the customer experience 

by addressing key pain points along the customer 

journey, fostering a customer centric culture through 

employee engagement and using customer sentiment 

data to provide actionable insights for operational 

improvements 

Improve Employee Experience. This initiative seeks 

to improve organizational performance by creating an 

environment where employees are enabled, involved in, 

committed and motivated to do their best work This 

initiative contains activities to improve the employee 

experience and implement an organization that attracts 

and retains a diverse, high-performing and engaged 

workforce 

Accelerate Innovation to Maximize Technology 

Infrastructure. This initiative will leverage technology, 

information and insights to improve or transform 

business operations and processes This will enable 

USPS to: reduce corporate cyber risk; modernize 

information technology infrastructure; leverage 

automation and material handling to reduce processing 

costs; to implement the next generation delivery 

fleet; and manage a portfolio of emerging and future 

technology innovations 

Accelerate Innovation to Create Mailing Customer 

Value and Increase Profitability. This initiative 

seeks to increase revenue, customer satisfaction and 

engagement through sales, brand marketing, pricing, 

product enhancements and innovations programs that 

sustain the value of the mailbox, accelerate innovation 

and grow Informed Delivery adoption by mailers and 

households This will improve customer perceptions 

and the value of the mailbox; accelerate mail innovation 

pilots and concepts; grow the Informed Delivery 

Platform; and develop plans to support long-term mail 

strategies 

Build Platform to Grow a Profitable Package 

Business. This initiative aims to build the product 

portfolio and supporting infrastructure needed to 

grow the packages business of the future This 

seeks to increase package revenue and contribution 

by meeting ever-changing customer expectations, 

increasing efficiency while decreasing costs and offering 

competitive package products and services 

Rationalize the Processing and Transportation 

Network. This initiative will evaluate and rationalize 

the processing and transportation networks and 

infrastructure to increase operating efficiency, reduce 

costs and provide reliable and consistent service 

Rationalize the Retail and Delivery Network. This 

initiative will evaluate and rationalize the retail and 

delivery networks and infrastructure to provide reliable 

and consistent service, increase operating efficiency 

and reduce costs 

Legislative and Regulatory Change Initiatives. These 

initiatives require significant legislative and regulatory 

change in three key areas: reforms to the price cap 

regulations to allow USPS greater pricing flexibility for 

its products and services, financial support through the 

appropriations process, and liability restructuring and 

cost reductions for long-term benefits obligations 
A masked highway contract driver leans 

out the left side of a USPS truck on his 

way to transport mail and packages.

Additional Information

For more information on our services, products, 

programs and policies, visit usps.com 

Trademarks

The eagle logo, the trade dress of USPS packaging, 

the letter carrier uniform, trade dress of the round top 

collection box and the postal truck and the following 

word marks are among the many trademarks owned 

by the United States Postal Service®: Certified Mail®, 

First-ClassTM, First-Class Mail®, First-Class Package®, 

Forever®, Global Express Guaranteed®, Informed 

Delivery®, Informed Visibility®, Parcel Select®, PO 

BoxTM, Post Office®, Postal Pulse®, Postal ServiceTM, 

Priority Mail®, Priority Mail Express®, Priority Mail 

Express International®, Priority Mail International®, 

Putting our Stamp on a Greener Tomorrow®, Standard 

Mail®, Standard PostTM, United States Postal 

Inspection Service®, United States Postal Service®, 

U S Mail®, U S Postal Service®, USPS®, USPS 

BlueEarth®, USPS Marketing Mail®, USPS Retail 

Ground®, USPS Tracking®, USPS com®, Village Post 

OfficeTM and ZIP CodeTM 

Year References

All references to a specific year or “the year” refer to the 

Postal Service fiscal year ending Sept 30 However, 

specific month and year references pertain to the 

calendar dates 

58 United States Postal Service — FY 2020 Annual Report to Congress
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Four masked USPS employees look 

at the camera in front of three USPS 

delivery vehicles.