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Date Posted: 00:12:58 09/14/08 Sun
Author: Fred
Author Host/IP: 98.173.140.150
Subject: The post office...
In reply to: Bill 's message, "Question ............." on 17:49:35 09/13/08 Sat

The USPS is not a private company in the sense that Fedex
or UPS is. It is an independant establishment within the
executive branch of the federal government. It is still largely under control of the president as the president appoints members of the postal board of governors which sets
policy, rates, and selects personel for management of the
agency. Unlike private companies which are subject to taxes,
the USPS is not. Look at a postal vehicle, you'll notice it
has no license plates issued by any state, their vehicles
are exempt from state registration. Fedex and UPS have to
register theirs in the states they operate in. Postal
buildings are federally owned and as such are exempt from
local property taxes. USPS pays no sales taxes on the materials they acquire in their operations because they
purchase everything through the GSA. They also enjoy an
enforced monopoly on first class mail and technically only
the post office can put items in mailboxes.

The Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service sets policy, procedure, and postal rates for services rendered, and has a similar role to a corporate board of directors. Of the eleven members of the Board, nine are appointed by the President and confirmed by the United States Senate (see 39 U.S.C. § 202). The nine appointed members then select the United States Postmaster General, who serves as the board's tenth member, and who oversees the day to day activities of the service as Chief Executive Officer (see 39 U.S.C. § 202–203). The ten-member board then nominates a Deputy Postmaster General, who acts as Chief Operating Officer, to the eleventh and last remaining open seat.

The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak), but as noted above is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States," (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is wholly owned by the government and controlled by the Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Also postal employees have civil service status so they
enjoy a tenured status which makes it nearly impossible to
dismiss them or lay them off if they become redundant. They
are also part of the very generous federal retirement system
and health plans.
So the post office is a rather different animal from your
typical private company.

....Fred

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