Will the USPS Go Out of Business?
Fortunately for all of us, the USPS will not be going out of business any time soon. If you are unfamiliar with what the USPS is, it is a separate agency of the U.S. government. Since 1971, the USPS has been funded directly from postage. Before then, taxes helped subsidize the costs. Now, the USPS is expected to compete with private companies such as the UPS and FedEx. Therefore, Congress doesn't provide for any of USPS' operating expenses. As of late however, the USPS has found themselves struggling financially.
Many worry that the USPS will go out of business, however, many changes are being made to the operations of the United States Post office to help mitigate some of their slowly declining losses. These changes include cutting many local post offices, processing centers from around 500 to about 200, and possibly removing Saturday's mail service.
One of the main responsibilities of the USPS is to maintain a steady and current database of ZIP codes. This database is updated monthly and receives its inputs from local post offices on boundary changes, ZIP code additions, and ZIP code subtractions. This database is not only used by the USPS by is also used by every other mailing service in the United States. These services include the Federal Express, United Parcel Service, and DHL.
This information allows us to realize the true importance of the USPS and their contribution to the United States. We can be confident that the USPS will continue to provide ZIP code databases.