Sector Overview

The Postal and Shipping Sector is an integral component of the U.S. economy, employing more than 1.8 million people and earning direct revenues of more than $217 billion per year. The Postal and Shipping Sector moves over 574 million messages, products, and financial transactions each day. Postal and shipping activity is differentiated from general cargo operations by its focus on letter or flat mail, publications, or small- and medium-size packages and by service from millions of senders to nearly 152 million destinations. The sector is highly concentrated, with a handful of providers holding over 90 percent of the market share.

Sector-specific assets include: over 400 high-volume automated processing facilities; over 40,000 local delivery units; many and varied collection, acceptance, and retail operations; over 50,000 transport vehicles including vans, trucks, tractor trailers, and aircraft; and information and communications networks.

Every sector of the economy depends on the service providers in the Postal and Shipping Sector to deliver time-sensitive letters, packages, and other shipments. In particular, the Banking and Finance, Commercial Facilities, Government Facilities, and Healthcare and Public Health Sectors rely heavily on the Postal and Shipping Sector for the shipment and delivery of critical documents and packages. Major interdependencies with other sectors include those with the Communications, Energy, Information Technology, and Transportation Systems Sectors.

Read the Postal and Shipping Sector Snapshot (PDF, 2 pages - 1.06 MB)

For More Information, contact NIPP@DHS.GOV