Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and wondered where the recipes came from? What is that delectable flavor in the cheesecake? You want a peek at the proprietary recipe to determine that special ingredient. How was that quiche made to be so fluffy? And where do they buy that special syrup to make that tasty beverage?
Or maybe you’ve pulled out a gallon of milk from the dairy section at the grocery store and tried to peek through to the inventory behind the racks of yogurt and sour cream, wondering what it is like in that gigantic refrigerator.
The warehouse at a hardware store is another unique place where a lot happens that many customers don’t see. Inventory rotates on a regular basis which determines how it is stored and where. Did you know that bottled water has an expiration date just like a bag of chicken feed?
Whether it’s in a restaurant, a grocery store, or a hardware store, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. And a post office is no different. Most of us drop our mail into the box expecting it to arrive at the addressed destination with little thought, unless it doesn’t arrive. We also unlock our mailbox and retrieve our letters without thinking much about the process of how they got there. There is a huge system in place behind the scenes that involves gargantuan coordination.
Interesting stats:
The USPS services 12.7 million business addresses and 152.2 million residential addresses. Total: 164.9 million addresses. Amazing that it gets to us, right?
USPS gets 1.8 million new service points annually. They cover a wider area than any other delivery system. That includes FedEx and UPS, who don’t deliver everywhere.
In 2022, the USPS mail volume reached 127.3 billion pieces which is 44% of the entire world’s mail volume.
On a more local scale Lehi, Utah, handles 20,000 packages in one day. To support all of Utah, USPS is investing heavily in an effort to modernize the nation’s aging postal network and achieve their goal of 95% on-time delivery nationwide.
So, when you send or receive packages this Christmas season, take a minute to thank your local postal workers for handling them so efficiently. And have fun considering what goes on behind the scenes.
– The Byway
Feature image courtesy of Aranami via Flickr.