Editing United States Postal Service (section)

=== Competitors ===
[[File:U.S. Post Office - Los Angeles Terminal Annex.jpg|thumb|USPS [[Terminal Annex]] building in Los Angeles]]

[[FedEx]] and [[United Parcel Service]] (UPS) directly compete with USPS Express Mail and package delivery services, making nationwide deliveries of urgent letters and packages. Due to the postal monopoly, they are not allowed to deliver non-urgent letters and may not directly ship to U.S. Mail boxes at residential and commercial destinations. However, both companies have transit agreements with the USPS in which an item can be dropped off with either FedEx or UPS who will then provide shipment up to the destination post office serving the intended recipient where it will be transferred for delivery to the U.S. Mail destination, including Post Office Box destinations.<ref name="smartpost">{{cite web |url=http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/outbound.html |title=FedEx SmartPost Shipping & Tracking for Low Weight Packages |publisher=FedEx |access-date=April 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405161604/http://www.fedex.com/us/smart-post/outbound.html |archive-date=April 5, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="mailinno">{{cite web |url=http://www.upsmailinnovations.com/services/index.html |title=UPS Mail Innovations – Overview |publisher=United Parcel Service |access-date=April 11, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505114221/http://upsmailinnovations.com/services/index.html |archive-date=May 5, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> These services also deliver packages which are larger and heavier than USPS will accept. [[DHL|DHL Express]] was the third major competitor until February 2009, when it ceased domestic delivery operations in the United States.

A variety of other [[:Category:Transportation companies of the United States|transportation companies in the United States]] move cargo around the country, but either have limited geographic scope for delivery points, or specialize in items too large to be mailed. Many of the thousands of [[courier]] companies focus on same-day delivery, for example, by [[bicycle messenger]].

Although USPS and FedEx are direct competitors, USPS contracts with FedEx for air transport of 2–3 Day Priority Mail <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail.htm|title=Priority Mail – USPS|website=www.usps.com|access-date=September 15, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901230349/https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail.htm|archive-date=September 1, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> and Priority Mail Express (typically delivered overnight).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-express.htm|title=Priority Mail Express – USPS|website=www.usps.com|access-date=February 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126061907/https://www.usps.com/ship/priority-mail-express.htm|archive-date=January 26, 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> Amazon controls one-fifth of the delivery market, and is on track to overtake UPS and even the US Postal Service (USPS), according to data from the logistics firm Pitney Bowes.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Amazon now delivers more US packages than FedEx|work=Quartz|url=https://qz.com/2078328/amazon-now-delivers-more-us-packages-than-fedex/|access-date=December 10, 2021|archive-date=December 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211210023611/https://qz.com/2078328/amazon-now-delivers-more-us-packages-than-fedex/|url-status=live}}</ref> Amazon Drone Delivery service is in USPS territory as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Amazon Drone Delivery|website=Amazon|url=https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011|url-status=live|access-date=December 10, 2021|archive-date=May 28, 2019|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190528175857/https://www.amazon.com/Amazon-Prime-Air/b?ie=UTF8&node=8037720011}}</ref>