Post offices can be found in every corner of America, even in the small towns. Of course, stamps are more expensive than in Russia. But, you can be more confident that your message will reach your recipient. Letters from the United States to Russia usually take about a month to arrive. You can also use private delivery services (DHL, UPS, TNT, FedEx, etc.), but they will be much more expensive. The cost of sending a package from the United States in Europe depends on the size of the message and the destination. On average it costs about $50. Generally such services are used when sending important documents.  

The postal services in the United States have been in operation since 1775, although the department of Post Office came into being only in 1792. Now, it is reported to have a large number of civilian employees, which is second highest in the country. Ever since its reorganization in 1970, the department has been providing the postal service at a uniform charge across the country. It is a quasi-governmental organization; its privileges include negotiation about the rules and postal treaties with the other countries. It has the exclusive monopoly over US mail boxes and regular mails.

There are other mailing services that operate in the country and challenge the monopoly of the postal department. But they are only allowed to deliver the urgent letters. They are also barred to use the U.S. Mail boxes. The FedEx and the United Parcel Service are such providers that compete with the Postal Department and offer the services of delivering the urgent mails and parcels throughout the nation. They also provide the service of delivering packages that are too big for the Postal Department to handle. Although handicapped by such regulations to compete effectively with the Postal Department, many of the companies still deliver the packages and make business by providing the service in quick time.

Since the eighties, the Postal Department has ceased to receive any taxpayer’s funds and have been sustaining solely through the revenue generated by it. But its business has waned of late due to the availability of better and faster options of communication like internet and telephone. The Postal Service has also adopted the integrated mail management technology or the Electronic Verification System (eVS).

Sending a postal mail or any other package through US postal department can be done from anywhere in the country with so many of the post offices located even in remote corners.