In order to fully focus on the busy holiday mailing season and to minimize logistical issues, the U.S. Postal Service retail and delivery unit optimization efforts will be temporarily suspended from Nov. 19 through Jan. 2, 2012.

Only the actual physical closing of a Post Office and the relocation of carrier routes from one facility to another will be affected by this suspension. The reviews will continue and community meetings will occur as scheduled. The temporary suspension is similar to the one issued for last year’s holiday season.

The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. With 32,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, usps.com, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $67 billion and delivers nearly 40 percent of the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 29th in the 2010 Fortune 500. Black Enterprise and Hispanic Business magazines ranked the Postal Service as a leader in workforce diversity. The Postal Service has been named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute.