Career employees (actual numbers, unaudited)     2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 Headquarters and HQ related employees Headquarters 2,967 2,922 2,745 2,937 2,811 Headquarters — field support units 3,870 4,189 4,213 4,876 4,455 Inspection service — field 2,411 2,403 2,398 2,435 2,617 Inspector general 1,135 1,124 1,123 1,108 1,155 Total HQ and HQ related employees 10,383 10,638 10,479 11,356 11,038             Field employees Area offices 807 805 809 1,079 1,047 Postmasters/installation heads 17,804 17,376 22,212 23,111 23,672 Supervisors/managers 22,940 23,566 25,083 27,792 28,812 Professional administration and technical personnel 4,375 4,501 4,571 5,926 6,460 Clerks/nurses 118,751 139,666 149,562 157,168 177,842 Mail handlers 40,102 42,033 46,596 48,650 52,954 City delivery carriers 167,388 176,808 183,774 192,180 200,658 Motor vehicle operators 6,598 6,885 7,064 7,413 8,113 Rural delivery carriers — full-time 66,099 66,549 66,186 66,845 67,749 Building and equipment maintenance personnel 30,737 34,705 36,032 37,403 39,531 Vehicle maintenance employees 5,033 4,926 4,883 4,985 5,252 Total field employees 480,634 517,820 546,772 572,552 612,090 Total career employees 491,017 528,458 557,251 583,908 623,128             Noncareer employees Casuals 1,779 5,651 2,606 6,503 4,271 Postal support employees 28,793 20,281 10,471 0 0 Nonbargaining temporary 249 3,537 2,259 1,910 1,659 Rural part-time: subs/RCA/RCR/AUX 46,607 48,170 50,349 51,801 54,529 Postmaster relief and leave replacements 13,454 8,727 9,138 11,350 11,477 City carrier assistant (CCA) 30,433 0 0 0 0 Mail handler assistant (MHA) 5,382 0 0 0 0 Transitional employees 0 14,204 13,876 16,215 17,018 Total noncareer employees 126,697 100,570 88,699 87,779 88,954 Total employees 617,714 629,028 645,950 671,687 712,082 Note: The Postal Support Employees category was created in 2011. Note: The City Carrier Assistant category was created in 2013. Note: The Mail Handler Assistant category was created in 2013.