Contract Postal Units is our AnchoredScraps.com blog topic today for awareness the next time you are out and about and notice their sign.
Contract Postal Units
Recently when out of town I noticed a sign stating that inside the ACE Hardware store it included a Contract Postal Unit in the retail space – all bustling on a Saturday morning!
When asking about it from the person who hand stamped my post card I was sending to my Mom, they described how the independent Post Office that used to be located across the street had been discontinued. As part of their full retail services this location included P.O. Box rentals.
From the USPS About Doc – “A Contract Postal Unit (CPU) is a supplier-owned or supplier-leased site operated by the supplier, under contract to the Postal Service™ to provide postal products and services to the public at U.S. Postal Service prices.”
In this November 2012 document on Contract Postal Units – Appendix II: Number of Contract Postal Units and Post Offices by State, on pages 32 & 33 it includes these three States I’ve included here as a sample excerpt –
“North Carolina CPU 86 | Post Offices 824 | Number of CPUs per 100 Post Offices 10.4
Ohio CPU 131 | Post Offices 1144 | Number of CPUs per 100 Post Offices 11.5
Texas CPU 229 | Post Offices 1666 | Number of CPUs per 100 Post Offices 13.7″
So the next time you see a Post Office location listed, you may see its name followed by CPU. I will have to ask when she receives my post card if CPU is included as part of the hand stamp postmark. Stay tuned!
Anchors Aweigh,
Helen
Attribution & Thank you to the following who are referenced today —
Excerpt from United States Postal Service About Contract Postal Units
Image above from USPS About Finance Doc 2006, REVISED FORM PS Form 17, Stamp Requisition/Stamp Return
Excerpt and partial table (three rows shown from) November 2012 GAO document on Contract Postal Units – Appendix II: Number of Contract Postal Units and Post Offices by State, on pages 32 & 33. “Table 5 provides the number of Contract Postal Units (CPUs) and post offices in each state, as well as the number of CPUs per 100 post offices in each state as a measure of how reliant each state is on CPUs for providing access to postal services. Table 5: Number of CPUs and Post Offices by State”.
