39 U.S.C. § 102
Section 102 · Definitions
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 15 court decisions — leading case United Parcel Service, Inc. v. United States Postal Service (1979)
Most recently applied in Shellie Ellison v. USPS (October 2023)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
As used in this title—
(1) “Postal Service” means the United States Postal Service established by section 201 of this title;
(2) “Board of Governors”, and “Board”, unless the context otherwise requires, mean the Board of Governors established under section 202 of this title;
(3) “Governors” means the 9 members of the Board of Governors appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, under section 202(a) of this title;
(4) “Inspector General” means the Inspector General appointed under section 202(e) of this title;
(5) “postal service” refers to the delivery of letters, printed matter, or mailable packages, including acceptance, collection, sorting, transportation, or other functions ancillary thereto;
(6) “product” means a postal service with a distinct cost or market characteristic for which a rate or rates are, or may reasonably be, applied;
(7) “rates”, as used with respect to products, includes fees for postal services;
(8) “market-dominant product” or “product in the market-dominant category of mail” means a product subject to subchapter I of chapter 36;
(9) “competitive product” or “product in the competitive category of mail” means a product subject to subchapter II of chapter 36; and
(10) “year”, as used in chapter 36 (other than subchapters I and VI thereof), means a fiscal year.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2006—Pars. (5) to (10). Pub. L. 109–435 added pars. (5) to (10).
1996—Par. (4). Pub. L. 104–208 added par. (4).
Effective Date
Section effective July 1, 1971, pursuant to Resolution No. 71–9 of the Board of Governors. See section 15(a) of Pub. L. 91–375, set out as a note preceding section 101 of this title.