Most grocery deliveries in the United States heavily rely on highways and trucks. But Alaska has a different story. In rural Alaska, many communities lack road connections to other parts of the state. Therefore, everyday essentials, from canned food and fresh produce to paper towels and diapers, are delivered by air.
This is where the role of the Alaska Bypass Mail program of the U.S. Postal Service becomes crucial. The program handles a massive amount of cargo across rural Alaska each year. According to a report from the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, this Alaska Bypass mail program transported roughly 87 million pounds of goods in one year. Most of those shipments consisted of groceries and household supplies that families depend on every day.
Instead of regular postal processing, shipments go directly to airlines, helping supplies reach communities that are accessible only by air for much of the year. The cargo is then flown to remote communities, where it is received by local businesses.
How the Alaska Bypass mail program works
The Alaska Bypass Mail Program, under a USPS program, serves over 100 villages scattered throughout Alaska. For residents, this program is not only a delivery program but an important lifeline that ensures that the stores have enough stock of necessities regardless of the severe weather conditions, long distances, and the absence of road networks.
However, transporting so many millions of pounds of cargo through Alaska’s rugged terrain comes with a hefty price tag. The same Inspector General report found that the recovery rate of the Postal Service costs was around 29 percent; that means, for each dollar that the Postal Service spent on the program, it lost 71 cents. The report explains that nearly all bypass mail is delivered by air since large parts of rural Alaska do not have any highways, which makes air transportation the only practical option for most communities.
