 Many of the thousands of courier companies focus on same-day delivery, for example, by bicycle messenger.Although USPS and FedEx are direct competitors, USPS contracts with FedEx for air transport of 2–3 Day Priority Mail  and Priority Mail Express (typically delivered overnight).The Post Office Department owned and operated the first public telegraph lines in the United States, starting in 1844 from Washington to Baltimore, and eventually extending to New York, Boston, Buffalo, and Philadelphia.