Post Office Desperate For Financial Help

(AP)  Facing dire financial conditions, postal officials are turning to Congress for help.

Postmaster General John Potter and other top agency officials were facing the House Oversight subcommittee on the federal workforce and post office Wednesday.

The post office was $2.8 billion in the red last year and is facing even larger losses this year due to the sharp decline in mail volume in the weak economy.

Potter has raised the possibility of cutting mail delivery from six days a week to five, and is also seeking relief from the requirement to set aside several billion dollars annually to prefund retiree medical care.

"With the Postal Service facing budget shortfalls the subcommittee will consider a number of options to restore financial stability and examine ways for the Postal Service to continue to operate without cutting services," subcommittee chairman Stephen F. Lynch, D-Mass., said in announcing the hearing.

Last week, the post office said it plans to offer early retirement to 150,000 workers and is eliminating 1,400 management positions and closing six of its 80 district offices across the country in cost-cutting efforts.

The agency posted a $384 million loss in the first quarter of the fiscal year - October through December - which is usually the busiest period because of the holidays.

Officials said the economic recession contributed to a mail volume drop of 5.2 billion pieces compared with the same period last year. If there is no economic recovery, the USPS projects volume for the year will be down by 12 billion to 15 billion pieces of mail.

Over the past year the post office says it has cut 50 million work hours, stopped construction of new facilities, frozen salaries for executives, begun selling unused facilities and cut post office hours.

The USPS does not receive a taxpayer subsidy for its operations.

[bbconner1]

I think it's still amazing that I can send a letter across the country for under 50 cents. Think about what you can get for 50 cents nowadays...basically NOTHING. It's time for the postal service to evaluate how much it really costs to move the mail and start charging a proper fee. That INCLUDES a proper fee for bulk mail too. I can't believe that people complain when they raise the cost of postage by 1 or 2 cents every two years...yet those same people pay 5 dollars for a cup of coffee. It's all about priorities. If we want to have a post office in the future...then we have to pay a proper price for it.

[whatsup49]

ya know, i have no sympathy for the postal worker in my neighborhood. twice in three weeks i've had people call me, saying they sent me something via snail mail, and it was returned to them with a written message "no longer at this address" or "no forwarding address." i haven't moved, and i've lived at the same address for more than 20 years. my mail is delivered late, or not at all, or to the wrong address, such as the house next door that's been vacant for 10 years. i used to leave mail out to be picked up, with the flag up on my box, indicating there is mail to be picked up, until i saw the postal worker drive right by my house, never stopping to get my mail. guess i didn't have anything to be delivered at the time. however, the same day, a neighbor brought me several pieces of mail delivered to his house across the street from mine. i have no sympathy for lazy people and for agencies that can't or won't do what needs to be done to fix the problem.

[glidescube]

then again raise rates for postage to 1 dollar or all 1st class

[glidescube]

Tax junkmail 1000% and give the money to the post office.

[skeezix06]

To those of you who think we should privatize all government functions or close them entirely. That's what Bush tried to do and pretty darn close to the definition of anarchy.

And to those of you who think we should shut down all but a few select locations that would be inaccessible to those without the transportation or those who are too disabled to get there....Shame on you.

[skeezix06]

I guess they better stop bankrolling sports and hiring PR firms.

[babooph]

Help is here-stop using public letter stamp costs to fund "junk mail" business,pretend the lobbyist did not bribe for the junkmailers.Let them pay the true cost.

[CnUHerMeNow]

The reason the Postal Service is suffering has nothing to do with mail volume in my book. My postal worker is a lazy bum who spends most of their time in everyone's house eating, drinking, hanging out and not working. Getting the wrong mail is the norm and yes, I take it to the postmaster general and complain. When it rains? Forget it. Your mail will have to be hung and draped all over your house. Leftover flyers from the route? Yup, you get them all.

I have to have all of my purchases sent with a signature confirmation because of these incompetent people. So, no sympathy from me. I ship alternative carriers whenever possible and avoid the USPS like the plague.

[craigh41]

Does anyone in Washington have any common sense at all. The USPS is a dinosaur, it is slowly going extinct - you don't pour money into it to keep it afloat - you intelligently find ways to decrease the impact on the public as it is phased out!!!
Such as: 1 - eliminate home delivery and utilize mostly P.O. boxes. Then offer a fee for service home delivery process to those that have to have it due to disability or prefer to pay for that service.
2 - establish a business registration process that outlines their needs regarding the postal service. Move as much of that as possible to P.O. Boxes as well - in the case of office complexes those P.O. Boxes could be on the property easily accessable by a mail truck allowing swift delivery of a large number of offices. If small out of the way businesses have to rely on delivery they should be enrolled in a fee for service program as well. This will greatly increase the advancement of computerized processing of ordering, invoicing and direct depositis of payments which is the overwhelming bulk of business mail.
Doing these 2 things would save HUGE dollars immediately and faciliate the closure of this antiquated, extremely expensive process.

[credibility2]

Part of the problem is the pay package the average worker receives. It's as if they're being paid for a job that really requires intellect and cogency. Pay them what their skill set is, minimum wage. Next, cut the guy's pay at the top, including any bonuses. He's making millions and for what?