Post Office Losses Reach $4.7B for Year

(AP)  The post office says it lost $2.4 billion from April to June.

That brings the year's losses so far to $4.7 billion. And the Postal Service expects to be $7 billion in the red when the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30. The stark figures come from a decline in mail volume as people rely more on e-mail, plus a dip in advertising mail because of the recession.

In an effort to reduce costs, the agency has proposed closing several hundred local post offices, has asked Congress for permission to reduce mail delivery to five days a week, and has reduced hours at many offices.

[Heywoodcarrier]

The media has it wrong again as usual. Why don't they ask the working employee instead of the "uninformed" top official? The problem is not the lowering of mail volumes! USPS is playing checkers when everyone else is playing chess. They refuse to listen to their most important asset, their employees! Why do you need 4 extra managers in the office (10-4) when all employees have left for their routes or gone home What exactly do they do during this 6 hour period? NOTHING! Multiply this group's pay across the nation in similar offices. Wow, problem solved. But no,,, it is the lowering mail volume responsible for cutting hours, closing offices, going to 5 days or 3 days a week and chopping up the service. Make it so inconvenient for the public to use our service, so they will get so upset and go else where. (which is going on now). Wake up Mr. Potter, the public has access to your wages as well as any usps employee. Lets take a closer look at that list, mainly towards the top and see exactly what these highly paid employees actually do for their paycheck. Don't make the same mistake other companies have made and start cutting the heart of your business. You already have managed to lower the morale of your backbone working force. If the public knew how much money was spent every year on grievances alone, it would paint an accurate picture of the trouble we are in. Not to mention the spending waste at the upper echelon. You simply cannot continue to use fear and intimidation to run our service or to scare the public into sacrificed service. The public should be aware that each letter carrier's job has physically increased during these tough times. They are pushed to their mental and physical limitations and most perform this task in a professional manner. Cutting their pay or benefits will only result in the deterioration of their attitude and dedication. For those who have the carrier who fails to deliver the service that is expected already, think what it would be like when all carriers benefits and pay would be cut. Cutting service is not the answer rather than adapting to new ideas that many carriers have suggested that have been ignored for years. Maybe it is time to appoint a new PMG if this one will not listen to his dedicated employees!

[RalphPetrillo]

The government has a very hard time running a very easy operation with a profit. Close 10% of retail operations, raise the stamp to $1.00 rate and deliver the mail only five days a week. Will cut down on labor hours, rent paid, and keep the same level of service. Real problem is that the government has a very hard time controlling costs. They have a monopoly on the mail and they still lose money. It is hysterical. With a raise on the stamp rate to $ 1.00, then more people will pay their bills online in the long term, Stupid advertisements will not be sent, and the US Postal Service will make a profit. In the future the requirement for all government agencies should be to pay all of the bills online. So all electric, telephone, cell phone, cable, internet, rents, mortgage payments, tuition costs, medical costs, legal costs, advertising costs should be paid online. Hopefully demand will continue to go down, and the demand for energy to keep these offices open will decrease including mail trucks, airplane trips. What a waste of natural resources.

[vrick_silvah]

It's obvious that this was expected. The freakin post office charges an arm and a leg to send your packets not to mention there service is horrible. Most post offices that i know of are not even flexible with there hours. They close at 530pm. Now why would you close at 530pm knowing that 60 percent of the damn country is at work or just getting off work during that time. Also, there answer for there low sales is raising prices on stamps as well as other things. No wonder now they have record losses. Whoever is in charge of these post offices needs to rethink alot of things because people now have something called "direct pay" or withdrawal or ticket ro stubless mail where they pay there bills without using the post offices services and also use email. I suggest post offices do a 360 and try a new strategy starting off wit flexible hours and lesser charges. Ohh year and better customer service.

[dwilson59]

Just my thought why dont we Hire the CEO of UPS or Fedex to run the post office

[anitaymoore]

I love this idea LOL. Just might work.

[rightbehind]

Service don't get any better than someone coming to your home 6 days a week to bring and collect your mail. I highly doubt you'll find a private company would do that. Our mail system is a great service. I would rather they raise rates than to ever give it up. The jobs the post office provides are good jobs to.

[anitaymoore]

It'd be nice if they did that in our area. Half the time our mail is mis-delivered, and I've had mail IN MY MAILBOX to be sent out...that wasn't collected for a 2-3 days. I've even complained about it to my local Post Master, NOTHING was done about it.

[pubsrtoast]

Wow, the same nattering ninnies that gave us Bush (twice) think their criticism of the current potus means something. Go back to Jeeeeesus camp and worship that cardboard cutout of Bush and maybe, just maybe, the bipolar electorate will bless us with a Palin/Joe the plumber presidency in 2012.

[rightbehind]

They need to stop forcing the US post office to pay out in advance through the year 2017 for retiree health care. If public health care comes about will the US post Office be refunded all they were forced to pay in advance? This law requiring them to pay in advance was created in 2006. It went into effect in 2007 and immediately turned what was to be a profit into a loss for the post office. Couldn't even imagine having to pay my car insurance up in advance almost 10 years.

[credibility2]

I still use the postal service to mail things. I don't conduct my finances online. So, why should I be punished because of the habits of others, as well as union pay and benefits for workers and the compensation levels paid to USPS executives? Cut their collective pay and benefit levels, including those on a bloated pension.

[ibsteve2u]

Say what? lolll...don't you know that since the Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 the USPS is no longer a tax-supported agency of the federal government?

That is, it is effectively a private organization that is required to be revenue-neutral?

I.e., as with any other private entity, it is entitled to charge whatever it wants to in order to break even; unlike any other private entity, it is not allowed to make a profit.

Thus, you WILL pay whatever the USPS wants you to pay. If it wants to pay its executives $100 million a year like Wall Street and the banks do, I believe that I am quoting you when I say that is their RIGHT.

lolll...what are you? Some kind of socialist?

[credibility2]

Lack of use of postal services isn't the only reason. Bloated union and management salaries and benefits is the big reason. The postal service would rather reduce service than touch any of their union or management sacred cows. If people have to cut back on their expenses, so should the postal service.

[ibsteve2u]

My pet theory is the USPS was forced to sell those forever stamps...You know, the stamps that work forever no matter what prices normal stamps cost once bought?

Of course America's corporations bought m/billions of them, locking their costs down while ensuring that the USPS could not adjust rates to compensate for changing costs.

That really sounds like something Bush, Cheney, & PNAC, LLP would do, you know: Inject a twisted form of socialism that primarily helped Business into a public/private entity in order to force it to go belly-up down the road and be sold off/privatized.

'Cuz talk about a CASH COW...I doubt that there are too many government entities that are lusted after more (well, excluding the Social Security Trust Funds) than the USPS.

Once you bust all of those USPS pension and health care plans, you can take that infrastructure and natural monopoly, put the squeeze on the customer base and jack prices up, and then use the resulting gusher of cash to go after UPS and FedEx...

Wheeeeee.....yup, very Bush, Cheney, Paulson, & PNAC, LLP.

[ibsteve2u]

P.S. Think of the USPS as an analogy for a public option in a national health care plan.

Look at it from the reverse side: What do you think will happen to your shipping costs - how much it costs to mail you your medications, your books, your SSN check, your purchases from NewEgg, Amazon, etc., you Christmas cards - once the USPS disappears or is privatized?

lollll...I've been saying this for a long, long time, but man...Bush, Cheney, & PNAC, LLP made the Teapot Dome boyz look like kindergärtners.

[Benton09]

Republican Plan: Cut down on the Postal Service and give the money saved to the Industrial War Complex. We're so good at wars!