Postal Service reports billions in losses

WASHINGTON - The Postal Service is continuing to hemorrhage money, reporting a loss Tuesday of more than $2 billion over the first three months of the year and warning it could be forced to default on federal payments.

Such a default would not interrupt mail service to millions of Americans, but it could further hobble an agency struggling with a sharp decline in mail because of the Internet and a tough economy.

The agency says the $2.2 billion loss covers Jan. 1 to March 31

sharply higher than the net loss of $1.6 billion for the same period last year. The post office also said it will have reached its borrowing limit, set by Congress, of $15 billion by the end of the budget year on Sept. 30.

Unless Congress intervenes, the Postal Service said, the agency won't have the cash for certain payment to the government, such as billions for a trust fund to provide health care benefits for future retirees.

"The Postal Service continues to seek changes in the law to enable a more flexible and sustainable business model," said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick R. Donahoe. "The Postal Service may return to financial stability only through significant changes to the laws that limit flexibility and impose undue financial burdens."

Total mail volume, about 41 billion pieces, was down 3.1 percent for the January to March period, compared with the same time a year earlier, the Postal Service said. A modest increase in revenue from standard mail wasn't enough to offset the revenue loss from less first-class mail.

In the last three years, the agency has cut over 130,000 jobs. And it's making more cuts, with the elimination of about 7,500 administrative jobs in regional offices.

The Postal Service does not receive tax money for its operations.

[jim123d]

Yes, I said billions, not millions!


Spring 2011-

The Postal Service is the only government agency operating using no tax money, that is what any employee will tell you, But, it is operated with funds from postage by customers (taxpayers) ...You & Me! So, is it with taxpayers money or
not ? Indirectly, probably Yes to that.


Article:


The U.S. Postal Service and your tax dollars - What every American should know


If this doesn't make your blood boil, then you obviously don't pay taxes. Most Americans have no idea, or probably just didn't care when they found out that the U.S. taxpayers have unknowingly and wrongfully paid approx. $75Billion, Yes ... BILLION to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Are people talking about this? Is it in the news every day? When most people find out about this they think that it couldn't be true, or maybe millions, but not billions. So they just brush it off thinking unbelievable. Wow, If they only knew! Read this and let it sink in...billions, not millions of your money.


Over and over again the U.S.Postal Service has taken the blame for postage rate increases. But, did you know the real reason why ? Was it necessary? This article will tell the reason behind that issue.

Many also do not know that the Postal Service must prepay every employee's pension as mandated by law. This is the only government agency required to do so. Something of this magnitude is unheard of in any business in America... Can you think of any Company anywhere that does that....fully fund an employee's pension before they retire ........None! That reason alone is what will probably put an end to what is now called the U.S. Postal Service. But the most interesting thing is, you (the taxpayers) have wrongfully overpaid for that. The following article should fully explain in clear language so that every American knows why -



The Government screws one of their own .... that's right, The OPM overcharged the U.S. Postal Service...one government agency screwed the other ...
..read on:

I would like to blame this fiasco on the Post Office, but they did nothing wrong. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) actually manages the federal government and civil service. It (OPM) is another branch of the US Government . They (OPM) are responsible for the Postal Service retirement funds. The OPM tells the Postal Service what amount is necessary for this retirement funding and the Postal Service pays it... which they did. Eventually, the Post Office had an audit which discovered OPM overinflated the payments using the wrong calculations based on projected pay & future inflation. The audit results were presented to the Postal Service, Management, OPM & Congress, and all agreed the $75 billion was an overpayment. It's hard to believe that one branch of the Government could do this to the other, but that's exactly what took place. Now it will take Congress to return the money. This is not the first time this happened. Two previous times the money was returned. To date nothing has been repaid on the $75 billion. During a recent hearing before Congress one Congressman suggested it should be returned to the tax payers, since it's been funded through postage rates and rightfully belongs to the taxpayers. If they don't return the money,, all taxpayers will in some form or another have to cover the Post Office current shortfalls. Most likely by raising postage rates again & cutting services. If or when that happens, at least we will know why. Raising rates is bad, it has a big trickle effect, a chain reaction... Post Office charges more- customer pays more-advertisers pay more- so stores charge more for product , the trucker's delivery charges increase on & on..you get the picture ...in the end we all pay.
Now you and I finally understand the postage rate increases for the past few years, Many often wondered why they needed to do it. Should the $75 billion be returned to the Postal Service, (which is rightfully theirs) it can be used to help cover current fiscal year deficit and beyond ......That $75 billion would have had the Postal Service in the black every year. The reality here is that there never should have been increases over the past few years, and probably wouldn't have if OPM calculated things right...
............. looks like Government bites themselves in the _ _ _ on this one!
So, there it is....the truth behind the Post Office financial mess it is in today.

When or if rates go up again, don't blame the Post Office, blame Congress for not returning the money, .......... the money you (the taxpayer) paid.

Billions, not millions!

And you thought you company or business has problems, your company is maybe losing millions. Yes, that is a lot , but, The Postal Service is missing $75 Billion. Now think what the government took from you ... BILLIONS !!!! Could some of this $75 billion help your company? It's yours, you put in to it...

Well, mad at the government yet?

Unbelievable, but true!

[dogsoul]

Now wait a minute - the Post Office provides 'good jobs'? So what exactly defines a 'good job' - or more specifically, good for whom? If I manage to get a job paying $100k to watch my grass grow, is that a 'good job'? Well, maybe it's good for ME - but in a broader sense it's a terrible job because it uses a lot of valuable resources with very little payoff in terms of goods and/or services produced. The USPS may have been profitable at some point back in its hayday, but the reason it's not now isn't because of some law the mean ol' Republicans passed... it's because compared to a time when snail mail had little to no competition - before the dawn of wildly effecient email, texts, facebook, blogs etc - before expensive 'long distance' telephone calls were effectively eliminated by cell phones - well, before all of THAT - the USPS was the best, most efficient way to go for a host of communication needs. The problem is that gov't or quasi gov't type institutions like this are slow to adapt to a rapidly changing environment... and so you end up with a whole lot of expensive infrastructure (and golden pensions) well in excess of the current demand for your goods/services.

Sure, you can just raise the rates - and if we're artifically stifling the 'true' market rate, then perhaps that's the way to go - but the market WILL react to rate hikes, and make the alternative choices all the more appealing - i.e. it could well result in lower revenues still. You need to ask yourself why would ANYONE choose the USPS? Are they friendlier, faster, or more professional than FED EX or UPS for pkgs? No? Are they cheaper? Yes, they HAVE to be in order to get ANY share of that business - even though their operating costs are so much higher. Is the USPS cheaper than email or facebook to regular mail? No - buuut at 44 cents, maybe I'll still use them for the occassional Christmas or birthday card, right? What if it were a dollar? Change your mind? Maybe?

[royalstar05]

I have a friend that works for them and he says that they dont charge nearly enough, but the Gov wants things inexpensive for people. I say sell them off, but the workers wouldnt go for that.

[infantryman1968]

Postal Service reports billions in losses

USPS reports loss of more than $2 billion over first three months of 2011, may be forced to default on federal payments


LOL!

Just another shining example of Big Government Efficiency.

Yes We Can!

[jd2408]

$2.2 Billion loss in just 3 months time ? That seems impossible. If it is true then turn the mail service over to be run by a private company. The government can't handle it.

[anitaymoore]

It should be no surprise to ANYONE that the USPS is losing money! I don't know about others commenting on here, but the Post Office in the town I live in has better hours than most banks do. They open at 9am, and they close by 4pm, and they are CLOSED all weekend! I don't know about anyone else but my work hours are 8-4:30, like a great many people in the area where I live we cannot access the post office when it's open to pick up or send anything. They also constantly raise the price of stamps (but lower their service, talking about not delivering mail one day a week now.) Not to mention, they don't even guarantee your mail will reach it's destination (that's right, there's NO guarantee.)

I use them as little as possible, in fact this past year I used them ONCE to send a package back, that's it. I do everything else electronically or through alternative carriers.

As far as I'm concerned in this day and age...aside from some folks needing P.O. Boxes there is no need for an actual physical Post Office anymore. No need to fully staff a building and have people waiting on customers either. People can go online now to buy stamps if they want, or buy them at many other locations and print shipping labels for packages...and have their carrier pick them up at their home (no need to go to the post office, if they don't choose to use an alternative carrier.) There are also new businesses that offer shipping where you can choose the least expensive alternative from all carriers.

The USPS is in my opinion the model example of how to run a company and guarantee it's failure.

[NANCYPA]

All I see is that anything the government touches turns into a great waste of the money I send them to run things!!!

[margroks]

I know the Post Office offers good deals, it's just that they often don't deliver. I have recently mailed several letters priority mail and paid extra for proof of delivery and yet I received the card either late or, in the case of my Federal tax reurn, never received the card at all.

Recently, I sent two priority packages AT THE SAME TIME to my daughter in Pennsylvania from Indiana and only one got delivered. The other was setting in the post office with no mention of it to her. She had to go in and ask and when they found it on a shelf and she asked why it had happened the response from the clerk was "So? How should I know?" Rude and uncaring is what she got.

Last winter our local delivery guy kept drigin uphill in a steep alley and getting repeatedly stuck. WHen I met him at the door and politely suggested he might consider altering his route and goi9ng downhill instead he was stomping mad and griping about the snow and saying maybe he'd just stop delivering our route becasue he hated the snow. Really! What ever happened to "Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor dark of night" delaying the mail? APparently that credo has gone out the window. He acted like ti was MY fault it snowed in the winter! I mean I know he was having a bad day but it was in no way my fault. I think the post office should perhaps rethink their mission a bit and actually deliver as promised and then maybe they will stop losing money.

[aftinc]

Well, a typical gov system, just think they are taking over our health insurance system!!!!! They have thousands of mail trucks and hardware all over the place. Thousands and thousands of retired workers with golden benefits that by comparison they paid little to nothing for. Thousands and thousands of near future retirees just waiting to retire, billions of dollars more that we will have pay for. And they are in the red every month for the foreseeable future. Have we seen anything from the current or past administrations in the way of real reform !!! Haaaa. I think anyone here with reasonable common sense could fix this but what will happen, our gov will assign a committee spend maybe millions then fight about the fix for a few years and ultimately do nothing.

[87lwrdr]

The Post Office is way to top heavy with bosses who don't know what they are doing or how the system works. An employee who doesn't want to carry mail because their too lazy, claim an injury and get to go inside. Now you pay them, you need another person or overtime for that route and the scenario goes on all over. It's like a giant black hole swallowing it self up. The only difference is the Post Office blames everything else for it's problems.