Posted on 08/05/2010 9:41:55 AM PDT by Zakeet
The U.S. Postal Service reported a $3.5 billion loss in its most recent quarter Thursday, as mail volume plummets and retiree health care costs mount.
The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars, said operating revenue declined 1.8% to $16 billion during the fiscal 2010 third quarter compared to a year earlier, while operating expenses spiked 4.2% to $19.5 billion.
The quarterly loss was the fourteenth in the last sixteen quarters, the postal service said.
"A significant portion of USPS losses in the past few years has been due to an unprecedented decline in mail volume -- down more than 20% since 2007," the USPS said in a statement. "The replacement of letter mail and business-transaction mail by electronic alternatives continues to cause downward pressure on mail volume."
"Securing the fiscal stability of the Postal Service will require continued efforts in all of these areas, as well as further review of retiree health benefit prefunding," said postmaster general John Potter.
"It also will require that the Postal Service gain flexibility within the law to move toward five-day delivery, to adjust our network as needed, to develop new products the market demands, and to work with our unions to meet the challenges ahead," he added.
(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...
I promise that Wee Wee Care will work better than this ...
Mail down? Funny, I’m getting more ads than ever before.
“The USPS, a self-supporting government agency that receives no tax dollars,”
Does anyone believe this.
Duh. . . .
Combinations of union rule and government policies which kill individual enterprise have predictable outcomes. Did the "planners" not forecast those outcomes?
Silly question. Of course, they did not. And, they expect us to believe they can do "health care"?
Everyone knows that technology has rendered snail mail an obsolete 20th century relic. Massive downsizing of the USPS is inevitable.
How fast will this turn into a "I hate the USPS" thread?
We now go to the mailbox once a week. We usually throw away EVERYTHING but occasionally get something we need to see or respond to.
The mail paradigm seems to have shifted almost overnight.
So the brilliant economic response to declining sales and volume? Raise the price of postage.
At least if the USPS was a private corporation, I could short it.
It started even before I could finish my post.
mail may be down and they may need less workers but I BET THEY WILL BE CALLING FOR ANOHTHER RAISE..
And volume will go down even more when they cut back deliveries and raise the rates.
NEWMAN!
Maybe they’ll merge with netflix?
it will get worse. just wait until the counters are labeled, “local mail”, “out of state mail”, “passports”, and “appendectomies”.
Bullsh1t.
Make all Post Offices double as Obamacare centers. That way we can increase the cost, and get two disasters for the price of one!
Just my opinion, but 1st Class Mail and Priority Mail are something of a bargain. I’ve shipped a good bit of stuff (several hundred items) and never had a single problem.
Now, Parcel Post and Media Mail are a different story. If you’ve got a relatively small parcel and are thinking of Media Mail, go ahead and pay a little extra and ship it First Class or Priority Mail. If you’re thinking of shipping a larger item Parcel Post, forget it, ship it Fedex Ground.
A private company would have seen this coming and made alternate plans, much like Kodak did when they realized, almost too late, that printed pictures and film were on their way out. The Post Office doesn’t have to bother with that because they will just take the money from the taxpayers. That’s why they are so cheerful at the Post Office!
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