Postal Service desperately needs to change
The organization has lost $5.1 billion in the past year and can't make an annual $5.5 billion payment due Friday.
The service said this week that it lost $5.1 billion in the past year. And that's after a prolonged cost-cutting effort that eliminated 130,000 jobs and shuttered smaller post offices.
Post continues below.
Now the biggest thorn in the USPS' side is rearing its ugly head again. The annual bill is due for the $5.5 billion needed to prefund retiree health care benefits. The service simply can't make the Nov. 18 deadline with its current finances and is hoping to get an extension from Congress.
The Postal Service has tried to drum up business with cute commercials and expanded services. But mail volume has fallen by more than 20% since 2006, The Hill reports. The service's biggest revenue contributor, first-class mail, dropped 6% in the last year alone.
The service says that without drastic changes, it will run out of cash -- or be dangerously close to that point -- by next September, Bloomberg reports. The service is classified as a self-supporting government enterprise.
So what can the USPS do at this point? Here are some options it's considering.
Restructuring. The service is talking to potential advisers about a broad restructuring, Bloomberg reports. Some of those advisers helped the U.S. Treasury department deal with General Motors (GM) and Chrysler.
More layoffs. The USPS wants to cut 220,000 more jobs by 2015.
More location closings. The service is mulling a plan to close up to 12% of its locations, or 3,700 post offices. It's also thinking about closing 252 of its 487 mail-sorting facilities, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Scrap that retiree prepayment. The service has asked Congress for permission to stop pre-funding retiree benefits.
Cancel Saturday delivery. It's too costly, the serivce says.
But most of those options would run into fierce resistance from Postal Service unions, which have been very strong historically. Nearly 80% of USPS expenses go to labor costs, including retiree benefits, Bloomberg reports. That compares with 60% for UPS and 40% for FedEx.
The service says it will survive if it can just cut annual costs by $20 billion by 2015. But without drastic action from Congress and union leaders, the USPS is doomed.
| Tags: | FDXgmKim Petersonups |
OMG how little most of you know!
1) The post office receives NO taxpayer money.
2) The post office MUST deliver to all homes in the US. That includes flying mail to remote ranches and delivering it by mule to the bottom on the grand canyon.
3) The post office is MANDATED by Congress to pre pay ALL retirement expenses for the next 75 years, yes 75 years. They have to put money away now for employees not even born yet. You read in the article about the cost cutting already done and the jobs eliminated, but the amount of retirement to be pre paid has not gone down. As a matter of fact agencies with in the government has gone on record and stated that the USPS has already over paid into the fund by up to $60 Billion. Yes, that is with a B.
4) The prices charged are mandated by the government not actual costs. Did you know that the shipping of your magazines only cover 75% of the cost ?
5) As for comparing the USPS with UPS and Fedex, did you know that the when the price of gas spiked the other two charged a gas surcharge but the USPS had to eat the cost. Did you know that the pricing of the other two are based on business practices not mandates.
6) Did you know that one of the most profitable parts of Fedex is rual delivery that the Post Office delivers to the home not Fedex?
7) Do you realize what would happen to the inconvient delivery routes if a private company took over? Can you say sorry no deliver to you?
8) With the amount of first class mail going down and homes are still being built the USPS will go by each of the new homes, meaning more vehicle and more carriers with less money coming in.
The solutions are not easy but the government needs not to jump in and cut too soon. The retirement payments have to change. The excess needs to be refunded. A thought out plan to downsize the post office needs to be put into place. Pricing has to change. One more did you know, did you know that mass mailers get a discount to pre sort the mail but the post office still has to sort it anyway to get it mixed with all the other mail. If the USPS were allowed to discontinue the discounts, the mass mailers would than not have to pay to have the mail sorted and the customer would still pay the same price to have there bill mailed.
One last thing, my computer has crashed several times in all the years I've used one, my mail box has never crashed.
The Postal Service Unions have been the most conservative and best run in any American Business. You cannot take away the union or the uneducated managers would have there way with the employees. Not a good idea. Every union has good and bad employees. Postal Employees are hard working, good people for the majority. The answer is to let your congressman know that the postal service should not have to fund their pet projects and make the deficit look good by prefunding Federal retirements. Congress needs to stop pilfering from the postal service , which is a sound business and in good shape without government intervention. They also need to give them back the money they have been paying in since 2006 to make Congress look better. Come on Congress,do the right thing!
It's funny to see that so many think the Gov is funding the PO - you have that backward. Why does the PO pre-pay the retirement? This is a requirement from the Gov. They saw that the PO had extra cash and needed a way too get hold of it. I beleive the funding requirement is now up to 80 years in advance. Now the Gov can get their hands on the PO money for their own pet projects. If it wasn't for this one item the PO would actually be turning a profit.
Changes would still need to be made, but good luck there - the union and the Gov will stop that.
IGNORANCE OF THE POST OFFICE IS OBVIOUS FROM MOST OF THESE POSTS
THE UNITED STATES POST OFFICE IS THE CHEAPEST MOST EFFICIENT DELIVERY
SERVICE IN THE WORLD.........IN A FREE MARKET COMPETITION WITH UPS THEY
WOULD SLAUGHTER THEM JUST FROM ECONOMIES OF SCALE
UPS DOESN'T COME CLOSE TO HAVING THE INFRASTRUCTURE TO DELIVER TO EVERY ADDRESS
First of all, the Postal Service does not get one cent from taxpayer money and it is a self funded run organization. It is not claiming any taxpayer money. It just wants congress to pay back some of the Billions it has been pre-paying into the retirement fund. Which by the way, is the only agency that was order by congress to do so. Right now the Postal Service has pre-pay retirement for people who have not even been born. For years the Postal Service has been depositing Billions into the government. If congress release some of the overpaid Billions (approximately 60 Billions) it owe the Postal Service this is all the Postal Service needs, in addition to consolidate the network to it's current nationwide requirements which means early retirement and/or separation for many employees, pay freezes for EAS management (which by the way has already been implemented for fiscal year 2011 and 2012) and elimination of bonuses and cash awards. Oh yes! It needs congress to lift the several restrictions it has impose on the Postal Service which does not allow it to run as a competitive business.
This article is very misleading. The reason for the Post Office's decline came when congress in 2006 made them pay the health benefits of employees 75 years into the fututre (Employees not even born yet). So for the next ten years the Post Office must pay $5 billion annually.
This is the republicans attempt to destroy the Post Office and privatize it. Look into and support HR1351 -- write all your congress people and senators!
Destroyed by private companies that HAVE NO CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT AND NO CONGRESSIONAL OBLIGATIONS TO PREFUND ANYTHING LET ALONE FOR THE NEXT 75 YEARS?!!!
You want to make the post office viable? Get stupid know-nothing Congressmorons out of the equation and allow the post office to run like a business.
The post office can't adapt if the Congressmorons keep stopping them.
But thats the plan.
Get as much money into Congressthieves coffers then fold up the post office and leave all current employee's and retiree's out in the cold to accept whatever garbage package the Congressthieves decide they should get.
After all, contracts are only valid if they are pertaining to million dollar bonuses for wall street executives.
the write doesnt tell the whole story. i dont know if that is by design or in efficient.
under i believe a 2006 bill required the usps to prefund their retiree benefits for the next 50 (?) years. this is a burden that not one agency has ever had to do. they also do not have the same rights as ups and federal express as to all of the services they can provide. so if congress would stop trying to destro the usps, maybe it can turn its self around.
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