Postal Service loses $2.2B in
3 months as virus woes persist
Associated Press,
by
Matthew Daly
Original Article
Posted By: Ribicon,
8/8/2020 5:05:28 PM
Washington – The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $2.2 billion in the three months that ended in June as the beleaguered agency–hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic–piles up financial losses that officials warn could top $20 billion over two years. “Our financial position is dire, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues," Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general, said Friday in his first public remarks since taking the job in June. “Without dramatic change, there is no end in sight," DeJoy told the postal board
Reply 1 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 8/8/2020 5:13:08 PM (No. 503743)
And, guess who bails them out time and time again? Yep. You and me.
12 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
panther361 8/8/2020 5:21:38 PM (No. 503748)
I worked for the then Post Office in the 70's. Hard to believe they actually got worse than they were, but I guess they managed. Slave driven carriers, sleep deprived clerks and maniacal supervisors was the environment that apparently never evolved into anything better.
3 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
sinic 8/8/2020 5:22:05 PM (No. 503749)
"coronavirus pandemic" is the LEAST of this outfits; problems. The USPS has been bleeding OUR money for decades.
Newman!!! x millions
11 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
Vaquero45 8/8/2020 5:25:00 PM (No. 503752)
Back in 1976, when Reagan was running for the Republican presidential nomination, he was campaigning in Georgia and talking to an old farmer. He asked the farmer, "what do you want the federal government to do for you?" The farmer said "I want 'em to guard the coast, tote the mail, and stay the hell out of everything else!"
I agreed with that old farmer then. The only difference between then and now is that I don't want them to carry the mail either. It is long past time to privatize the Postal Service.
13 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
DVC 8/8/2020 5:52:11 PM (No. 503767)
Losing money on every package delivered for Amazon, etc. is beyond stupid. WHY are they pricing their services below cost? That cannot work, ever.
16 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
Lawsy0 8/8/2020 7:00:28 PM (No. 503823)
If by some mental breakdown I could suddenly believe anything the Postal Service said about itself, I still couldn't see how this could possibly be true. Since when did the USPS hunt around for an excuse to raise postal rates?? When my grandkids ask what killed the Post Office, I can clearly explain that e-mail killed it. And about time, too.
2 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
pensom2 8/8/2020 7:01:25 PM (No. 503825)
Most of my mail consists of ads and garbage fliers. All my bills (utilities, credit cards, Internet, mortgage) are paid by automatic withdrawal from my bank account. I receive my actual bills by email. I correspond by email. All I typically send by USPS is birthday cards with checks to my children and grandchildren living in other states.
The USPS should put all deliveries on an "every other day" schedule--some folks receiving mail Monday, Wednesday, Friday; the others receiving Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. Anyone or any business that needs daily delivery can pay a $200/year surcharge or rent a P.O. Box at the post office. The biggest new expense would be additional storage space for mail to be delivered tomorrow instead of today.
This would reduce employee costs and benefits by about 40%. But Congress does nothing, fearing that Granny would miss having daily mail and vote against their congressperson.
6 people like this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
or gate 8/8/2020 7:09:46 PM (No. 503833)
The poor Post Office has about a million workers and about two million bosses the bosses have never delivered mail..
Don't forget that Congress takes a big chunk of their revenue to buy votes from special interest groups.
3 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
curious1 8/8/2020 10:17:40 PM (No. 503919)
But they can proudly point to the fact they are a big 'diversity' hire and not a merit hiring organization. As if that has anything to do with what they are tasked to provide as an organization.
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
jeffinitely 8/8/2020 11:50:54 PM (No. 503945)
During the early days of the pandemic, I had to go to a post office to mail some checks. The very young lady helping me had her cell phone nicely laid out and was watching videos WHILE helping me. The transaction took longer than usual due to her personal video distraction. First time I've ever seen this type of thing at a post office counter, and I doubt it's the last. It's so rare, but it is possible, to get a worker who seems to genuinely care about customers.
8 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Trigger2 8/9/2020 12:50:07 AM (No. 503955)
I'll bet anything DeJoy still collects his "bonus" of tens of thousands for doing such a good job tho.
2 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
Strike3 8/9/2020 2:48:09 AM (No. 503971)
At least they didn't try to blame 100% of the losses and failures on COVID-19. Nobody would fall for that one. Private carriers UPS and Fed-Ex seem to be handling it.
2 people like this.
#7 I have a post office box. The fees keep going up even though I save them money by picking up my mail.
In the "old days" the post office hired veterans. Today it's Affirmative Action.
They were providing poor service before DeJoy came along. There is a group over the postmaster general making dumb decisions also.
Still not pleased they lost a package I sent as a birthday gift.
2 people like this.
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"Broken business model" puts it mildly. They're openly indifferent if not openly hostile to their customers at many locations, and exist as a zombie organization that serves to fund its pension obligations.