The United States Postal Service is reaching a financial breaking point, having lost $9 billion last year. They are running out of cash to pay workers within the next year.
They deliver 109 billion items each year, 10 times as many packages as competitors like FedEx and UPS combined.
They have so many regulations that they can’t raise prices to meet their needs. The USPS is asking Congress to help. Revenue has decreased as traditional mail declines.
One challenge is that they have to deliver mail six days a week, and 71% of the delivery routes lose money. At the same time, the agency has limits on how much it can charge, how it operates, and even how it manages retirement funding and borrowing.
Postmaster General David Steiner said it’s time to decide whether to continue as a government service or shift to a more business-driven model.
“If you want the same number of delivery days and post offices, we can do that,” Steiner said. “But someone has to pay for it.”
Possible solutions on the table include reducing delivery days or raising prices, though no decisions have been made.
Americans want the post office to continue, but the agency needs Congress to act. Congress controls the post office, and this problem has gone on for years.
