USPS posts $3.1 billion loss in Q3, warns of default

mich29

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thought I'd post this since this affects us all here.


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service posted a net loss of $3.1 billion in its third quarter and warned again it would default on payments to the federal government if Congress did not step in.

Total mail volume for the quarter that ended June 30 fell to 39.8 billion pieces, a 2.6 percent drop from the same period a year earlier, as consumers turn to email and pay bills online.
The mail carrier, which does not get taxpayer funds, has struggled to overhaul its business as mail volumes fall. It has said personnel costs weigh heavily and is facing a massive retiree health benefit prepayment next month.
"We are experiencing a severe cash crisis and are unable to continue to maintain the aggressive prepayment schedule," Joseph Corbett, the agency's chief financial officer, said in a statement.


"Without changes in the law, the Postal Service will be unable to make the $5.5 billion mandated prepayment due in September."
Congress, which last week ended a vitriolic debate about the U.S. government's debt levels and budget deficit, is now in recess until early September.
USPS cut work hours during the quarter by 3.1 percent compared to the previous year, when quarterly net losses were $3.5 billion.
The Postal Service said it lost $5.7 billion during the nine-month period ended June 30, compared to $5.4 billion in the same period of 2010.
In its fourth straight year of declines, the agency had a net loss of $8.5 billion for the 2010 fiscal year.
Despite the overall losses, USPS said shipping and standard mail saw growth in the third quarter, with revenues up 7.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively. Packaging services revenue rose 3.2 percent.
Postal officials have called for Congress to change the way USPS operates, saying it needs more flexibility to close failing post offices, cut Saturday delivery and raise rates.


The agency is studying about 3,700 of its 32,000 post offices, stations and branches for possible closure. Officials plan to replace post offices by contracting with private retailers to sell stamps, offer shipping and provide other postal services.


(Reporting by Emily Stephenson; Editing by John O'Callaghan)
 
schwellington

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maybe if they stepped their game up- USPS focking sucks a fat one
 
prld2gr8ns

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If they cut Saturday delievery wouldn't that just cause a bigger loss??? I know I use them a lot because I want my stuff delievered on the weekend, whereas UPS and FedEX on ship through the week days.... I suppose operations do add up though.
 
mich29

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its a mess I know a few people who work for usps and they say its pretty bad all over mis-management and the like.I'm sure they will be bailed out though because we can't have a mail stop that would create massive problems
 

youngandfree

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Two mail carriers go to my church. They say at their office, there are almost 10 routes that don't have a full time person covering them. They work five 10hr days and a mandatory 8hr day. They still can't get all of the mail delivered. The problem as he describes it is the number of middle management. They have people (inspectors) I guess that will follow him on his walking route. They can't talk to him. They can't even get in front of him. But they walk behind him counting his steps. They average how many steps/hr and make notes. If 1 hour he walks 60 steps/min and another he walks 50/min, they start analyzing why and try to figure out how to get him to step it up, literally.

So it isn't the carriers if they can't get all the mail delivered. The middle layers are so thick with people that don't do anything productive, just in one shop. So closing offices wont help. Because you start to lose revenue, along win stopping Saturday delivery. Once again the problem lies in the bueracracy.
 
mich29

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Two mail carriers go to my church. They say at their office, there are almost 10 routes that don't have a full time person covering them. They work five 10hr days and a mandatory 8hr day. They still can't get all of the mail delivered. The problem as he describes it is the number of middle management. They have people (inspectors) I guess that will follow him on his walking route. They can't talk to him. They can't even get in front of him. But they walk behind him counting his steps. They average how many steps/hr and make notes. If 1 hour he walks 60 steps/min and another he walks 50/min, they start analyzing why and try to figure out how to get him to step it up, literally.

So it isn't the carriers if they can't get all the mail delivered. The middle layers are so thick with people that don't do anything productive, just in one shop. So closing offices wont help. Because you start to lose revenue, along win stopping Saturday delivery. Once again the problem lies in the bueracracy.
I agree I know a few higher ups that are part of the problem its sad.
 
uforce

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f 'em. its their own dam fault. usps freaking blows.

sorry.......but they pissed me off when a thief within their own warehouse stole over $100 in items i was shipping to a fellow trader. Then, shipped me a small piece of the box and would not refund sh!t. i'm still pissed about that. anyway, i was out the items, plus I had to send cash to the guy I was trading with, to make things right.

poor management across the board. die usps. die.

edit
oh.......and thanks for getting me all raging, mich29. you're on spread.
 
OrganicShadow

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I guess im the only one who prefers USPS. I actually feel strongly against UPS...never worked in my favor. Fed Ex is good to me.

This doesn't sound like a problem with Saturday hours - yeah, you gotta pay employees time+1/2 but thats not really the issue. This sounds more like poor management.
 
mich29

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yea management has been sucking off the tit for far too long and now its finally coming back to them.I prefer fed ex followed by usps then ups if I have to.
 
OrganicShadow

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^I could roll with that. UPS just creates a huge inconvenience for me. I always have to go pick it up because they dont deliver when im home/awake - Maybe im just not a fan of being a white guy walking down Sussex Ave in Newark at 10pm with a big new box of stuff in my hand. Call me crazy.
 
Mr.Sinister

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They may very well have problems and bloated management, but their fiscal problems revolve around the federal government, specifically congress. They cannot do much of anything without congressional approval, including set postage prices. They were also recently forced to prefund their pension fund to unheard of levels.
 
mich29

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They may very well have problems and bloated management, but their fiscal problems revolve around the federal government, specifically congress. They cannot do much of anything without congressional approval, including set postage prices. They were also recently forced to prefund their pension fund to unheard of levels.
good point here.
 

steve0003

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Ahh, those evil pension funds again.

It's understandable for people to want good benefits but the profitable industries have already gotten out of that business years ago.
 
Mr.Sinister

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It's not the pension itself, it's the demands to basically pre-fund it that is the problem. Nobody pre-funds anything to the level they are being required to. I'm not sure what the rationale is, it's very hard to figure out.
 

airram479

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I find this amusing. I am sitting at the Denver USPS waiting to get unloaded as i compose this. Part of the problem is that people here flat-out, dont give a f-ck. We will get to you when we get to even if you have to wait hours on end...they just dont care...why? they are paid by the hour, and work like it. For example: they stopped the unloading process on my load one night because it was lunch time---are you kidding me?!?! Until they step there game up and become competetive they will always be in this situation with customers seeking elsewhere to do business with.
 

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