Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

[Nova78]

XFINITY - Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.

The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.

"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.

Put a fork in it ,is done for. The government fucks -up everything , I am sure Obama will pull some money out of his ass and bail them out......

 

[Rshermr]

XFINITY - Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.

The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.

"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.

Put a fork in it ,is done for. The government fucks -up everything , I am sure Obama will pull some money out of his ass and bail them out......

View attachment 20411

The idea that government services such as mail delivery should be cost-effective is a conservative fetish, with no grounding in the Constitution, history or practice. If every government program were held to this standard, we would have no interstate highways. No international airports. No Internet. No levees on the Mississippi and no Hoover Dam.
And as a fiscal crisis, this is as artificial as they come. It's largely the result of a republican supported 2006 law that required the Postal Service — almost alone among public and private enterprises — to pre-fund its entire future liability for retiree healthcare expenses. The payments totaled $38 billion through 2011, with further installments of between $5.6 billion and $11.1 billion a year due through 2016.

Funny how you missed that.

 

[Nova78]

XFINITY - Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.

The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.

"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.

Put a fork in it ,is done for. The government fucks -up everything , I am sure Obama will pull some money out of his ass and bail them out......

View attachment 20411

The idea that government services such as mail delivery should be cost-effective is a conservative fetish, with no grounding in the Constitution, history or practice. If every government program were held to this standard, we would have no interstate highways. No international airports. No Internet. No levees on the Mississippi and no Hoover Dam.
And as a fiscal crisis, this is as artificial as they come. It's largely the result of a republican supported 2006 law that required the Postal Service — almost alone among public and private enterprises — to pre-fund its entire future liability for retiree healthcare expenses. The payments totaled $38 billion through 2011, with further installments of between $5.6 billion and $11.1 billion a year due through 2016.

Funny how you missed that.

Missed what ?-that both dems and reps are all corrupt, I am a fan of know one in d.c, for all I care we should plow it all up and start over again.....

 

[waltky]

Postal service bleedin' like a stuck pig...

Postal Service Losing $42,335,766 Per Day
August 9, 2012 - The U.S. Postal Service has been losing an average of $42,335,766 per day in fiscal 2012.

On Thursday, the service reported a third quarter (April 1-June 30) net loss of $5.2 billion, bringing its fiscal year-to-date net loss to $11.6 billion. There were 274 days in the first three quarters of fiscal 2012. Thus the Postal Service has lost, on average, $42,335,766 per day in this fiscal year. However, those losses have not been evenly distributed over the period. In the most recent quarter, the Postal Service's losses dramatically increased. In the first quarter of fiscal 2012 (Oct.-Dec.), the Postal Service lost $3.3 billion. In the second quarter (Jan.-March), it lost $2.2 billion. During the third quarter alone, when the Postal Service lost a total of $5.2 billion, the service was losing money at a rate of $57,142,857 per days.

The Postal Service said that it had to use $3.1 billion in the third quarter to fulfill a legislative mandate for prefund retiree health benefits, significantly contributing to its losses. Although the losses for its fiscal year-to-date mathematically total $10.7 billion, Chief Financial Officer Stephen Masse said the $11.6 billion currently owed to the federal government is being expensed at roughly one-fourth of that sum for every quarter in 2012, resulting in an extra $0.9 billion. The USPS said its operating revenue of $15.6 billion decreased by $153 million--less than 1 percent--while operating expenses of $20.8 billion went up by $1.9 billion, for a 10.2 percent increase. This increase was driven by the $3.1 billion mandated for prefunding of retiree health benefits.

Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe said that Postal Service was forced to default Aug. 1 on a $5.5 billion prefunding payment for retiree health benefits, because it didn’t have enough cash resources to make the payment. It faces the likelihood of missing another payment in September. Donahoe said the postal service says it is taking steps to get back on track, but is still looking to Congress to pass legislation that would ease the pressure. “We remain confident that Congress will do its part to help put the Postal Service on a path to financial stability,” Donahoe said Thursday. “We will continue to take actions under our control to improve operational efficiency and generate revenue by offering new products and services to meet our customers changing needs,” Donahoe said.

The postmaster general outlined four steps to CNSNews.com that would improve the financial status of the postal service. At the top of the list, Donahoe said, the postal service would like to resolve retiree health benefits and implement its own health-care plan to save money in the short-term and long-term. Donahoe said because Congress mandated that the Postal Service prefund retirement health care benefits, USPS has overpaid more than $11 billion in federal employee retirement funds, all of which it is requesting to be returned from the Treasury. The postmaster general further said moving from a six day operating schedule to a five day operating schedule would save $2.7 billion per year. Finally, Donahoe said the government agency can do more to generate income from a products and pricing perspective.

More Postal Service Losing $42,335,766 Per Day | CNSNews.com

 

[uscitizen]

XFINITY - Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.

The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.

"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.

Put a fork in it ,is done for. The government fucks -up everything , I am sure Obama will pull some money out of his ass and bail them out......

View attachment 20411

The idea that government services such as mail delivery should be cost-effective is a conservative fetish, with no grounding in the Constitution, history or practice. If every government program were held to this standard, we would have no interstate highways. No international airports. No Internet. No levees on the Mississippi and no Hoover Dam.
And as a fiscal crisis, this is as artificial as they come. It's largely the result of a republican supported 2006 law that required the Postal Service — almost alone among public and private enterprises — to pre-fund its entire future liability for retiree healthcare expenses. The payments totaled $38 billion through 2011, with further installments of between $5.6 billion and $11.1 billion a year due through 2016.

Funny how you missed that.

Good one, and yet to the right it is all somehow Obama's fault....
Pathetic losers.

 

[waltky]

Post Office still losin' money...

U.S. Postal Service Lost $5.1B in FY2015
November 18, 2015 | Despite an increase in revenue of $1.1 billion, the U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss of $5.1 billion for Fiscal Year 2015, which ended on September 30th. "The U.S. Postal Service reported a net loss of $5.1 billion for fiscal year 2015 (October 1, 2014 - September 30, 2015)," the Postal Service said in an news release.

It was the ninth year in a row that USPS ended its fiscal year in the red. “We achieved controllable income in excess of $1 billion for the second consecutive fiscal year giving us some limited flexibility to make critical investments in the future of the organization,” Postmaster General Megan Brennan said in a statement. “To maintain this success, we will need to continue our efforts to grow the business and drive operational efficiencies. “However, we will also need the enactment of legislation that makes our retiree health benefit (RHB) system affordable and that provides increased pricing and product flexibility.”

According to USPS’ latest financial report to the Postal Regulatory Commission, the postal system took in $68.9 billion in revenue, an increase of $1.1 billion over the $67.8 billion it received in FY2014. However, “controllable expenses” also increased $1.3 billion, from $66.4 billion in FY2014 to $67.7 billion in FY2015. That included a 21 million increase in workhours, even though total mail volume declined from 155.5 billion pieces in 2014 to 154.2 billion pieces in 2015.

USPS explained that the increase in operating expenses “was the result of a combination of factors, including higher compensation costs attributable to increased benefits expenses and additional work hours partly associated with growth in the more labor-intensive shipping and packaging business,” which increased 14.1 percent during FY2015. First-class mail decreased 2.2 percent in 2015 and standard mail volume was down 0.3 percent from last year, USPS reported. Periodical volume also decreased 7.3 percent.

MORE

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

XFINITY - Postal Service reports $5.2B loss in 3rd quarter

The nearly bankrupt U.S. Postal Service on Thursday reported losses of $57 million per day in the last quarter and warned it will miss another payment due to the U.S. Treasury, just one week after its first-ever default on a payment for future retiree health benefits.

From April to June, losses totaled $5.2 billion, up $2.1 billion from the same period last year.

The mail agency said it is being hurt significantly by mounting expenses for future retiree health benefits. Those expenses, mandated by Congress in 2006, made up $3.1 billion of the post office's quarterly loss, while workers compensation tacked on another $1.1 billion in expenses. The agency's operating loss was $1 billion, mostly due to declines in first-class mail.

"We have simply reached the point that we must conserve cash," Thurgood Marshall Jr., chairman of the Postal Service's board of governors, said in explaining the payment defaults. He cautioned that the mail agency may have to delay other payments if necessary.

Put a fork in it ,is done for. The government fucks -up everything , I am sure Obama will pull some money out of his ass and bail them out......

View attachment 20411

The idea that government services such as mail delivery should be cost-effective is a conservative fetish, with no grounding in the Constitution, history or practice. If every government program were held to this standard, we would have no interstate highways. No international airports. No Internet. No levees on the Mississippi and no Hoover Dam.
And as a fiscal crisis, this is as artificial as they come. It's largely the result of a republican supported 2006 law that required the Postal Service — almost alone among public and private enterprises — to pre-fund its entire future liability for retiree healthcare expenses. The payments totaled $38 billion through 2011, with further installments of between $5.6 billion and $11.1 billion a year due through 2016.

Funny how you missed that.

Good one, and yet to the right it is all somehow Obama's fault....
Pathetic losers.

Obama is a treasonous socialist who would like to see a govt monopoly run everything so as president he is a great symbol of the problem.

 

[Jomama]

The idea that government services such as mail delivery should be cost-effective is a conservative fetish, with no grounding in the Constitution, history or practice. If every government program were held to this standard, we would have no interstate highways. No international airports. No Internet. No levees on the Mississippi and no Hoover Dam.

The issue is that WASTE is THEFT. How do we know it's theft (like real devious intent)? because people fight change. We cant afford it to fund stupidity anymore and since it is a public institution it should be managed as a fiduciary and built to return VALUE. Could be valuable services or cost savings. I'd like to see the USPS offer debit card services (I believe they are charted for this and I would trust them more than my bank) and I'd like to see my little home town post office shut down and a mail concession sold to the general store across the street. Save losses and sell the property. We are missing courage and leadership in Washington and that's the root problem.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Yes the GOP has destroyed the USPS. We are witnessing its death throes now.

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

We are missing courage and leadership in Washington and that's the root problem.

100% stupid and liberal. USPS should be privatized with competition. Capitalism is the only way to make efficiency and value a matter of daily survival.
Do you have the IQ to understand?

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

If the federal government would do away with the requirement that the postal service must fund their pensions 75 years in advance that would resolve the bulk of their insolvency issue.

 

[Jomama]

Or reign in thier absurd pensions. You're suggesting they keep the absurd pensions and not properly accrue for them??
Are you also saying that they are expensing multiple years worth of pensions every year? Like in 2014 they expensed 10 years of future pension costs?

 

[EdwardBaiamonte]

If the federal government would do away with the requirement that the postal service must fund their pensions 75 years in advance that would resolve the bulk of their insolvency issue.

pensions and health insurance are a huge problem that cripple business. The solution is to privatize so business can worry about business not unions, health care, regulations, pensions, etc. That's how we get back to 4% growth!!

 

[Dont Taz Me Bro]

You're suggesting they keep the absurd pensions and not properly accrue for them??

Am I?

 

[AdvancingTime]

The USPS is a bad joke. Congress traditionally has included a provision in legislation to fund the federal government each year that has prevented the Postal Service from reducing delivery service. The Postal Service had asked Congress not to include the provision but despite the request current legislation maintains the provision.

So again, as America sits mired in debt with a growing deficit, our government has failed to take a simple commonsense step to correct the problem. The President has also failed to step up to the plate and provide leadership. More on this subject in the article below.

http://brucewilds.blogspot.com/2013/04/post-office-fails-again-how-pathetic.html

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

Yes the GOP has destroyed the USPS. We are witnessing its death throes now.

They are trying to kill the postal service because they want to privatize it and charge postage per mile...the reason that the Postal Service appears to be losing money is because Congress forces the Postal Service to set aside money for the health care of workers who have not been born yet..........
Post Office's Real Fiscal Problem: Pre-Retiree Health Benefits
A Manufactured 'Crisis': Congress Can Let The Post Office ...
How the Postal Service Is Being Gutted - The Motley Fool
... In short, the USPS is paying for people who aren't even employees yet-- in fact, may not even be born yet! ...

 

[TyroneSlothrop]

What do those four charts really explain? | postalnews.com


Figure 3: USPS has not cut expenses quickly enough ($1B)

In the third chart Kosar shows the impact of the PAEA trust fund requirement on USPS expenses:

Postal unions will tell you the USPS is in financial trouble because Congress forced it to pre-fund its current employees’ future retirement health benefits. It’s true these costs are significant, at more than $5 billion per year. Yet even if one wished away these employee compensation costs, the USPS still has not been able to keep revenues above costs.

What’s curious about Kosar’s comment is that the chart shows the exact opposite. Without the trust fund charges, the USPS did“keep revenues above costs” for the last two fiscal years. In other words, chart 3 disproves Kosar’s comment on chart 2 that the USPS raised revenue in those years, “but not by enough”. Kosar also refers to critics of the RHBF trust fund requirement as wanting to “wish” away the trust fund, conveniently forgetting that the RHBF is not some fundamental requirement based in sound accounting practice- it was, one might say, “wished” into existence by Congress in 2006- it can be “wished” away by Congress just as easily.

 

[Mad Scientist]

Yeah I don't know where people get this idea that a government program should actually work as advertised. Like the U.S. Military and the "War on Terror".

The US is maximally funded yet can't even do the most basic Constitutional duty which is to secure the border. The reason being: They don't want to and never intended to.

Obvious solution: Give it more money.