Postmaster General Warns USPS Faces Imminent Cash Crisis

Postmaster General David Steiner warned on Tuesday that the United States Postal Service will be forced to implement drastic cuts to retail branches and mail delivery services unless Congress intervenes to fix a broken business model. The agency reported a net loss of $6.5 billion for the fiscal year ending September 30.

Steiner stated that the USPS is currently borrowing from employee retirement funds to maintain operations and could run out of operating cash within months. Financial pressures include the $3.4 billion annual cost of six-day delivery to 170 million addresses and the fact that 58% of its 18,000 post offices operate at a loss.

To mitigate the crisis, the USPS has paused non-essential spending, suspended employer payments toward a federal pension program, and raised first-class stamp prices to 82 cents effective July 12. Steiner emphasized that the agency will need to make drastic changes to marketing mail service levels and the number of post offices to generate the cash required to meet obligations to employees and the public.