“Let me be very clear, we are out of cash.”
Those were the comments from U.S. Postmaster General David Steiner as he testified in front of a recent Senate Committee hearing on the disastrous finances of the agency.
Kentucky GOP Senator Rand Paul pointed out The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is in a severe financial crisis, operating under an unsustainable business model.
Since 2007, the USPS has lost around $120 billion. Sen. Paul said 1st class mail is down 34% since 2014 and over the same time period, the USPS grew its workforce by 9%. “In the real world, no private business would do that,” said Sen. Paul
Most of that is from employee healthcare benefits, pensions and a 50% decline in first-class mail volume.
Despite its financial problems, the USPS is raising its mail and service charges on consumers.
If you want to mail a letter, prices have increased again.
Mailing a letter is now 4-cents more. The First-Class Mail Forever stamp went from 78 cents to 82 cents. Other mailing services will cost consumers around 4.8%.
These include:
Domestic postcards: 61 cents to 65 cents
Metered 1-ounce letters: 74 cents to 78 cents
International postcards: $1.70 to $1.75
International 1-ounce letters: $1.70 to $1.75
With the USPS looking to get above water, they say the need for the higher cost is to deal with increasing rising operating costs and its finances.
Another area the USPS said it was looking to cut cost was too temporarily halt employer payments for a federal pension program. USPS officials said by doing that it could save $2.5 billion this year and $15 billion through 2030.
