US Postal Service has announced a quarterly loss of $1.25 billion as it grapples with a cash crunch
U.S. Postal Service on Thursday announced a net quarterly loss of $1.25 billion, highlighting persistent liquidity issues and increasing demands for reforms to tackle its financial challenges.
In the three months ending December 31, operating revenue decreased by 1.2% to $22.2 billion compared to the same quarter in 2024, during which a quarterly profit of $144 million was reported.
On Thursday, officials urged policymakers to consider reforms to the Postal Service Civil Service Retirement obligations, provide USPS with greater pricing flexibility, and raise its statutory debt limit of $15 billion.
“Our shortcomings stem from a misaligned financial and business model,” stated Postmaster General David Steiner on Thursday. He mentioned that USPS has formed a team to examine all facets of the business in order to cut costs and capital expenditures, highlighting its “dire financial situation.”
The USPS has indicated net losses totaling approximately $120 billion since 2007, as first-class mail, its most lucrative offering, has declined to its lowest volume since the late 1960s.
In December, Steiner informed Reuters that the agency is confronting a challenge. Last month, USPS introduced an online bidding platform to solicit proposals for access to its last-mile delivery network, thereby opening over 18,000 destination delivery units and local processing centers across the country to a wider array of customers, which could generate much-needed revenue. On Thursday, Steiner announced that over 1,200 companies and individuals have expressed interest in participating in the bidding.
The USPS provides delivery services to over 170 million addresses across the United States six days a week, with the final leg of the journey being the most costly aspect of the delivery process. The final leg of delivery is significantly costly for companies such as FedEx, UPS, and Amazon.
Steiner, who assumed leadership in July following the White House’s decision to replace the previous postal chief, stated to Reuters that privatizing USPS was “never even feasible.” “No one in the private sector would be interested in the Postal Service… The process of delivering mail is an extraordinarily expensive undertaking.”
