You Be the Judge: USPS Bailout on the Horizon

How much taxpayer money should be handed out to a bankrupt monopoly? That is the question being asked by Trey Kovacs staff blogger at OpenMarket.Org. Mr. Kovacs states, “According to certain members of Congress, the United States Postal Service will only need $100 billion to keep from failing. That’s cheap compared to Freddie & Fannie. What will the taxpayer receive for this generous financial backing? USPS employees keep inflated wages, layoff protections from collective bargaining negotiations, contribute less to health care costs than other federal and private sector workers, and allow an unsustainable business model to remain intact.” In comparison, Sharon Owens, USPS Manager of Industry Engagement & Outreach, recently spoke to members of the Red Tag Association and gave an excellent presentation clearly outlining the challenges being faced by the Postal Service. Ms. Owens stated the presentation will be making the rounds to many of the political leaders in local areas. Red Tag News Publications is a not-for-profit association of consumer and business magazines who have a common interest in improving the delivery of their publications in the mail. Click here to view the presentation entitled “State of the U.S. Postal Service – Stakeholder Meetings.” Rick Geddes, a Policy Analysis Professor at Cornell University and expert on the U.S. Postal Service said, "Something has to give, you can't have everything. And we either are going to be willing to engage in a direct taxpayer bailout of the Postal Service, or we give the postal service the commercial freedom to decide on how frequently it's going to deliver the mail."

Trucking Industry Grows

American trucking companies added 1,300 workers, while the total transportation and warehousing sector grew by 1,100 jobs, recent Labor figures showed. According to Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Association. “Trucking has been creating a decent amount of jobs this year, at a faster pace than the overall economy, so, if it does slow down a bit, that wouldn’t be surprising or alarming.”

Source: Transport Topics

USPS Posts $3.1 Billion Loss for 3rd Quarter

The U.S. Postal Service ended its third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2011 (April 1-June 30) with a net loss of $3.1 billion, compared to a net loss of $3.5 billion for the same period in FY 2010. Total mail volume declined to 39.8 billion pieces for the quarter, compared to 40.9 billion pieces in the third quarter of FY 2010. Postal Service third quarter revenue reflects the anemic state of the economy during the past three months. Additionally, the growth in electronic communications continues to erode core First-Class Mail volume. Net losses for the nine months ended June 30 amount to $5.7 billion in 2011 compared to $5.4 billion in 2010. Even with significant cost reductions and revenue growth initiatives, current financial projections indicate the Postal Service will have a cash shortfall and will have reached its statutory borrowing limit by the end of the fiscal year. Absent substantial legislative change, the Postal Service will be forced to default on payments to the federal government.

Source: USPS Press Release

Mailing Industry Job Study

Join The Association for Postal Commerce for a webinar on Thursday, August 25th at 1:00 PM Eastern presented by Cheryl Chapman, chairman of the Envelope Manufactures Association Foundation Institute for Postal Studies as she discusses the EMA Foundation for Paper-Based Communications’ Institute for Postal Studies 2010 Mailing Industry Job Study. The study reveals that the overall impact of the industry remains strong and determined that there were approximately 8.4 million jobs and $1.139 trillion in sales revenue associated with the mailing industry. Space is limited. Click here to register.