I think you should read this piece: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...s-not-amazon-messed-up-the-u-s-postal-service
Link to report? I'm not being a conspiracy theorist here, but this admin has been outright hostile to USPS so sometimes these reports being put out have to be scrutinized. Is it the WH? Is it a WH appointed USPS head? For similar BS, look at DHS stats on "immigrant criminals" or the debunked shit peddled by the WH from sources such as FAIR, NumbersUSA, & CIS.
These are the post office's own numbers..you cannot lie about public budgeting money and financial statements form the USPS. https://reason.com/2019/05/10/post-service-lost-2-billion-in-three-months/ Why would you think the post office makes money when you pay like $2 to send something halfway across the country... https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_093.htm
Well I am not commenting why, just that it has been losing money because it is just like every other federal agency/service out there like Amtrak and others. Bloated budget and services with little revenue compared to it, not to mention email and technology killed a lot of its business growth over the years, as well as people selecting paperless billing and virtual invoicing/payments.
Thanks, As to your question, I recall reading USPS was staying afloat mostly by online retail, just the shear volume of it made them run lean but still profitable. As futurecurrents posted, that may have changed per congress's mandate for USPS to float pensions.
I think it is a natural progression over the years of changing in the nature of business model and how things are sent. USPS has lost a lot of the package and large size parcel business to FEDEX, UPS and DHL who can offer more guaranteed delivery options and business friendly packages. USPS lost volume of letters and cards simply due to growth in email and virtual contacts. Stamp collecting is not what it used to be so USPS lost revenue from sales of stamps just for collectors. USPS has a booming overhead cost in labor/pensions but the cost to mail a letter has still stayed relatively cheap compared to the cost to maintain post offices, mailmen and trucks and planes (though most mail flies in open space on commercial flights but still is a cost). People are choosing more paperless billing which means numerous companies mail a lot less monthly paper to save money and a loss of revenue to USPS. People are opting more out of junk mail. Magazine subscriptions for the most part have dropped with more online content so a nice loss of revenue there I would assume. Amazon has added its own delivery service and though hard to quantify it does take some business away from USPS. Bottom line, it is not surprising to see costs going up like crazy but USPS revenues dropping a lot leading to more "losses" that require budgeting payouts to cover that and still function. We need the USPS to be honest and it could be streamlined to account for the new way things are mailed. But to let it fold because Trump does not like it is crazy.
An excerpt from the link I posted earlier: ...Then there is the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which some have taken to calling "the most insane law" ever passed by Congress. The law requires the Postal Service, which receives no taxpayer subsidies, to prefund its retirees' health benefits up to the year 2056. This is a $5 billion per year cost; it is a requirement that no other entity, private or public, has to make. If that doesn't meet the definition of insanity, I don't know what does. Without this obligation, the Post Office actually turns a profit. Some have called this a "manufactured crisis." It's also significant that lots of companies benefit from a burden that makes the USPS less competitive; these same companies might also would benefit from full USPS privatization, a goal that has been pushed by several conservative think tanks for years. Paying retiree obligations isn't the issue here; rather, being singled out as the only company with a congressional requirement to fully fund those obligations is. It puts the USPS at a huge competitive disadvantage. Yes, a retirement crisis is brewing; most private-sector pensions are wildly underfunded. But the solution is to mandate that ALL companies cover a higher percentage of their future obligations -- not just one entity.