On August 7, Postmaster General David Steiner went before the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors to warn of what he called a “continuing and urgent financial crisis.” He came armed with numbers and a clear message: the Postal Service needs higher prices, congressional help, and billions in new investment to survive. Yet he never mentioned the postal crime wave eroding revenue, driving up costs, and undermining the public trust on which the Postal Service’s business depends.
The Postal Service, he said, ran $600 million better this quarter than the same quarter a year earlier. A Postal Regulatory Commission ruling on the timing of rate increases will cost it $700 million. Shifting a price increase from July to January could be worth $600 to $800 million. A congressional ZIP Code proposal could cost more than $800 million. USPS needs new borrowing authority to address over $20 billion in historical underinvestment. And absent action from Congress, he warned, the Postal Service “may have to close thousands of unprofitable post offices and cut service.”
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