The U.S. Postal Serve (USPS) is broken, and some think the damage is permanent. It continues to lose money. It admits delivery times will get longer. Its image is tattered because of, among other things, difficulties delivering ballots in the last election.
The USPS is also bloated. It has well over 500,000 career employees and more than 100,000 “non career” workers. There are over 31,000 post office locations, some of which are in America’s smaller towns. The USPS insists on six-day delivery almost everywhere, although few Americans need this.
The increase in the price of a First-Class stamp has been extremely modest recently. In 2012, it was $0.45. Today the figure is $0.60. While the Postal Regulatory Commission has final approval over prices, USPS management has not made a strong enough argument for more aggressive increases. Without question, unless the USPS cuts tens of thousands of workers, its financial losses will continue. The only alternative is to raise revenue.