ICYMI: President/CEO of the American Consumer Institute Steve Pociask published an op-ed in The Federal Times opining that even though the U.S. Postal Service’s recent quarterly financial report which showed a modest net gain for the first time in years, it is too soon to celebrate.
He points out the USPS has lost over a billion dollars annually during the last 14 consecutive years, and was $9.2 billion in the red in 2020. He also noted that the Board of Governors cited that the agency could have easily suffered a $650 million for the first 3 months, if not for the effects of interest rates, actuarial revaluations and a time-limited peak surcharge.
As Steve summarized, “The Postal Service and its regulators will need to be mindful of ensuring that price increases are narrowly tied to the greatest drivers of costs, rather than force other parts of institution to foot the bill. Until they institute a more transparent full cost accounting method for all of product segments, we should not be fooled by the latest financial report. Without some fixes, the Postal Service business model is not sustainable.”
Steve’s opinion was backed up by the USPS January financials, released one day after his piece, which saw a $310M loss, effectively wiping out the first quarter gain. You can read Steve’s full op-ed here.