Fight Over Postal Service Funding Leaves Future of Mail Ominous

United States Parcel Service (USPS) is the world's largest express carrier and package delivery company, bigger than archrival FedEx. The e-commerce revolution has boosted package shipments, but USPS earnings growth has been sluggish. For a postal service already strapped for cash, the coronavirus pandemic has made things even worse, as the post office might be out of money by this summer, and they say it’s up to Congress to fix it.

The United States Postal Service appealed to lawmakers for an $89 billion lifeline, telling them that it could run out of cash by the end of September if Congress fails to act. As Washington begins to debate the next round of government relief to prop up the virus-plagued economy, a Postal Service bailout has already emerged as a political sticking point, with Democrats pressing to deliver one and President Trump opposed. He has made it clear that he thinks the postal service is poorly run and has threatened to turn part or all of it over to private business. Democrats have been pressing for weeks to give the Postal Service most of what it is asking for. But Mr. Trump has resisted, saying the agency could solve its woes simply by raising prices on packages delivered for big online retailers like Amazon.

Mail volume is down by nearly a third compared with the same time last year and dropping quickly, as businesses drastically cut back on solicitations, advertisements and all kinds of letters that make up the bulk of the mail service’s bottom line. Even with an increase in online shopping and package delivery to Americans cooped up at home, the agency could see a 50 percent reduction in total mail volume by the end of June, compared with the same period last year.

“At a time when America needs the Postal Service more than ever, the reason we are so needed is having a devastating effect on our business,” Ms. Brennan said in a statement to The New York Times later Thursday. “The sudden drop in mail volumes, our most profitable revenue stream, is steep and may never fully recover.”

What will happen to the millions of Americans that rely on USPS for their mail, or to the thousands of Americans that work for USPS and will be out of jobs? What will happen to the millions of Americans who rely on USPS for paying bills, medication, and everything else the USPS delivers through rain, sleet, snow, and even pandemics?

Check back with TMG for further updates.