The postal service lost $3.8 billion in 2009
Posted by drocolate on November 16th, 2009It’s time for yet another depressing, pathetic and grim update on the state of the USPS.
Way back in March I reported on the insanely miserable state of out postal service and how they were looking to turn delivering mail into a five-days-a-week job to cut costs. I can’t lie, I haven’t been following that closely but I’m still receiving mail six days a week so clearly that idea didn’t take.
However, after today’s announcement that the 2009 fiscal year led to a mammoth $3.8 billion dollar loss, Saturday’s mail may not be long for this world.
The really interesting thing is that the postal service already made enormous changes in ’09 to help cut back on expenses. They did things like:
- Show 40,000 employees the door
- Cut retiree health benefits by $4 billion overall
- Sell the rights to their music catalog to a shit band called Owl City (I’m sorry, I had to work a postal service/Postal Service joke in there somewhere)
Unfortunately all of that still wasn’t enough. Now they want to cut Saturdays, which will supposedly save another $3.5 billion in 2010. And even with that I bet it still won’t be enough to turn the whole thing around.
So what’s the problem then? Why are they bleeding money?
Well, that’s an easy one. It can all be summed up in one word — computers. Instead of mailing your mommy a letter, you email her. You might send her a text message on your phone, which is basically a computer in your pocket. The numbers from the USPS back all of this up. In 2009 the USPS handled 25 billion fewer pieces of mail than they did in 2008. That’s 25 billion grannys that figured out how to give you your $5 birthday check via PayPal.
So in the end I don’t think anything can truly save the postal service.
Well, except for billionaireXchange.com. Imagine what the shipping on a helicopter must be!
Tags: money, postal service, recession
This is interesting, knowing that the USPS was an example given by supporters of a public healthcare option of how successful a Government run enterprise could be.
Actually, from what I’ve seen, the comparison between the USPS and a public healthcare option was not brought up to show the financial validity of that option. Instead it was an example of how a government entity (USPS) and private entities (UPS, FedEx, etc.) can work together without the entire system crumbling.
And as for why they’re losing money, a lot of that has to do with the speed and awesomeness of email… which is not something I can correlate to healthcare. At least not for the next few years.
(Though e-doctors are bound to be right around the corner)
Thanks for making me listen to that shitty Owl City song.
Immediate solution to the post office problem: initiate a Box of Blood marketing campaign. Can’t go wrong there.
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