Watchdog Slams Postal Service After $2.5 Billion Net Loss

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) slammed the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) for $2.5 billion in reported net losses for the third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2024. The struggling agency has already lost more than $6 billion in FY 2024. Postal leadership has responded to surging red ink by raising rates six times since 2021, hiking the price of first-class Forever stamps from 58 cents to 73 cents (more than 25 percent). Policymakers have expressed growing concern that the USPS’ business model is failing to serve taxpayers and consumers.

TPA President David Williams reacted to the recent numbers, stating: “‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’ is often attributed to Albert Einstein, but might as well be the motto of the USPS. The agency is spending way beyond its means and asking taxpayers to foot the bill. Postal leadership is driving America’s mail carrier into the ground through failed business ventures, endless price hikes, and too-close-for-comfort union ties. The USPS can’t even convince online postage business partners to offer its new same-day and next-day local delivery service Connect Local Mail, which has been an expensive flop. The struggling agency can’t bring itself to admit that first-class mail consumers are footing the bill for parcel deliveries. And, it stubbornly continues to provide check-cashing and money-order ‘banking’ even though consumers clearly don’t want these services. The USPS needs to do some serious soul-searching and stick to mail delivery.”

Williams continued: “Postal labor costs remain far too high, and ongoing union negotiations will make the problem worse. The American Postal Workers Union is insisting that the USPS embrace an ‘all-career workforce,’ making it next-to-impossible for the agency to hire temporary staff for the holidays. This puts the USPS at a substantial disadvantage compared to its private-sector counterparts, who can quickly ramp up personnel without breaking the bank. Labor expenses account for about 80 percent of the USPS’ budget, and the agency cannot cut costs without pushing back against union demands and embracing hiring flexibility.”

Williams concluded: “The USPS hopes that taxpayers and consumers won’t notice surging stampflation, slowing delivery speeds, and disastrous business ventures. The secret is out, and now is the time for reform. America’s mail carrier is breaking its promise to consumers to efficiently and affordably deliver the mail. This travesty cannot continue.”

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Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to educating the public through the research, analysis and dissemination of information on the government’s effects on the economy.