The U.S. Post Office says it is about to run out
of many and is asking Congress for help. It also is asking Congress to let it implement the unpopular five day mail week, instead of the six day mail week that it currently uses. Congress has so far refused to stop Saturday mail delivery, because Americans are firmly opposed to cutting Saturday mail delivery. So, why is the post office so broke? There are a lot of reasons, but the major reason is that people don't send mail as much as they used to. And with the recession and high postage rates (which are going up yet again in May) many people are cutting back on sending mail.
Officials said the recession has contributed to a mail volume drop of 5.2 billion pieces compared to the same period last year. If there is no economic recovery, the USPS projects volume for the year will be down by 12 billion to 15 billion pieces of mail.
Over the past year the post office says it has cut 50 million work hours, stopped construction of new facilities, frozen salaries for executives, began selling unused facilities and has cut post office hours.
Last year's high fuel prices also sapped funds from the post office, which operates more than 200,000 vehicles. Every 1-cent increase in the price of fuel costs the post office $8 million.
Blair also noted that Congress could consider appropriating money to help the post office. The agency does not receive a taxpayer subsidy for its operations, although Congress does subsidize overseas voting and free mail for the blind.
William Young, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, stressed in his testimony that the agency is not seeking a taxpayer bailout, "but we are here to ask the Congress for help."
"At this moment, the survival of the Postal Service _ a venerable institution that is literally older than our country _ hangs in the balance," Young added.
Lawmakers also raised questions regarding recent news reports that Potter is paid as much as $800,000 a year. That is not correct, Potter said. He said his salary, set by Congress, is $263,575. He said the news reports were counting his retirement fund, the cost of his security detail and a $135,000 bonus that would be paid over 10 years after he retires.
There have been many investigative reports in the past, with allegations of excessive salaries, mismanagement and a bureaucracy that is too heavy in management and too light in mail carriers and sorters. Postage rates keep rising; they are so high now that businesses are cutting back on mailings. Congress is going to have to do something. But if they allocate more money to the post office, some oversight is going to be needed.
