NRLCA: THE WHOLE STORY ON USPS 1Q “LOSSES”

Last week, the USPS announced it had suffered $3.3 billion in net losses for the first quarter of fiscal 2012, between October and December of 2011. However, closer examination of the numbers indicate that they ended that same period with a $200 million operating budget — meaning they actually made money delivering the mail, in the midst of the current recession.

A large portion of the “losses” are attributable to the $1.4 billion payment the USPS was required to make to pre-fund the retiree health benefit fund, an aggressive mandate by Congress that is halting any hopes for the USPS to be profitable.

In fact, when comparing to their own estimates for the first quarter, the USPS handled nearly 2 billion more pieces and generated $745 million more in revenue than what was forecast in a filing on January 20, 2012 with the Postal Regulatory Commission.

The Congress should be taking a responsible approach to fixing the USPS by lifting the required prefunding payments and returning them to profitability.

via National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association.