Friday, August 9, 2024
USPS reports third-quarter financial results
Operating revenue was $18.8 billion
The Postal Service has reported its financial results for fiscal year 2024’s third quarter (April 1-June 30). Here are some highlights:
• Revenue. Total operating revenue was $18.8 billion, an increase of 1 percent compared with the same quarter one year earlier. Shipping and packages revenue increased 2.4 percent, First-Class Mail revenue increased 2.1 percent and Marketing Mail revenue increased 3.1 percent.
• Volume. Total volume was 26.6 billion pieces, down 1.6 percent compared with the same quarter in the previous fiscal year. Shipping and packages volume increased 2.7 percent, while First-Class Mail volume declined 3.4 percent and Marketing Mail volume declined 0.3 percent.
• Expenses. Under generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), total operating expenses were $21.4 billion, an increase of 4.4 percent compared with the same quarter one year earlier. The overall increase in operating expenses was primarily due to inflationary impacts effects on compensation costs, retirement costs and other operating costs, partially offset by lower transportation costs.
• Net loss. The net loss for the quarter under GAAP totaled $2.5 billion, compared with a net loss of $1.7 billion for the same quarter the previous fiscal year. GAAP results for the quarter were negatively affected by $1.4 billion of expenses attributed to the amortization of unfunded retiree pension liabilities and by a workers’ compensation noncash expense of $67 million driven by actuarial revaluation and discount rate changes; these factors are not controllable by the Postal Service.
“We are making solid progress in generating a sustained revenue growth trajectory in our mailing and shipping businesses, which is validation of the product and pricing strategies and network capabilities enabled by our Delivering for America plan,” said Postmaster General Louis DeJoy.
“We continue transforming and modernizing our processing, transportation and delivery networks, which will enable the Postal Service to operate more efficiently and effectively and at lower cost. Despite inflationary headwinds impacting our costs, we remain committed to finding a path to return the Postal Service to long-term financial sustainability.”
The Postal Service’s Aug. 8 news release has additional information.
People
I now pronounce you ‘postmaster’
An installation ceremony produces a surprise, two rural carriers step into a spotlight and a library gets a special postmark
Guests at the installation ceremony for Tricia Lucas, the new postmaster of Hartford, CT, could be excused for thinking they had wandered into a midsummer wedding.
Lucas was sworn in with a flourish: festive outdoor tent, colorful streamers and two adorable young attendants charming everyone as they made their way down the aisle.
The two youngsters, Lucas’s nephews Parker and Joey, were not bearing rings, however. They were piloting a mini-LLV.
Lucas comes from a postal family. The proud mother-of-the-bri — er, postmaster — Susan Adams, is a former postmaster, and Lucas’s brother, James Slattery, is a rural carrier associate in Rocky Hill, CT, where Lucas and Adams both got their start.
“Tricia met her husband at the Rocky Hill Post Office, too,” Adams said. He now works at the Springfield Network Distribution Center in Massachusetts.
Lucas praised those attending for supporting her in good times and bad.
“It is said that you become influenced by the people you spend the most time with,” she told the assembled crowd. “Many of you have not just supported my dreams but helped fuel them.”
Post it
The Nashville Post recently turned a spotlight on Bryce Shanklin and Sherry Bowland, two rural carriers at the Brentwood, TN, Carrier Annex.
In a wide-ranging article, the two employees discussed the importance of customer service and their pride in being Postal Service employees.
Shanklin’s holiday spirit — he’s been known to dress in a pink rabbit outfit around Easter and a Grinch costume at Christmastime — was also discussed.
“His customers love him and can’t stand it when he’s on vacation,” Jake Savage, a local customer services supervisor, told the Post.
Cancel culture
The Cozby Library in Coppell, TX, recently marked its 50th anniversary with a special pictorial cancellation from the local Post Office.
During a special event, more than 50 people lined up to receive the cancellation, which features an outline drawing of the library building with its years of service.
“I’ve collected stamps since sixth grade, but this is the first time I’ve been to a stamp cancellation ceremony,” said Mathew Ittoop, a member of the Friends of the Library, the group that organized the event.
“People” appears regularly in Link. Got news to share? Email us.
History
The day the sun rose on USPS
President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act on Aug. 12, 1970
Mere months after a historic wildcat strike brought the U.S. Mail to a standstill, President Richard M. Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act— the most comprehensive postal reform since the nation’s founding — on Aug. 12, 1970.
The act abolished the former Post Office Department, a Cabinet-level arm of government funded by taxpayers, and created a unique hybrid entity in its place.
The U.S. Postal Service would be part independent federal agency, part self-supporting business: a government-owned corporation.
The strike that lit the fire for reform paid off. Workers enjoyed the largest pay raise in postal history and won the right to bargain collectively, among other gains.
“We went on strike, and this is what came of it,” said John Magliaro, a letter carrier in Worcester, MA, who was interviewed for the Postal Service’s 50th anniversary oral history project.
“Everybody was happy … we started getting decent money, and the union had more strength,” Magliaro said.
Joshua Dial, a North Carolina District employee development specialist, told the oral history project the establishment of collective bargaining rights was “a very major change — where the employee has a say in working conditions, and even in his compensation. That was really big, really big.”
The law took effect on July 1, 1971, dubbed “National Postal Service Day” by Nixon.
The “History” column appears occasionally in Link.
News Quiz
On a roll
Test your knowledge of bike deliveries, Hank Aaron and more
“News Quiz” is a weekly feature that lets you test your knowledge of recent Link stories. The correct answers appear at the end.
1. Approximately how many Sun City, AZ, routes are delivered by USPS employees on bicycles?
a) 10 percent
b) 20 percent
c) 30 percent
d) 40 percent
2. Fill in the blank: Hank Aaron hit home run (blank) on the night of April 8, 1974, breaking Babe Ruth’s record.
a) No. 710
b) No. 715
c) No. 720
d) No. 725
3. Which of the following is not a Low Denomination Flowers stamp?
a) One-cent Fringed Tulip
b) Two-cent Daffodils
c) Three-cent Peonies
d) Four-cent Pansies
4. Who succeeded Benjamin Franklin as postmaster general on Nov. 7, 1776?
a) Richard Bache
b) Ebenezer Hazard
c) Arthur Summerfield
d) John Wanamaker
5. True or false: Carter Scott, a Gaithersburg, MD, tractor-trailer operator who recently received the Postal Service’s Driver of the Year Award, began his career in 1989.
a) True
b) False
Answers: 1) d. 2) b. 3) d. 4) a. 5) b. Scott began his career in 1979.
August 16, 2024
Datebook
Autumn Colors stamp ceremony
The Postal Service will dedicate its Autumn Colors stamps on Friday, Aug. 16, in Hartford, CT.
The ceremony, part of the Great American Stamp Show, will be held at 11 a.m. at the Connecticut Convention Center, located at 100 Columbus Blvd.
The speakers will include Heather Dyer, the Postal Service’s chief information security officer.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP online.
Postal Bulletin focuses on machine and equipment safety
Postal Bulletin’s latest edition, published Aug. 8, reminds employees who work with powered machines and equipment to follow safety procedures.
Updates to the organization’s policies, procedures and forms are also included.
Employees can go to usps.com to read and download the latest Postal Bulletin, along with past issues.
View past printouts
Printout details
What's included
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USPS reports third-quarter financial results
Operating revenue was $18.8 billion
-
People
I now pronounce you ‘postmaster’
An installation ceremony produces a surprise, two rural carriers step into a spotlight and a library gets a special postmark
-
History
The day the sun rose on USPS
President Nixon signed the Postal Reorganization Act on Aug. 12, 1970
-
News Quiz
On a roll
Test your knowledge of bike deliveries, Hank Aaron and more
-
August16Datebook
Autumn Colors stamp ceremony
-
Brief
Postal Bulletin focuses on machine and equipment safety