Daily printout: May 9

The USPS Board of Governors has announced that they have chosen David Steiner to be the nation’s 76th postmaster general.

Pending the outcome of necessary background and ethics checks, Steiner will succeed former Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who resigned in March, and current Acting Postmaster General Doug Tulino, who will return to his permanent position as deputy postmaster general and chief human resources officer.

The board anticipates Steiner will formally join the organization in July, assuming his successful completion of the ethics and security clearance vetting processes.

“Dave is the right person to lead the Postal Service at this time to ensure this magnificent and historic organization thrives into the future,” said Amber McReynolds, board chair. “Dave is a highly regarded leader and executive with tremendous vision, experience and skill that can be applied to the long-term mission and business needs of the Postal Service. Our board looks forward to working with Dave as he takes on the core mandates of providing universal and excellent service for the American public and doing so in a financially sustainable manner.”

“It is an incredible honor to be asked to lead the world’s greatest postal organization, with a history that stretches back before the founding of the United States,” said Steiner. “I deeply admire the public service and business mission of this amazing institution, and I believe strongly in maintaining its role as an independent establishment of the executive branch. I look forward to engaging with its employees, who provide such an important service to all our communities.  As the entity with the largest union membership in the United States, I look forward to engaging with the unions and management associations to ensure that together we create a world-class employment experience. I also look forward to working with industry associations, customers and policymakers as we chart a positive path forward. I am excited by the challenges ahead and by the many opportunities to shape a vibrant, durable and increasingly competitive future for the Postal Service. And finally, but most importantly, I want to thank Doug for his excellent stewardship of the organization that he has dedicated his professional life to serve.”

As the president and CEO of Waste Management for 12 years, Steiner is credited with leading tremendous change in the organization, transforming operations and culture, and delivering strong financial results. In this role, he established a new strategic vision for Waste Management that created new business lines in environmental services, a new pricing model widely adopted in the industry, and a more efficient operating approach. During his tenure, Waste Management solidified its role as the leading provider of waste management and recycling services in North America.

He also held prior roles within Waste Management, including chief financial officer; executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary; and vice president and deputy general counsel. Before joining Waste Management, Steiner was a partner at the law firm Phelps Dunbar.

In addition to serving on several nonprofit and educational boards, including the E.J. Ourso College of Business at Louisiana State University, Steiner serves on the boards of transportation and logistics provider FedEx Corp., construction material manufacturer Vulcan Materials, and recycling automation provider AMP.

He will leave the board at FedEx and manage the other roles and business and financial interests as required prior to joining the Postal Service.

Steiner earned a bachelor of science degree in accounting from Louisiana State University, and a juris doctor degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

As established by federal law, the selection of the postmaster general rests solely with the presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed governors of the USPS Board of Governors, who oversee the Postal Service as an independent establishment of the executive branch. The board retained global leadership advisory firm Egon Zehnder to conduct the executive search for this position.

The Postal Service has announced its financial results for fiscal year 2025’s second quarter (Jan. 1-March 31). Here are some highlights:

• Revenue. Total operating revenue was $19.7 billion, essentially flat compared with the same quarter the previous fiscal year. First-Class Mail revenue increased 1 percent, while Marketing Mail revenue decreased 1.4 percent. Shipping and packages revenue increased 0.7 percent.

• Volume. Total volume was 26.3 billion pieces, down 5.9 percent from the same quarter one year ago. First-Class Mail volume declined 5.8 percent, Marketing Mail volume declined 5.7 percent and shipping and packages volume declined 6.9 percent.

• Expenses. Under generally accepted accounting principles, total operating expenses were $23.1 billion for the quarter, an increase of 8.3 percent compared with the same quarter last year. The overall increase in operating expenses was primarily due to actuarial revaluation and discount rate effects on workers’ compensation costs, as well as inflationary effects on compensation costs, retirement costs and other operating costs, partially offset by lower transportation costs.

• Net loss. Net loss for the quarter totaled $3.3 billion, compared with a net loss of $1.5 billion for the same quarter one year ago. Results for the quarter were affected by unfavorable noncash workers’ compensation adjustments of $1.2 billion, due to actuarial revaluation and discount rate change factors that are not controllable by the Postal Service; increased compensation and benefits expense of $449 million; and higher other operating expenses of $124 million, partially offset by lower transportation expenses of $116 million.

“As we mark 250 years of service to the nation, our organization continues to face economic headwinds. We are working diligently to control costs, increase revenues and transform and modernize our infrastructure,” said Acting Postmaster General Douglas Tulino. “At the same time, we are seeing strong market acceptance of shipping products like USPS Ground Advantage and adopting an increasingly competitive posture across our product portfolio. We are also encouraged that the increasing efficiencies of our processing, logistics and delivery network are showing steady progress in reducing our relative cost as we serve the nation and American commerce.”

The Postal Service’s May 9 news release has more information.