Growth in Shipping Services; Continued Decline in First-Class Mail Volume
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service ended its 2011 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2010 – Sept. 30, 2011) with a net loss of $5.1 billion. The year-end loss would have been approximately $10.6 billion had it not been for passage of legislation that postponed a congressionally mandated payment of $5.5 billion to pre-fund retiree health benefits.
Total 2011 mail volume declined by 3 billion pieces, or 1.7 percent, from 2010. The Postal Service’s largest and most profitable product, First-Class Mail, continued its year-over-year decline, from $34.2 billion in 2010 to $32.2 billion in 2011 (5.8 percent), which dwarfed continued growth in its more competitive products, packages and Standard Mail.
USPS Shipping Services revenue, which includes Priority Mail and Express Mail, increased $530 million in 2011 (6.3 percent). The increase in Shipping Services revenue was driven by strong growth in the Parcel Select and Parcel Return Services, due to increased mailings of packages, as customers continued to use the Internet more often to purchase products. Revenue from Standard Mail increased by $495 million (2.9 percent) on a volume increase of 2 billion pieces (2.6 percent).
“The Postal Service can become profitable again if Congress passes comprehensive legislation to provide us with a more flexible business model so we can respond better to a changing marketplace,” said Postmaster General and CEO Patrick Donahoe. “To return to profitability we must reduce our annual costs by $20 billion by the end of 2015. We continue to take aggressive cost-cutting actions in areas under our control and urgently need Congress to do its part to get us the rest of the way there.”
Other 2011 financial results include:
- Operating revenue of $65.7 billion compared to $67.1 billion the year before
- Operating expenses of $70.6 billion compared to $75.4 in 2010
- The retiree health benefit pre-funding payment postponed by Congress and the President is now due by Nov. 18. Unless additional legislation is enacted, the Postal Service will be forced to default on this payment.
The Postal Service continued to increase operating efficiency in 2011, including a reduction in work hours by 34 million despite an increase of 636,500 delivery points. Its productivity gains were the result of effective workforce management, efficient use of materials and transportation, and continued advancements in the use of technology. Since 2001, the Postal Service has reduced work hours by 28 percent, while delivering to almost 14 million additional addresses.
USPS 10k report for Fiscal Year 2011
“The continuing and inevitable electronic migration of First-Class Mail, which provides approximately 49 percent of our revenue, underscores the need to streamline our infrastructure and make changes to our business model,” said Chief Financial Officer Joe Corbett. “Since peaking at 213 billion pieces in 2006, our volume has continued to decline each year.”
Can’t come up with round-trip tix to Wash DC? You can Occupy APWU HQ easily by filling out your PS 1188 today! Do it before the next round of dues increases and assessments coming round the bend brought to you by your union!
true patriot you are always right stop saturday delivery, its a union thing the savings of 3 billion a year is huge
“On Tuesday the Postal Service announced losses totaling $5.1 billion for 2011. At its current pace, without bold reforms, America’s postal system could run out of money and shut down within the next year”
Hey guys thinkin what im thinkin? Yea we do what we do best. A years just around the corner, they run out of money shut down no more worries, shit happens.
Whats next? Some want to do away with ice cream and schools.
They can have yogurt thats it. All in favor? Passed.
Occupy APWU HQ at 1300 L Street Wash DC !
The need for Sat. street delivery is a total wasted cost. Advertising sales mail is not a time sensitive issue. A piece of advertising mail from GEICO offering a 15% discount on auto insurance offers same opportunity on Mon. as Sat. and a cost saving for USPS. Deal with reality as First Class mail volume declines resulting in declinging revenue cost effective operations must be employed.
Majority American public favors eliminating Sat. mail delivery and responds by asking why waste money delivering junk mail on Sat..?
The entire company must be restructured around the ending of unwanted and fiscally irresponsible Saturday and non curbside deliveries. The only way we can seriously start cutting back and starting with management is if they themselves are no linger needed to run boards for more than 5 days a week. Carriers would still be needed, but I see no need for more than one or two supervisors tops at every station and a manager that is capable of handling the managing of at least two offices. I hate to say I told you so, but now thanks to the nalc’s petition drive the comitee is now looking at our pay and benefits. Be sure to thank all the NALC supporters for your new significantly lower pay grade and reduced benefits, but hey atleast you still work on Saturday’s and have to go up and down stairs for the rest of your postal career. The “save the dues screw the carriers 5 day wrong way campaign” is being supported by carriers ignorant of what the NALC is really doing to them. It is an election year and before a press conference President Obama swore to the American people that we would be receiving no bail out. Meaning no money from the government . The PO’s claim of a mysterious el dorado fortune in overpaying retirement funds turned out to be a joke. We will be receiving 7 billion as a courtesy and that is it. We can no longer make payroll and pay for the retirement of future retirees (us). Saturday deliveries cost the post office 3 billion a year non curbside deliveries all this that are deliveries that go past the front gate or sidewalk cost us 6 billion a year. For those of you unable to put your heads around those numbers these deliveries are a wasteful combined 9 billion,(9 thousand million) ( 9,000,000,000.00) do you think will come up with even a small fraction of ghat amount by cracking the whip on our current spending alone? Contrary to what the NALC believes I think I am underpaid as it is as a city carrier in the Midwest where we deal with extreme conditions most of the year. I am not willing to give up any of my salary to save the small amount of jobs that can be saved by following the status quo. This is a small small percentage of the workforce that will eventually leave anyway when as non regulars they will be hit hardest in pay decrease. Eliminating six day delivery and non curbside deliveries will allow the post office enough financial muscle to realistically be able to keep as many post offices and postal employees on the payroll.
Huuum donahoe’s math is REALLLLY bad. We lost 5.1 billion this year, but we need to cut costs by 20 billion annually to be profitable again?????? So the post office doesn’t consider itself profitable unless its making 15 billion dollars in profit. GOOD TO KNOW.
i think “ann cecelia”and some others are onto a very important fact. i believe it is a very real posibility that the usps has indeed been itentionally
wasting money on unneeded overtime and other things for several years in order
to push through the potter/donahoe master transformation plan. in other words, “pissing” away money to intentionally report inflated losses. if the post office got its financial house in order that would be bad for donahoe and his “master plan.” if the losses stopped, then the chance of these knuckleheads getting this through would also be stopped. if you see intentional waste by management there is something
you must do. postal workers were simply wrong when they have said that management has a right to mismanage! you need to document this fraud and report it to the office of the inspector general. i am not convinced that the office of the inspector general is any less corrupt or dishonest than the u s post office, but by law it is the job of the inspector generals office (OIG) TO INVESTIGATE WASTE, FRAUD, DELAYING THE MAIL, EMPLOYEE MISCONDUCT WITHIN THE UNITED STATES postal service. gather your facts, who/what/when/where/and how, and go the OIG site for the usps. other gov’t office have OIG’s so be sure you get the usps/OIG. at the OIG website click on the hotline button. you can then file a complaint via an email form. they then will send you a copy of your email complaint to the email address you provide. you can give your name or do it without identifying yourself. this gives you proof of your complaint and proof that you reported the fraud, waste, abuse or whatever to the proper authority. you can call a hotline 1-888 number also but i recommend the email form or a letter sent to the virginia address provided so you have proof. keep a copy if you send a letter. if most postal employees would report the waste, fraud and incompetence going on in there facility then i feel it would be almost impossible for the post office and/or the office of the inspector general to sweep the misconduct under the rug. futhermore, it would very hard for the OIG to claim they were unaware of the abuse going on inside the post office if thousands of employees have proof that THEY REPORTED THE ABUSE ON SUCH A SUCH A DATE. i think if even half of the postal employees reported the abuses they see that the equipment in the OIG’s office will probably be overloaded. lose the mentality that postal management has a right to mismanagement. not true, and never was and you see the mess that type of thinking has gotten us into. REPORT EVERYTHING YOU SEE TO THE OIG!
blahblahblahblahblahblah
So one failing PO is going to ask congress, another failing group of people for help? I made $8.50 an hour in 1978, that same job that went to $16.00 is now back at $8.50 per hour 33 years later. Has Congress taken any pay cuts? Its time for America to wake up.
The PO has grown too big just like our government, spending is way out of control at the PO. The word, “Budget” does not exist within our government or the Post Office. No matter what they do to save the Post Office it will never work even if they cut the wages.
too much paperwork/computer work for all postmasters/supervisors….. what a waste…. they have no time to supervise !!!!!
cut saturday or wednesday delivery. now.
early out $25k and add 3 years …..
In Elmira NY, all crafts working OT, forced to work holidays, excessed 4 clerks this week, depending on NTFT jobs which no one wants.
Here in Pittsburgh OT is everyday, non ODL employees are also working 2 hours a day, no end in sight….also grievences are through the roof, management is throwing money away faster than it could ever be made….
AT MY PLANT WE ARE SPENDING MONEY FASTER THAN EVER. I GUESS MISMANAGEMENT WILL NEVER BE DEALT WITH. WHAT A JOKE.
THE IDIOTS CAN SAVE 3 BILLION A YEAR BY ELIMINATING SATURDAY DELIVERY, ANY BUISNESS THAT LOSES MONEY AND DOES NOTHING ABOUT IS SAD. ELIMINATE SATURDAY DELIVERY NOW
The US Postal Service is forbidden to be profitable.
@ann cecelia Management will definitely use OT as a negative even though it is a positive in our pocket .
Cut down 50% MDO,SDO, no overnight commitment
Why has there been OT almost every night on tour 2 where i work at?? This OT has been for both mailhandlers and clerks. This OT has been going strong from last January up until now? Has this OT been going on nationwide? I wonder if postal management wants these negative numbers deliberately.