Post Office Is Drowning in a Sea of Red Ink

The U.S. Postal Service is having serious financial difficulties, and may be on its last legs. The Daily Beast rounds up the troubling data.

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Cumulative losses are projected (PDF) to reach $238 billion by 2020.

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There were 32,000 open post offices (PDF) in 2010, and of these 26,000 were operating with expenses exceeding revenue.

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The Post Office mailed 177 billion pieces of mail (PDF) in 2009, down from 213 billion in 2006.

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Changes to the service, like the elimination of first class mail, are expected to save $3 billion by 2015.

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The service is expected to lose a record $14.1 billion for the 2012 fiscal year; while revenue is expected to fall to $64 billion in 2012 from $65.7 billion in 2011.

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The amount of mail is expected to fall by 6 percent in 2012, compared to a 2 percent drop in 2011.

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In 2011, the Post Office had a net loss of $5.1 billion.

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The number of visits to the post office fell by 59 million between 2009 and 2010.

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Good news: visits to USPS.com reached 413 million annually in 2010 and the site generated $640 million in revenue that year.

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Sales of stamps fell to $1.1 billion in 2010.

USPS

Post Office Is Drowning in a Sea of Red Ink

The Post Office’s troubling numbers.