The United States Postal Service (USPS) wants to raise the price of its First Class stamps again. If it gets approval, the cost of its “Forever” First Class stamp will hit $0.73, up from the current $0.68. It is the fourth increase in First Class prices since January 2023. The rise is because the USPS is poorly organized and run.
Regular price increases did not start early last year. Between 2010 and 2020, they increased seven times. It is another sign that the USPS is trying to offset management’s ability to get costs under control, and there are options to do so. The USPS said:
As changes in the mailing and shipping marketplace continue, these price adjustments are needed to achieve the financial stability sought by the organization’s Delivering for America 10-year plan. USPS prices remain among the most affordable in the world.
The 10-year plan is to increase efficiency and the speed of mail delivery. There is no meaningful evidence that either of these has happened.
In its most recently reported quarter, revenue was almost flat at $21.6 billion. The loss for the period was $2.1 billion, compared to a loss of $1.0 billion in the same quarter the year before. Management blamed inflation for part of the difference.
A close look at the USPS shows that it is bloated. It has over 515,000 employees and operates out of 31,132 post offices. Some of these are in towns with fewer than 3,000 residents.
The USPS insists on delivering mail six days a week. This is despite the nearly universal use of email for both letters and small packages (many PDFs). Enough people pay their bills online, so daily bill delivery is unnecessary.
The idea that there need to be over 30,000 locations, some of which are in small towns, does not make sense at all. While it may be convenient for customers, it comes at a massive cost. (See which are the poorest towns in the United States.)
Also, the USPS’s overnight mail system is unnecessary when UPS and FedEx can deliver packages to the same location.
The USPS should be much smaller. Instead, it increases prices to remain large and expensive for Americans to use.
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