Fee boost denied for USPS as losses mount

A 5.6 percent postal price boost requested by the U.S. USPS was turned down Thurs by the Postal Regulatory Commission. Blaming a drop in mail traffic during the recession, the USPS wanted to raise the price of a first class stamp from 44 to 46 cents among other increases. The commission rejected that notion and said the postal service’s problems are a result of its business practices.

Help is one thing postal fee raises need badly

A deficit of $238 billion through 2020 is what is expected for the Postal Service meaning it is losing all its money. Bloomberg accounts the Postal Service has asked for the stamp price increase along with a 7 % increase on packages used to ship merchandise for instance books or videos. It also hopes to get an increase on parcels under a pound. It is hoping that it will go up 23 percent. There hasn’t been a rise within the Postal Service for a when. It has been two years. For the very first time since 1863, the USPS has requested to end Saturday postal mail delivery from Congress.

United States Mail changing

The Postal Service was left out of a temporary spending measure to fund federal programs through early Dec that passed the Senate on Wednesday and cleared the House Thursday. According to the Washington Post, the Postal Service owes a $5.5 billion payment that is needed to pre-fund retiree medical benefits by law. Democrats tried to postpone this payment but Republicans wouldn’t have it. The USPS has slashed a $10 billion in spending. This cut has only been since 2008. Attrition is part of its plan. That’s how it wants to slashed the workforce. In a statement the Office of Management and Spending budget said mail service would not be compromised as the USPS and Congress comes up with a plan to ensure the agency is viable in the future.

The reason why there can be no Postal Fee increase

In 2009 alone, $3.8 billion was lost by the Postal Service. The Associated Press reports that Ruth Goldway, chairman of the commission, said the proposal was rejected more for the presentation than the details. The recession isn’t the main reason the reason why the change needs to be made, she said at a news conference. It needs to change because long-term structural troubles were never addressed before now. The commission’s rejection was lauded by the Affordable Mail Alliance, a coalition including consumer groups, small company, charities, utilities, national retailers and banks.

Citations

Bloomberg

bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-30/u-s-postal-service-denied-another-rate-increase-by-regulatory-commission.html

Washington Post

washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/29/AR2010092906645.html?wpisrc=nl_pmheadline

Associated Press

google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqbZ05-vr6nAfjJzyIXr_d1k26DwD9IIDJ4O0?docId=D9IIDJ4O0