Editing United States Postal Service (section)

=== Revenue decline and planned cuts ===

In 2016, the USPS had its fifth straight annual operating loss, in the amount of $5.6&nbsp;billion, of which $5.8&nbsp;billion was the accrual of unpaid mandatory retiree health payments.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|title=United States Postal Service FY2021 Annual Report to Congress|url=https://about.usps.com/what/financials/annual-reports/fy2021.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202062228/https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/financials/annual-reports/fy2016.pdf|archive-date=February 2, 2017|access-date=January 28, 2017|publisher=United States Postal Service}}</ref>

==== Declining mail volume ====
First-class mail volume peaked in 2001 to 103.65 billion declining to 52.62 billion by 2020<ref>{{cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-class-mail-since-1926.pdf|title=First-Class Mail Volume Since 1926|access-date=July 23, 2018|date=March 2018|publisher=USPS|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180723212400/https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/first-class-mail-since-1926.pdf|archive-date=July 23, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> due to the increasing use of email and the World Wide Web for correspondence and business transactions.<ref name="amp">{{cite web| url=http://about.usps.com/streamlining-operations/area-mail-processing.htm| title=USPS – Area Mail Processing| publisher=USPS| year=2009| access-date=August 4, 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923173906/http://about.usps.com/streamlining-operations/area-mail-processing.htm| archive-date=September 23, 2011| url-status=live}}</ref> 
Private courier services, such as [[FedEx]] and [[United Parcel Service]] (UPS), directly compete with USPS for the delivery of packages.

Lower volume means lower revenues to support the fixed commitment to deliver to every address once a day, six days a week. According to an official report on November 15, 2012, the U.S. Postal Service lost $15.9&nbsp;billion its 2012 fiscal year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/publications/annual-reports/2012/|title=2012 Annual Report to Congress and Comprehensive Statement |website=about.usps.com|language=en|access-date=January 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418071107/http://about.usps.com/publications/annual-reports/2012/|archive-date=April 18, 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Internal streamlining and delivery slowdown ====
In response, the USPS has increased productivity each year from 2000 to 2007,<ref name="strategicplanning">{{cite web|url=http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt1_pg5.htm |title=Comprehensive Statement on Postal Operations 2008 |publisher=USPS |year=2008 |access-date=August 4, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090508213247/http://www.usps.com/strategicplanning/cs08/chpt1_pg5.htm |archive-date=May 8, 2009}}</ref> through increased automation, route re-optimization, and facility consolidation.<ref name="amp" /> Despite these efforts, the organization saw an $8.5&nbsp;billion budget shortfall in 2010,<ref>McElhatton, Jim [http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/12/postal-service-reports-8-billion-losses/ "Postal Service Reports $8 billion in Losses"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930132830/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/12/postal-service-reports-8-billion-losses/ |date=September 30, 2011}}, ''The Washington Times'', November 12, 2010, accessed August 4, 2011.</ref> and was losing money at a rate of about $3&nbsp;billion per quarter in 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nacsonline.com/Magazine/PastIssues/2011/October2011/Pages/Feature3.aspx |title=NACS Magazine {{pipe}} Going Postal |publisher=Nacsonline.com |access-date=July 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131030152926/http://www.nacsonline.com/magazine/PastIssues/2011/October2011/Pages/Feature3.aspx |archive-date=October 30, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

On December 5, 2011, the USPS announced it would close more than half of its mail processing centers, eliminate 28,000 jobs and reduce overnight delivery of First-Class Mail. This will close down 252 of its 461 processing centers.<ref>[https://www.foxnews.com/us/postal-service-to-delay-cutbacks-until-mid-may-staving-off-bankruptcy/ Postal Service to Delay Cutbacks Until Mid-May, Staving Off Bankruptcy], [[Fox News]]. Accessed: December 13, 2011.</ref> (At peak mail volume in 2006, the USPS operated 673 facilities.<ref name="USPS plan">{{cite web|url=http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-fact-sheet-120509.pdf|access-date=September 27, 2012|title=Fact Sheet: Modified Network Realignment Plan|author=USPS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120522160108/http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/assets/pdf/postplan-fact-sheet-120509.pdf|archive-date=May 22, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>) As of May 2012, the plan was to start the first round of consolidation in summer 2012, pause from September to December, and begin a second round in February 2014; 80% of first-class mail would still be delivered overnight through the end of 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_058.htm|access-date=September 27, 2012|date=May 17, 2012|title=Postal Service Moves Ahead with Modified Network Consolidation Plan|author=USPS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003052800/http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_058.htm|archive-date=October 3, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> New delivery standards were issued in January 2015, and the majority of single-piece (not presorted) first-class mail is now being delivered in two days instead of one.<ref name="jan2015">{{cite web |url=http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/ofn-usps-delivery-standards-and-statistics-fact-sheet.htm |title=USPS Delivery Standards and Statistics fact sheet |publisher=USPS |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530091804/http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/ofn-usps-delivery-standards-and-statistics-fact-sheet.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> Large commercial mailers can still have first-class mail delivered overnight if delivered directly to a processing center in the early morning, though as of 2014 this represented only 11% of first-class mail.<ref name="jan2015" /> Unsorted first-class mail will continue to be delivered anywhere in the contiguous United States within three days.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/ofn-usps-key-fact-on-network-rationalization.htm |title=Key facts on network rationalization |publisher=USPS |date=March 23, 2015 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150530091855/http://about.usps.com/news/electronic-press-kits/our-future-network/ofn-usps-key-fact-on-network-rationalization.htm |archive-date=May 30, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Post office closures ====

In July 2011, the USPS announced a plan to close about 3,700 small post offices. Various representatives in Congress protested, and the Senate passed a bill that would have kept open all post offices farther than {{convert|10|mile|km}} from the next office.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Sanburn |first=Josh |url=https://business.time.com/2013/04/12/the-post-offices-biggest-problem-isnt-saturday-delivery-its-congress/ |title=Post Office Keeps Saturday Delivery Thanks to Congress |magazine=Time Magazine |date=April 12, 2013 |access-date=June 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150525182541/http://business.time.com/2013/04/12/the-post-offices-biggest-problem-isnt-saturday-delivery-its-congress/ |archive-date=May 25, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> In May 2012, the service announced it had modified its plan. Instead, rural post offices would remain open with reduced retail hours (some as little as two hours per day) unless there was a community preference for a different option.<ref name="USPS plan" /> In a survey of rural customers, 54% preferred the new plan of retaining rural post offices with reduced hours, 20% preferred the "Village Post Office" replacement (where a nearby private retail store would provide basic mail services with expanded hours), 15% preferred merger with another Post Office, and 11% preferred expanded rural delivery services.<ref name="pr12_054">{{cite web|url=http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_054.htm|title=New Strategy to Preserve the Nation's Smallest Post Offices|access-date=September 27, 2012|author=USPS|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008092117/http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2012/pr12_054.htm|archive-date=October 8, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, USPS reported that approximately 40% of postal revenue comes from online purchases or private retail partners including [[Walmart]], [[Staples Inc.|Staples]], [[Office Depot]], [[Walgreens]], [[Sam's Club]], [[Costco]], and grocery stores.<ref name="pr12_054" /> The [[National Labor Relations Board]] agreed to hear the American Postal Workers Union's arguments that these counters should be staffed by postal employees who earn far more and have "a generous package of health and retirement benefits".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/us-postal-service-workers-staples-staff/story?id=21597291 |title=Unions Angered by Postal Service's Staples Outlets |last1=Hananel |first1=Sam |date=January 19, 2014 |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |agency=Associated Press |access-date=January 19, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140120204828/https://abcnews.go.com/Business/us-postal-service-workers-staples-staff/story?id=21597291 |archive-date=January 20, 2014 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/08/usps-controversial-deal-with-staples-headed-to-showdown-over-legality/ |title=USPS's controversial deal with Staples headed to showdown over legality |last1=Rein |first1=Lisa |date=July 8, 2015 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104143610/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/federal-eye/wp/2015/07/08/usps-controversial-deal-with-staples-headed-to-showdown-over-legality/ |archive-date=November 4, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Elimination of Saturday delivery averted ====
On January 28, 2009, [[United States Postmaster General|Postmaster General]] [[John E. Potter]] testified before the Senate<ref>{{cite web|url=http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/Potter.pdf |title=Postmaster General/CEO John E. Potter Before the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management |access-date=January 28, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090130020740/http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/_files/Potter.pdf |archive-date=January 30, 2009}}</ref> that, if the Postal Service could not readjust its payment toward the contractually funding earned employee retiree health benefits, as mandated by the Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2006,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usps.com/postallaw/_pdf/PostalServiceNetworkPlan.pdf |title=Postal Accountability & Enhancement Act of 2006 |access-date=February 11, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201150834/http://www.usps.com/postallaw/_pdf/PostalServiceNetworkPlan.pdf |archive-date=December 1, 2008}}</ref> the USPS would be forced to consider cutting delivery to five days per week during June, July, and August.

H.R. 22, addressing this issue, passed the House of Representatives and Senate and was signed into law on September 30, 2009.<ref>{{cite web|title=Text of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act|url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr22/text|website=www.govtrack.us|publisher=United States Government|access-date=December 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141210171057/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/109/hr22/text|archive-date=December 10, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> However, Postmaster General Potter continued to advance plans to eliminate Saturday mail delivery.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Memmott |first=Mark |date=March 2, 2010 |title=Would You Miss Saturday Mail Delivery? |language=en |work=[[NPR]] |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2010/03/saturday_mail_disappears_posta.html |access-date=September 9, 2022}}</ref>

On June 10, 2009, the [[National Rural Letter Carriers' Association]] (NRLCA) was contacted for its input on the USPS's current study of the effect of five-day delivery along with developing an implementation plan for a five-day service plan. A team of Postal Service headquarters executives and staff was given a time frame of sixty days to complete the study. The current concept examines the effect of five-day delivery with no business or collections on Saturday, with Post Offices with current Saturday hours remaining open.

On Thursday, April 15, 2010, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing to examine the status of the Postal Service and recent reports on short and long-term strategies for the financial viability and stability of the USPS entitled "Continuing to Deliver: An Examination of the Postal Service's Current Financial Crisis and its Future Viability". At which, PMG Potter testified that by 2020, the USPS cumulative losses could exceed $238&nbsp;billion, and that mail volume could drop 15 percent from 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Hearings/Committee_on_Oversight/2010/041510_Postal_Service/TESTIMONY-Potter-USPS.pdf |title=Statement of Postmaster General/CEO John E. Potter Before the Committee on Government on Oversight & Government Reform United States House of Representatives & Subcommittee on Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the District of Columbia |access-date=April 15, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100809190908/http://oversight.house.gov/images/stories/Hearings/Committee_on_Oversight/2010/041510_Postal_Service/TESTIMONY-Potter-USPS.pdf |archive-date=August 9, 2010}}</ref>

In February 2013, the USPS announced that in order to save about $2&nbsp;billion per year, Saturday delivery service would be discontinued except for packages, mail-order medicines, Priority Mail, Express Mail, and mail delivered to Post Office boxes, beginning August 10, 2013.<ref name="USPS No Saturday">{{cite web|title=Postal Service Announces New Delivery Schedule|url=http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2013/pr13_019.htm|publisher=United States Postal Service|access-date=February 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130208165021/http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2013/pr13_019.htm|archive-date=February 8, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="CBS end Saturday">{{cite news|title=U.S. Postal Service: Saturday letter delivery to end in August|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-postal-service-saturday-letter-delivery-to-end-in-august/|newspaper=[[CBS News]]|date=February 6, 2013|access-date=January 2, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102035352/http://www.cbsnews.com/news/us-postal-service-saturday-letter-delivery-to-end-in-august/|archive-date=January 2, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.foxnews.com/politics/postal-service-to-end-saturday-mail-delivery-in-bid-to-cut-costs/|title=Postal Service to end Saturday mail delivery in bid to cut costs|access-date=February 6, 2013|work=[[Fox News]]|date=February 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102035352/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/06/postal-service-to-cut-saturday-mail-to-trim-costs.html|archive-date=January 2, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the [[Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2013]], passed in March, reversed the cuts to Saturday delivery.<ref name="about.usps.com">{{cite web|url=http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2013/pr13_0410bogstatement.htm|title=Statement from the U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors|date=April 10, 2013|access-date=April 9, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413141257/http://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2013/pr13_0410bogstatement.htm|archive-date=April 13, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>