The Postal Service lost $6.5 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2023 and is looking at another $6.3 billion loss in FY 2024. This compares to net income of $56 billion for the prior year and the projections in the
Delivering for America (DFA) plan that FY 2023 would be a break-even year for the Postal Service. With that in mind, Postal Service Board of Governor (BOG) Member Ronald Stroman suggested at the November 14 BOG meeting where the financials were presented that, while the “workforce is working incredibly hard to achieve a difficult transformation … changes to the DFA will be needed in the near term” to have a “realistic roadmap.”
Total operating revenue was about $78.2 billion for the year, a decrease of $321 million, or 0.4 percent, compared to the same period last year (SPLY), as package revenue increases were offset by mail revenue declines. During the BOG meeting, postal officials said the Postal Service is not meeting its financial targets in the DFA largely because of the inability to achieve reforms in what the Postal Service considers to be a flawed calculation in the Civil Service Retirement System. Achieving this reform could make a difference of about $3 billion annually, according to BOG Chairman Roman Martinez, who said
higher inflation and rising costs were also a major reason for the deficits. Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett said that the organization is committed to controlling its costs, such as removing 28 million
hours and by taking calculated steps to decrease transportation costs consistent, including reorganizing the processing and transportation network.
Lastly, Joshua Colin, Chief Retail and Delivery Officer and Executive Vice President, outlined the official service performance for FY2023, Q4. The First-Class Mail composite (letters and flats) performance score was 91.06 for the quarter, compared with 93.11 for SPLY. Breaking out the mail class by product, Colin said the First-Class Mail Overnight score was 95.02 for Q4, compared with 95.30 for SPLY, while the First-Class Mail 2-Day performance score was 91.76 in Q4, compared with 92.91 for SPLY. Rounding out the First-Class Mail performance, 3-5 Day mail had a score of 90.42 for Q4, compared with 92.94 for SPLY. Turning to Marketing Mail, Colin noted that roughly 53 percent of mail in measurement is Marketing Mail. For Q4, FY 2023, the Marketing Mail on-time score was 95.22, compared with 94.74 for SPLY.
PostCom Bulletin / USPS Release
