USPS Q3 2018 Parcel Volume Up by 7.5 Percent – But Still Records Loss

First Class Mail, or mostly letter mail, is dying a slow death due to eMail and other electronic communications.

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The United States Postal Service for years now has been expanding its Shipping and Packages category as large companies like Amazon, but also hundreds of thousands of small and micro businesses shifted their shipping needs to USPS.

In it’s 2018 Q3 results, the third quarter for USPS ends on June 30, the postal service reported a total revenue increase of $402 million, or 2.4 percent, compared to the same quarter in 2017.

First-Class Mail revenue declined by $134 million, or 2.2 percent, but Marketing Mail revenue showed a rebound and increased by $63 million, or 1.6 percent.

READ MORE: Are Paper Catalogs Making a Comeback?

Here is the revenue and volume information by mailing category from USPS for Q3, 2018:

Net Losses Continue

The UPSP net loss for the quarter totaled $1.5 billion, a decline in net loss of $651 million compared to the same period last year.

This was the result of non-recurring adjustments to retirement and retiree health benefit plans to account for revised actuarial assumptions.

Excluding the effects of these adjustments, the net loss for the quarter increased by $507 million.

“The root cause of our financial instability is a flawed business model that is imposed by law. We encourage the Congress to engage in a broad public policy discussion and pass postal reform legislation.

We support legislation under consideration in the current Congress which would provide immediate flexibility to the organization, allow the Postal Service to invest in our future and continue to provide the prompt, reliable, efficient and universal service the public expects.”

Postmaster General and CEO Megan J. Brennan

Unfortunately, it appears despite significant gains in the parcel volume and revenue, the postal service continues to struggle to make up losses in First Class and other mail services.

And the requirement by Congress to fully pre-fund its pension plans, a practice not typical in business or many government operations, is adding a large burden to its bottom line.

While USPS is an arm of the Federal Government, the Postal Service receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.

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