'Losing $25M a Day,' US Postal Service Says; Saturday Service Remains
"We are on an unsustainable path," the postmaster general said Wednesday during a committee meeting while announcing that the United States Postal Service is losing an estimated $25 million a day.
Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Wednesday that the USPS is working under a "broken business model." The postal service announced in February that eliminating Saturday service would save the company an estimated $2 billion a year.
Congress responded to the plan by adding a rider on a spending bill that would mandate Saturday delivery, according to The Los Angeles Times. After much debate, the board members announced last week that the USPS would comply with the law.
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"Although disappointed with this Congressional action, the Board will follow the law," the USPS said. "The Board continues to support the transition to a new national delivery schedule."
Donahue reiterated that statement again on Wednesday.
"Our customers require certainty– especially about something as fundamental as our delivery schedule," he said. "And so, we announced that we would delay implementation of our new schedule until we gained legislation giving us the ability to move forward."
Those eager to maintain Saturday service have put Donahue at fault for the USPS' faulty business plan.
"[Because] we are convinced that the business strategy the Postmaster General (PMG) is following is doomed to failure, we have called for the PMG's resignation," Fredric V. Rolando, President of the National Association of Letter Carriers, said in a written statement to The Washington Post. "We respectfully think you should too."
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Delaware), chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee agreed Wednesday that the USPS needs reform.
"Even though today's decision by the Postal Service's Board of Governors delays its controversial proposal, the urgent need for the administration and Congress to work together to save the Postal Service by making hard decisions and tackling controversial issues like Saturday delivery remains," Carper said in a press release.
