The U.S. Postal Service is facing a precipitous decline in mail volume and billions of dollars in additional losses as it operates during the pandemic, where hundreds of its workers have fallen sick and a dozen have died from the coronavirus. The Wall Street Journal reports: The quasigovernmental agency, which operates as part of the executive branch, is asking Congress for financial support, even after the Treasury Department extended it a $10 billion loan and increased its annual borrowing limit under the Cares Act last month. The agency’s Board of Governors has asked Congress to provide $25 billion in emergency funding, a $25 billion grant for modernization projects and access to $25 billion in Treasury loans.
“We are at a critical juncture in the life of the Postal Service,” Postmaster General Megan Brennan said in a statement Thursday. “At a time when America needs the Postal Service more than ever, the reason we are so needed is having a devastating effect on our business.” The Postal Service projects the pandemic to add $22 billion to the agency’s continuing operating losses over the next 18 months, Ms. Brennan said. Mail volumes and purchases of the agency’s services have plummeted with the mandated closures of businesses around the country. She said losses could hit $54 billion over the longer term and threaten the agency’s ability to operate. Ms. Brennan delayed her retirement earlier this year during a search for a successor. In other postal service-related news, Amazon announced earlier this week that it will halt its delivery service for non-Amazon packages. “Under the program, Amazon drivers would pick up packages from businesses and deliver them to consumers, rather than ship orders from Amazon warehouses,” reports The Wall Street Journal.
The pausing of operations will let Amazon handle a surge in its own customers’ orders, which may help the USPS as many of the orders get handed off to the company for shipping.
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Source:: Slashdot