USPS begins new fiscal year with $139 million loss
PostalReporter News Blog
The U.S. Postal Service filed its first month preliminary financial report of the 2012 fiscal year with the Postal Regulatory Commission. USPS reported a net operating loss of $139 million for the month of October 2011. This same period last year saw a $283 million net profit. USPS reported a drop of volume in all classes of mail except shipping which rose 34.6 percent during the month of October.More

USPS hires corporate restructuring gurus to help cut costs
Post & Parcel
Looking at alternative avenues to cut $20 billion in annual expenses from its operations by 2015, and with Congress dragging its collective feet on much-needed postal reforms, the U.S. Postal Service has hired top corporate advisers from the investment banking sector to help it make "fundamental" changes to its business model.More

Post office closures seen as boost to other Christmas package shippers
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
The downsizing of the U.S. Postal Service could be a boon to competing shippers. The USPS announced earlier this month a temporary moratorium on closing retail outlets and post offices from Nov. 19 through Jan. 2. The postal service, which delivers 40 percent of the world's mail, wants to focus on the busy holiday season and minimize logistical issues, according to a statement. In some cases, the damage is already done.More

Postal Service announces Express Mail flat-rate box and shipping prices for 2012
USPS
Postal Service customers will be able ship a box for overnight delivery anywhere in the country for one price regardless of weight (up to 70 lbs) starting Jan. 22, 2012. That's when the Express Mail Flat Rate Box debuts and new Shipping Services prices take effect.More

As mailing deadlines approach, USPS expects mailbag to grow heavier
The Palm Beach Post
No word yet on Santa's toy bag, but the post office projects a slightly heavier holiday mailbag for the first time in at least three years. The U.S. Postal Service expects to deliver 16.5 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve this holiday season, up from 15.8 billion in 2010, USPS spokeswoman Darleen Reid said.More

Donahoe: Time running out to save US Postal Service
Post & Parcel
"Lack of speed will kill the Postal Service," said Patrick Donahoe, speaking at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. The Postmaster General issued a stern warning to U.S. lawmakers to quickly rethink their current Postal Service rescue proposals and pass meaningful reforms.More

Should Postal Service offer email, online storage?
InformationWeek Government
The U.S. Postal Service should offer email, secure document storage and other online services as a way for the financially strapped agency to leverage the Web as a service platform, according to the USPS office of Inspector General. A report from the IG outlined a digital platform the agency could create to offer services such as eMailbox and eLockbox to help the USPS take advantage of the Internet economy and recoup some of the more than $5 billion it lost in 2011. However, questions remains about whether the agency has the qualifications to offer such services and where they would get the cash to create the platform for them.More

38 postal execs earn more than Cabinet members
Federal Times
As the U.S. Postal Service was careening toward a record $8.5 billion loss in 2010, it was paying more than three dozen top executives and officers salaries and bonuses exceeding that of Cabinet secretaries — almost triple the number who were in that category only a year before, according to newly disclosed figures.More