United States Postal Service

Considering the United States Postal Service's well-documented financial struggles, it's no surprise that it's looking to follow in the footsteps of some public transportation fleets by selling ads on some of its vehicles.

The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it's never been as close to the precipice as it is now: the agency is so low on cash that it won't be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.

Gov. Terry Branstad is calling for a moratorium on post office closings until the United States Postal Service can better explain the criteria it will use to shut down some 3,700 post offices nationwide.

Almost two weeks after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek resigned following the high profile protests against his regime, the country is now under military rule. The United States Postal Service said the situation is now sufficiently stable for all its services to recommence.

Patrick R. Donahoe took the oath of office in front of employees and family members to become the 73rd Postmaster General of the United States and the CEO of the U.S. Postal Service.  

As a child the holidays started at our house — at least in my imagination — not in December but in November. That's when the FAO Schwarz toy catalog arrived. It's hard now, in this age when everything, at least virtually everything related to commerce and consumption, is only a click or two away to conceive of a time when one's dreams were funneled through the United States Postal Service.

Postal regulators Thursday denied requests by the U.S. Postal Service to raise postage rates in January beyond the rate of inflation, ruling that the mail agency's recent financial woes were caused by a flawed business model and not the recent recession.

Legislation introduced today by Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE) is a roadmap to recovery for the Postal Service, said Postmaster General John Potter. It incorporates many of the key elements we have identified as necessary and essential to allow the Postal Service to meet the changing needs of its customers.

If the USPS hasn't done an economic analysis of what will happen to catalog volume and its own profitability from catalogs, then it's fair to say they're being “uneconomic,” which violates the statute governing raising rates under the “exigent circumstances” exception.

At press time, the USPS filed its request with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) for an "exigent" price increase to take effect January 2, 2011. The USPS proposed an average price increase of 5.6 percent. Increases for catalogs range from 4 percent to 10 percent, depending on the characteristics of the mailing.