USPS Facts & Figures

A Decade of Facts & Figures

March 20, 2018

The Postal Service has a table that shows a decade of facts and figures. It not surprisingly does not have figures about productivity or cost control. But it does make for some interesting comparisons with 2010 when the USPS issued Ensuring a Viable Postal Service for America: An Action Plan for the Future.

Mail volume in 2017 was 149.5 billion, down from 170.9 billion in 2010, a drop of 21.4 billion or 12.5 percent. Interestingly, last year marked the sixth in a row in which volume was in the 150 billion range, exactly where the 2010 USPS Action Plan projected it would level out.

Operating revenue was $69.6 billion last year, up from $61.7 billion in 2010. A 12.8 percent increase in revenue in the face of a 12.5 percent drop in volume does not sound too bad. In fact, why is there such a desperate need for “pricing freedom?”