August 31, 2017

The Postal Service reported a minor controllable loss of $176 million in July, very close to its plan and to last July. With operating revenue dropping 0.4 percent, postal compensation and benefits continued to rise at 0.4 percent. USPS was, however, able to bring total controllable operating expenses down by cutting other costs, resulting in a drop of 0.5 percent, slightly better than the revenue decline.

Year-to-date, the picture is not as good, with operating revenue down 1.1 percent and controllable operating expenses up 1.2 percent. No businesslike organization can sustain itself while having such a negative relationship between controllable cost and revenue trends.