The new parcels offering USPS Ground Advantage helped improve revenues and reduce net losses in the second quarter of the financial year for the US Postal Service. Compared to the second quarter of 2023, the postal service reduced its net losses down to minus $1,468m. Revenues were up 1.9% y-o-y to $19,715m.
The US Postal Service has two types of costs – the controllable and the non-controllable. The non-controllable include retiree pension liabilities and as ever, these accounted for the majority of the losses in the quarter. According to the postal operator however, controllable losses amounted to a still-considerable $317m, though this was an improvement on Q2, 2023. The slightly improved revenues and lower transport costs helped reduce the losses, though inflation still offset these somewhat.
US Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said, “Our financial results this quarter demonstrated positive trends regarding improved revenue generation and cost control.”
USPS Ground Advantage Helps Parcel Revenues
The Shipping and Packages division reported a 1.5% y-o-y improvement in volumes and a 1.2% growth in revenues. This was helped in a large part with the new Ground Advantage product that was launched in July last year, where customers can send a parcel anywhere in the Lower 48 within 2-5 days.
The US Postmaster General added, “We… saw gains in package deliveries through our successful USPS Ground Advantage offering,” that amounted to 554m pieces in the quarter, already the second largest parcel parcel offering in terms of volumes.
Delivering for America Continues to Improve USPS Fortunes
The 10 year Delivering for America strategic plan helped the USPS to a 4.4% improvement in First Class Mail revenues, even while volumes fell 2.2%. DeJoy concluded, “As we continue to modernise our processing, transportation and delivery functions, we will increasingly operate with greater efficiency and at a consistently higher level of performance.”
Author: Richard Shrubb
Source: USPS
