While people stuck at home are ordering more than before, almost all of corporate mail is gone, which means the US Postal Service could lose 50% of its volume by June. By September USPS could face bankruptcy.
The Postal Service is among America's top employers. With 600,000 workers it has nearly as many workers as two biggest private competitors – FedEx and UPS – combined. For many Americans it's the last lifeline especially now, when they cannot travel freely and many businesses are down. Despite the risk, carriers are still walking their routes, delivering medicines, COVID-19 testing kits and products ordered both in big cities and in remote rural areas.
Despite being one of the government's most reliable agencies, the Postal Service is now facing the battle for its survival. Postmaster general Megan J. Brennan presented the agency's dire situation to the House Oversight and Reform Committee. With the coronavirus pandemic forcing businesses to close, USPS saw instant drop in revenue, which by June could reach 50% of total mail volume. This kind of drop is disastrous for the organisation's financial condition, already strained by insufficient funding.
But the amount postmaster general Brennan is asking for in the Postal Service's proposed relief might be hard to swallow for some. Expected loss this year could reach $13 billion, but might amount to $54 million over the next decade.
