Ten percent of all U.S. post offices could close, and the postal service in those areas could become retail. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
The United States Postal Service has been plagued with financial trouble for years, and the last few have been particularly bad. The USPS is looking at privatizing more than 3,000 post offices in order to cut costs and introduce a new business model for postage.
Postal service bleeding cash
The United States Postal Service has been losing cash for years and is entering some of the most dire straights in the organizations’ history. It posted a loss of more than $2 billion last quarter and is likely to not be able to meet any debt obligations this fall, according to Reuters. The agency has already begun closing post offices, according to CBS. The USPS announced that up to 1,400 post offices will be reviewed in January to see whether the USPS would be better off closing those locations. Of those, 280 have been closed. The USPS posted an $8 billion loss last year, part of the $12 billion the agency has lost in the past four years. About 130,000 postal workers have been laid off or fired from closing post offices during that time.
The Village Post Office
Post offices in rural areas are at the highest risk of closure because those locations are usually the ones with the lowest volume and revenue. In order to provide rural customers a post office, the USPS is going to experiment with a new program called the Village Post Office. The post office plans to become a joint venture with local retailers, such as supermarkets and other businesses, under contract with the USPS. About 70,000 such businesses already sell stamps, so the Village retail outlet in stores would just be taking things one step further. The USPS is reportedly studying the success of this model in 2,500 retail outlets across the country. There are 3,653 post office locations under review nationwide for possible closure, including at least one post office in every major U.S. city, according to the Christian Science Monitor
More expensive than email, cheaper than FedEx or UPS
The cost of shipping a letter or card — anything less than an ounce — through the United States Postal Service is just the cost of a first class stamp, 44 cents, and an envelope to send it in, and it can ship anywhere in the United States. Its private competitors are far more expensive, as shown by the United Parcel Service and FedEx cost estimators.
Sources
List of possibly closing post offices
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