Foundering USPS Absorbs Punishing Q2 Loss

Without the impact of the non-controllable costs related to mandated retiree health benefit pre-funding payments and accounting for non-cash adjustments for worker’s compensation, the non-GAAP loss for the quarter was $486 million, compared to $469 million for the same period last year.

The losses are due, the USPS maintains, primarily to legislative mandates such as the pre-funding of retiree health benefits and prohibiting management from making needed operational and human resource changes required to address the issues under current laws and contracts. Also contributing to the continuing losses, it says, are the declining First-Class Mail and Standard Mail volumes.