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Stories Tagged as

Usps

When Amazon comes to town, rural post offices struggle to keep up with deliveries

by Kai Ryssdal and Sofia Terenzio
Dec 11, 2023
When thousands of Amazon packages arrived overnight, it wreaked havoc on a post office in Bemidji, Minnesota.
Last year, the USPS lost $6.5 billion. Delivering for Amazon is a way the agency offsets its costs.
Daria Nipot/Getty Images
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Postmaster DeJoy wanted to make a government service profitable. It's not happening.

by Savannah Peters
Nov 16, 2023
This week the U.S. Postal Service announced a $6.5 billion net loss for the fiscal year ending September 30.
The USPS is a service that, historically, has almost never turned a profit. 
Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images
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How will USPS reform affect postal workers?

by Meghan McCarty Carino
Mar 10, 2022
The organization has struggled with declining mail volume and revenue, and shouldered a costly health care plan for retirees.
A USPS mail carrier walks past the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. The service stands to benefit from a congressional overhaul.
Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
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Some rural Americans worry about USPS cuts, closures

by Savannah Peters
Jan 18, 2022
Since 2007, the United States Postal Service has reported net losses of nearly $100 billion.
Cost-saving measures for the United States Postal Service include the closure and consolidation of branches, especially in rural settings that heavily depend on the service.
Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
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Unlike last year, holiday shipping's running pretty smoothly — at least, so far

by Savannah Peters
Dec 13, 2021
Gift-givers seem to be paying attention to messages urging them to ship early.
USPS and private shipping companies appear to be handling holiday shipping better than last year. Above, a FedEx worker makes deliveries in New York City.
Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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Louis DeJoy on why he’s slowing mail and raising prices at the USPS: “We have no money”

by David Brancaccio and Rose Conlon
Nov 17, 2021
The Postmaster General explains his controversial plan for the future of the Postal Service.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testifies during a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in 2020.
Tom Williams/Getty Images
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USPS pilots a public banking program

by Dylan Miettinen
Oct 15, 2021
The pilot program emerges more than 50 years after the USPS ceased public banking. 
A view of a U.S. post office in Bethesda, Maryland in August 2020.
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
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COVID-19

A holiday glut of packages prompts a shipping crisis for small businesses

by Justin Ho
Dec 24, 2020
Retailers are increasing shipping fees while fielding more calls from customers, asking, "Where's my package?"
Mail carriers load up their trucks at a USPS distribution center in El Paso, Texas, earlier this year.
Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
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Elections 2020

What can Congress do about funding for the USPS and vote-by-mail efforts?

by David Brancaccio , Rose Conlon , Erika Soderstrom and Alex Schroeder
Aug 19, 2020
State and local budgets are hurting from the pandemic and could use the help.
U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (right), D-Md., speaks alongside fellow members of Congress outside of the headquarters of the USPS.
Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
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U.S. Postal Service is a big employer of veterans

by Justin Ho
Aug 19, 2020
The USPS says veterans make up roughly one-sixth of its workforce.
The federal pension the USPS offers is one part of what makes the job attractive to veterans.
Paul Ratje/AFP via Getty Images
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