WASHINGTON — The U.S. Postal Service gave a solid performance in delivering mail-in ballots for the midterm elections and is ready to dive into the crush of holiday deliveries, officials said Thursday.
U.S. Postmaster Service General Louis DeJoy said 11.3 billion pieces of mail and 567 million packages were delivered last month. And he said the Postal Service has stabilized its workforce and is ready for the next challenge of delivering holiday cards and parcels.
“We will not disappoint,” he told the Postal Service Board of Governors.
The Postal Service announced an annual operating loss of $473 million — a third of the previous fiscal year’s loss — thanks to a one-time adjustment under the Postal Service Reform Act.
The law that guaranteed six-day-a-week delivery also repealed a requirement that the Postal Service fully fund pensions — an onerous requirement that other businesses didn’t have to follow.
DeJoy said the Postal Service still faces challenges.
He said the new budget includes nearly $3 billion in retirement costs and $1.5 billion in inflation costs that are above what was planned, while mail volume is declining at a rate of about 3% per year.
