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The U.S. Postal Service requires dramatic changes to fulfill its mandate to serve all American households, according to Postmaster General David Steiner.<\/p>\n
Testifying on March 17 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Government Operations, Steiner painted a dire picture<\/a> of USPS\u2019s collapsing finances.<\/p>\n This crisis, Steiner said, was due to a drop in mail volume from a peak of 213 billion pieces annually to 109 billion, resulting in an estimated $81 billion income decline at current rates.<\/p>\n \u201cNo company could weather that much revenue loss,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re going to hear me say this repeatedly and over and over again. If I\u2019m in the private sector, I\u2019ve got options. If I have 71% of my routes that are losing money, guess what I can do? Cut routes. If I have 80% of my stores that are losing money, you know what I can do? I can cut routes, I can raise prices, I can do all the things\u2026. We don\u2019t have options. We have mandates,\u201d Steiner said.<\/p>\n The warning is not new. The USPS has reported<\/a> losses for years, and reform efforts have come in waves.<\/p>\n