Postal Service boosted by increased use during pandemic: report

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) saw an increase in e-commerce transactions this year that appears to have alleviated some of its financial problems, according to data the agency gave Congress that was obtained by The Washington Post.

Package deliveries reportedly increased 20 to 50 percent in April compared to the same period last year, and 60 to 80 percent in May. 

The report came at the request of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who asked for a revised financial forecast after the USPS outperformed expectations at the start of the pandemic. 

The new numbers come after the Postal Service told lawmakers it expected to hemorrhage $2 billion a month for 18 months, risking bankruptcy as soon as September. The agency had said it could hold out until March of 2021 with a $10 billion loan from the Treasury Department. 

The agency had $9.2 billion in cash at the start of the pandemic, which is roughly two months of pay for its 630,000 workers, according to the Post. It now has $13.4 billion in cash after tapping a separate $3.4 billion Treasury Department loan.

“Projections continue to show that a liquidity crisis is inevitable,” the USPS wrote in a presentation to lawmakers, according to the Post. “The variable is when in the next 18 months cash will run out.”

President Trump has said the Postal Service should charge more for carriers such as Amazon, which he argues is taking advantage of it.

The $3 trillion House-passed HEROES Act, which has not been taken up by the Senate, includes a $25 billion postal grant and provisions that strip Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s authority to attach conditions to the loan.