CBS News
USPS leaders forecast it would break even this year. It just lost $6.5 billion.
The U.S. Postal Service is in the midst of a 10-year plan aimed at erasing losses and eventually turning a profit. But in its last fiscal year the agency reported a loss of $6.5 billion, a major step backward after USPS leaders has predicted it would break even.
The 10-year plan is the brainchild of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who has argued that the overhaul was essential to stop the financial bleeding and put the USPS on the road to profitability. Under his plan, which he introduced in 2021, the agency had been projected to reach a break-even point in fiscal year 2023 and begin turning a profit in 2024.
The agency’s turnaround plan centers on slower delivery standards and postage hikes, changes geared to cutting costs and raising revenue but that proved unpopular with some businesses and consumers. Yet the most recent fiscal year revealed significant headwinds for the agency’s plans, including inflation and a decrease in mail volume, the USPS said on Tuesday.
Revenue slipped $321 million, or 0.4%, to $78.2 billion for the fiscal year ended September 30 compared with the year-ago period, the agency said. The USPS last year reported net income of $56 billion, primarily because of a one-time, non-cash adjustment stemming from the Postal Service Reform Act in 2022, which ended a mandate to pre-fund retirees’ health benefits.
Mail volume across the U.S. declined almost 9%, with the number of mailed items falling to about 116 billion, compared with 127 billion the previous year.
In comments delivered to the Postal Service Board of Governors on Tuesday, DeJoy he is “not happy” with the USPS’ latest financial results and pointed to issues that weren’t accounted for in the plan’s forecast.
“Our efforts to grow revenue and reduce labor and transportation costs were simply not enough to overcome our costs to stabilize our organization, the historical inflationary environment we encountered and our inability to obtain the [Civil Service Retirement System] reform we sought,” he said.
Some critics are pointing to DeJoy’s string of postage rate hikes as the reason for the decline in volume, with a group called Keep US Posted claiming the “unprecedented postage increases” are aggravating the USPS’ financial situation.
“Twice-annual, above-inflation postage hikes are worsening the USPS’ financial woes and trapping it in quicksand, as even more mail is driven out of the system,” Keep US Posted Executive Director Kevin Yoder, a former Congressman from Kansas, said in a statement.
Keep US Posted, which represents businesses that rely on the USPS, such as greeting-card companies, magazines and catalog businesses, said the losses shows that Congress should “provide more oversight.”
“DeJoy shouldn’t receive any more blank checks from Congress to only raise postage rates, cut service and drive more debt,” Yoder added.
The USPS is planning to hike postage rates in January, which would mark the fifth rate hike since 2021 and come on the heels of a July postage increase.
CBS News
Hurricane Milton’s impact on South Florida: Squally conditions, tornadoes, flight cancellations
MIAMI – Windy conditions continued in South Florida Wednesday evening as Hurricane Milton, a powerful Category 3 storm, made landfall on Florida’s west coast.
Milton was packing maximum sustained winds of 120 mph as it made landfall in Siesta Key near Sarasota. The storm is expected to bring life-threatening storm surge, destructive winds, flooding, and tornadoes as it moves across the state to the east coast.
South Florida experienced strong winds of 30 to 40 mph Wednesday, which are expected to continue through Thursday.
Milton’s impact on South Florida
Hurricane Milton spun at least two tornadoes in South Florida.
Earlier in the day, a tornado touched down along Alligator Alley in western Broward County near Collier County, though no damage was reported.
Another tornado touched down in the Wellington area of Palm Beach County, causing damage to some homes and bringing down trees.
All of South Florida had been under a tornado watch until 9 p.m. Wednesday. Several tornado warnings had also been issued for Broward County.
In recent days, South Florida has experienced a “one-two punch” of storms. A non-tropical low-pressure system brought heavy rain and flooding on Sunday and Monday, followed by Hurricane Milton’s approach on Wednesday, which was forecast to bring more rain and windy conditions through Thursday as the storm crosses the state.
The region remains under threat of flooding, with an expected rainfall of 4 to 7 inches or more.
Strong winds brought down a power line in Broward County near NE 28th Street in Wilton Manors.
Airports report delays and cancelations
Hurricane Milton continued to affect flights at South Florida airports on Wednesday.
Cancellations and delays were reported at Miami International Airport and at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International.
Nearly 2,000 flights within, into or out of the United States were canceled by Wednesday night, according to the tracking service FlightAware. That includes over 380 flights canceled at Tampa International Airport.
When will conditions improve?
CBS News Miami
“By late Thursday, things will begin to wind down,” said CBS News Miami chief meteorologist Ivan Cabrera. “Conditions will improve into Friday, and we’re looking forward to a quiet and tranquil pattern setting up for the weekend and into next week.”
On Friday, there will be a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms. It will be cloudy with a 20% chance of rain in the day and 20% at night, according to NWS.
North winds will be around 14 mph with gusts as high as 23 mph during the day, and north winds of 10 to 13 mph with gusts as high as 22 will be seen at night.
CBS News Miami
Highs are expected to be near 86 and lows around 75.
Dangerous storm surge forecast for Florida
Forecasters warned of dangerous storm surge.
“The deepest water will occur along the immediate coast near and to the south of the landfall location, where the surge will be accompanied by large and dangerous waves,” the hurricane center said.
“Rainfall amounts of 6 to 12 inches, with localized totals up to 18 inches, are expected across central to northern portions of the Florida Peninsula through Thursday,” the hurricane center said.
“This rainfall brings the risk of considerable flash, urban and areal flooding, along with the potential for moderate to major river flooding.”
Milton will also produce rainfall totals 2 to 4 inches across the Florida Keys through Thursday.
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