USPS Package Revenue Surges In Second Quarter

The Postal Service reported total revenue of approximately $18.9 billion for the second quarter of fiscal 2021, an increase of approximately $1.1 billion, or 6.0 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

As a result of the pandemic, and to a lesser extent, secular mail declines, the Postal Service’s sales from mail services, its largest sales category, continued to decline during the second quarter. Compared to the same quarter last year, Marketing Mail revenue declined by $511 million, or 13.7 percent, on a volume decline of approximately 2.3 billion pieces, or 13.5 percent. First-Class Mail revenue decreased by $390 million, or 6.1 percent, on a volume decline of approximately 1.1 billion pieces, or 7.9 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

Meanwhile, the Postal Service’s sales from Shipping and Packages increased by approximately $2.0 billion, or 33.6 percent, on a volume increase of 376 million pieces, or 25.3 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, as a result of the surge in e-commerce associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also service performance improved in the quarter, with improvements continuing. USPS also anticipates ongoing network infrastructure investments, such as the installation of new package processing equipment, will meet customer’s evolving needs ahead of the 2021 holiday season.

“The financial results for the quarter and the ongoing trend of declining mail volume and increasing package volume highlights why our Delivering for America 10-year plan needs to be fully implemented,” said Chief Financial Officer Joseph Corbett. “The plan delivers the framework for us to better innovate to grow revenue, work more efficiently and achieve financial sustainability to fulfill our universal service mission. If the plan is implemented in its totality, we expect to achieve break-even operating performance over the ten-year period and positive net income by FY2023 or FY2024, reversing $160 billion in projected losses over the next decade.”

Excluding non-cash workers’ compensation adjustments, total operating expenses were approximately $20.6 billion for the quarter, an increase of $872 million, or 4.4 percent, compared to approximately $19.7 billion for the same quarter last year. Actual total operating expenses, including the non-cash workers’ compensation adjustments, were approximately $19.0 billion for the quarter, a decrease of approximately $3.4 billion, or 15.1 percent, compared to the same quarter last year.

Compensation and benefits expense increased by $517 million, or 4.4 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, primarily resulting from higher work hours associated with the package volume growth, contractual wage increases and an increase in paid leave associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to increased labor costs to support the volume increase, transportation expenses increased by $336 million, or 16.7 percent, compared to the same quarter last year, primarily due to the impact of higher package volumes on air and highway transportation and shifts in average package dimensions as consumer behavior continues to evolve during the COVID-19 pandemic.