Surge In Business, Profits May Hold Stamp Price Steady

Thanks in part to the United Parcel Service strike, the U.S. Postal Service will make so much money this year that it may delay its planned increase in the price of a stamp to 33 cents.

Postal Service Board Chairman Tirso del Junco said Friday that he would “like to push the (increase) date back” because of the billion-dollar profit that the agency seems certain to report for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30. As of mid-July, the Postal Service had reported a $1.2 billion profit so far for the current year.

Postal officials have said the 15-day UPS strike, which began Aug. 4, brought large volumes of unanticipated mail to the agency and boosted its revenues higher than expected for a normally slow period in which it usually reports a loss.

Spokesmen for two organizations of bulk mailers had indicated earlier this week that they would press for delaying the proposed increase because the agency’s profits will surpass $1 billion for a record three years in a row. The request to delay the increase would likely find some sympathy among the nine governors on the postal board. Some were publicly curious about the necessity for the increase before they approved it July 1.