Tag: USPS

The U.S. Postal Service falsely advertises its Priority Mail service as faster than less expensive first-class mail for some deliveries, a lawsuit says. Consumers Daniel Foote and John Foote, who sued in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, claim the Postal Service doesn’t provide any kind of “meaningful expedited delivery” of Priority Mail weighing less than 13 ounces for distances less than 300 miles away. The suit seeks a court order barring the Postal Service from advertising priority treatment as long as the results are similar to first-class mail.

Revenue, pieces, and weight by classes of mail and special services for government fiscal year 2003 compared with government fiscal year 2002

The Postal Service reported a $3.9 billion surplus for 2003 despite declining mail volume, and officials renewed their pledge to keep rates steady until 2006.

The agency had suffered losses the previous two years as mail volume dwindled in the wake of the terror attacks, the anthrax scare and the weak economy. That led to a rate increase last year to the current 37 cents for first-class mail.

The post office was $676 million in the red last year and lost $1.7 billion the year before.