In brief: The United States Postal Service (USPS) reported its fiscal 2025 financial results this month, with slightly higher revenue offset by continuing volume declines. The freight market is stable as the holiday season kicks off. Elimination of North American paper mill capacity has led to an increase in mill operating rates at the end of the year.
Built on our roots as a printer, mail industry partner and logistics leader, Quad is a marketing experience (MX) company focused on delivering streamlined solutions at scale to our clients. As the largest USPS customer, we are uniquely positioned to provide clients with best practices and insights on the latest postal, paper and logistics topics. If you have any questions or concerns during these challenging times for our industry, contact your Quad representative. We’ll tap our in-house experts to investigate and get you the answers you need.
USPS full-year revenue edges up but volume continues to fall
The USPS reported a net loss of $9 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 — lower than the $9.5 billion net loss it posted for the same period last year (SPLY).
The USPS’s total operating revenue was $80.5 billion for the fiscal year, up $916 million or 1.2% compared to the SPLY. The agency attributed the increase to continued growth of the USPS Ground Advantage shipping service as well as to “strategic price increases” in both mail and shipping categories. Total volume was 108.7 billion pieces, down 3.3% from fiscal year 2024.
In its earnings news release, the USPS said that in addition to higher revenue, a reduction in transportation and workers’ compensation costs contributed to the lower net loss for FY 2025. However, Postmaster General David Steiner cautioned that the USPS still faced “significant systemic annual revenue and cost imbalance.”
The earnings news release stated, “The USPS will be seeking further administrative and legislative reforms to remedy outdated and unwarranted financial and regulatory burdens,” referring primarily to retiree pension benefits and a limit on the agency’s borrowing authority.
“To correct our financial imbalances, we must explore new revenue opportunities and public policy changes to improve our business model,” Steiner said.
The USPS will also be pursuing additional operational efficiencies and new product strategies to generate growth, according to the news release.
Quad will continue to work with the USPS to express concerns over already high postage costs and advocate for improved service without unsustainable rate increases.
Miscellaneous updates
USPS delivery performance
Below are the average in-home curves for our Marketing Mail clients who tracked their mail with Quad’s IMsight application over the four weeks specified. Traditionally, the USPS slows significantly from mid-October through the first week of December. This year, we are not seeing marked shifts in the average in-home curves.
| Week of 10/20 | Week of 10/27 | Week of 11/3 | Week of 11/10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Early | 23% | 24% | 25% | 15% |
| Day 1 | 51% | 52% | 49% | 42% |
| Day 2 | 73% | 75% | 73% | 57% |
| Day 3 | 86% | 89% | 89% | 82% |
| Day 4 | 93% | 96% | 95% | 95% |
| 1 Day Late | 94% | 97% | 97% | 98% |
Currently, we are unable to provide information on the processing of Flat mail.
The USPS struggled with Letter Mail in the following Sectional Center Facilities (SCFs): Dallas; Grand Forks, N.D.; Casper, Wyo.; and Duncansville, Pa. — all averaging 54% to 69% in-home on time when it should have been over 90%.
We are seeing some improvement in the processing of DMU/Local mail in Wisconsin. This is happening just as the USPS plans to make some changes in December to handle the anticipated high parcel volume, as mentioned above. The Postal Service will be moving loads that are mostly Mixed pallets to Fox Valley, Ill., for processing, keeping only the loads with most of the mail for Wisconsin areas. It’s hoped that this will reduce the volume of mail going through the Milwaukee/Oak Creek facility and improve overall performance for both mail and parcels. We will have to see whether these changes impact the mail, as Chicago tends to wait a few days after receiving the mail before they start to process it.
USPS volume
| Mail volume for the week ended November 8, compared to last year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 2.6% |
▼ |
| Packages | Down 8.1% |
▼ |
| Single Piece | Down 11.9% |
▼ |
| Presort First Class | Down 4.3% |
▼ |
| Marketing Mail | Up 5.6% |
▲ |
| Periodicals | Down 20.9% |
▼ |
| Mail volume for the week ended November 1, compared to last year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 22.7% |
▼ |
| Packages | Down 8.0% |
▼ |
| Single Piece | Down 24.1% |
▼ |
| Presort First Class | Up 6.0% |
▲ |
| Marketing Mail | Down 9.1% |
▼ |
| Periodicals | Up 3.4% |
▲ |
| Mail volume for the week ended October 25, compared to last year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 20.4% |
▼ |
| Packages | Down 11.1% |
▼ |
| Single Piece | Down 25.8% |
▼ |
| Presort First Class | Down 6.1% |
▼ |
| Marketing Mail | Down 27.5% |
▼ |
| Periodicals | Down 18.2% |
▼ |
| Mail volume for the week ended October 18, compared to last year |
||
|---|---|---|
| Total Mail Volume | Down 17.1% |
▼ |
| Packages | Down 12.7% |
▼ |
| Single Piece | Down 24.0% |
▼ |
| Presort First Class | Down 9.6% |
▼ |
| Marketing Mail | Down 28.3% |
▼ |
| Periodicals | Down 31.9% |
▼ |
Paper market
The paper market is seeing higher mill operating rates, driven by supply elimination, seasonal demand and the impact of U.S. tariffs on imports.
Logistics
The freight market is relatively stable as we enter the holiday peak shipping season.
As always, your Quad representative will work diligently to find you the lowest rates with the most efficient transportation available.
