The USPS Crisis: Why the Printing Industry Can't Afford to Stay Silent

We don't often think of the post office and the military in the same breath, but maybe we should. Both are institutions that bind this country together – one through defense, the other through connection. For those of us in the printing industry, the United States Postal Service isn't just a convenience or a vendor option. It's foundational infrastructure. And right now, that foundation is under serious strain.

Here's the thing though: when we talk about USPS's $9.5 billion "loss" in 2024, we're using the wrong language entirely. Nobody asks how we're going to make the Army turn a profit. Nobody wrings their hands over whether the National Park Service breaks even. The last "S" in USPS stands for Service; as in public service, like the Armed Services. To put that $9.5 billion in perspective, it's a fraction of what we spend on a single branch of the military, and it funds an operation that touches every address in America, six days a week. This isn't a failing business. It's infrastructure that costs money to maintain, and that's okay.

The real threat isn't red ink, it's the increasing talk from Washington about restructuring the agency. There's been discussion about folding USPS into the Commerce Department or exploring partial privatization. President Trump has floated these ideas publicly, and the new Postmaster General, David Steiner, comes to the role from FedEx's board of directors. The agency is midway through its 10-year "Delivering for America" plan, a monumental $40 billion modernization effort, but the external pressures around its very purpose are what should concern us.

USPS operates under something called the Universal Service Obligation, which legally requires it to deliver to every address in America at uniform rates. That means a letter to rural Montana costs the same to mail as one to Manhattan. No private carrier is bound by that mandate, and frankly, no private carrier would want to be. Rural delivery is expensive and often unprofitable. If USPS is weakened or privatized, those communities and the businesses that serve them could be left behind. For printers sending direct mail campaigns, product samples, catalogs, or subscription materials to every corner of the country, that universal reach is irreplaceable.

So much of our industry's energy goes into the fine details of printing, but all that precision means nothing if the final piece can't reliably reach its destination. Small publishers, regional printers, and direct mail operations depend on USPS not just for affordability but for access. Lose that, and you're not just losing a shipping option, you're losing entire markets. The economics shift overnight, and not in a good way.

There's something deeper at stake too. We believe, as we're sure you do, that print connects people in ways that digital can't replicate. A physical mailer, a magazine, a postcard. These things occupy space in someone's hands and home. They're tangible, personal, and memorable. USPS has been the circulatory system for that kind of communication for more than two centuries. Weakening it doesn't just hurt our bottom lines; it frays something cultural.

So where does that leave us? The political optics around USPS are tricky, no question. But the printing industry has a stake in this outcome that goes beyond partisan talking points or balance-sheet thinking. We need a postal service that works. One that's properly funded, operationally sound, and committed to serving the whole country. This is a place for America to spend money. There's plenty to go around. The question isn't whether USPS can turn a profit; it's whether we're willing to invest in the infrastructure that connects us all.

The conversation about USPS's future is happening right now, with or without our input. Maybe it's time the printing industry made sure our voice is part of it.