The US Postal Service may not be able to make a $5.5 billion dollar payment covering retiree health care.
The payment, due to the federal government on August 1, is adding to an already difficult summer for the US Postal Service, and it doesn't look like things will improve any time soon.
The Postal Service says it's losing billions of dollars each quarter, mainly due to the recession. Declining mail volume and a Congressional mandate to prefund retirement health care benefits are adding to the financial trouble.
Over the next two months, the service plans to consolidate 46 plants. Nineteen are in Midwestern states and another five are in California. Officials say the wave of retirements and plant consolidations won't slow down first-class mail service.