Also note that where USPS has a monopoly it's often where it is required by law to sell below costs. For example, delivering mail to Alaska and Hawaii is quite expensive, but US law requires uniform postage costs.
The USPS is hampered by law in other ways. The UPU decision is one example; they also have fairly strict pension laws and they cannot raise prices without agreement from overseers (a price increase to 55¢ was just struck down in court). It's not totally clear that it's possible for USPS to run in the black while also being the mailer of last resort that it is today. (That said, perhaps mail is a government service worth subsidizing, though we can debate how much, and running in the black would be preferable.)
(BTW I agree with the other responders - this was an excellent summary for those of us not in the US)
The issue for the postal service is that the law was changed so that the USPS would start funding their retirement health care costs since they are promised to the workers and the projected costs had exploded. This was supported by a bipartisan commission, the GAO, and the Postal Service itself:
>...Although retiree health benefits are often unfunded or poorly funded, two considerations suggested the Service’s retiree health care obligations should be funded: they are as firm a commitment as the Service’s pensions, and they had become enormous (about $75 billion by 2006). In 2003, the presidential commission suggested establishing a reserve fund for these obligations, and the Postal Service itself sent Congress a proposal for creating such a fund.
>Prior to 2006, the Service simply paid retirees’ health benefit premiums when they came due. The Service put aside no money when it promised the future benefits. Paying benefits when they come due rather than funding them in advance is known as the pay-as-you-go or unfunded approach.
>Early this century, Congress, the Administration, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), and a bipartisan presidential commission expressed concern about the lack of funding. Although retiree health benefits are often unfunded or poorly funded, two considerations suggested the Service’s retiree health care obligations should be funded: they are as firm a commitment as the Service’s pensions, and they had become enormous (about $75 billion by 2006). In 2003, the presidential commission suggested establishing a reserve fund for these obligations, and the Postal Service itself sent Congress a proposal for creating such a fund.
>In 2002-2003, it was discovered that the Service was contributing far more than necessary to fully fund its pensions, and Congress allowed the Service to contribute less. Congress decided the pension “savings” could help patch the retiree health benefit underfunding. In 2006, as part of the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act (PAEA), the Postal Service Retirement Health Benefits Fund (RHBF) was established. Most of the Service’s contributions to the new fund could be paid using the pension “savings.” PAEA was bipartisan legislation with broad support.
https://taxfoundation.org/primer-postal-service-retiree-heal...
It's also possible to run local fire departments, etc in the black as well. Whether that is preferable or not is a subject of debate :D
Fedex and UPS, in unison: am I a joke to you?
The short answer is yes, they are.
The USPS can't increase their domestic prices but there is good indication that they are charging more to offset this. There are complaints in this thread even about the cost of shipping abroad, as international shipping is not regulated like domestic postage rates if I remember right. So the USPS uses outbound international shipments as a cost center to make up for the subsidy to China.
The article states there is a ~$500M subsidy to China through UPU rates.