---
title: USPS Kept Paying Its Bills by Deferring $1.4 Billion in Pension Payments
description: The Postal Service's third-quarter loss narrowed on higher revenue and lower workers' compensation costs, while it deferred $1.4 billion in pension payments.
author: Darie Nani (Editor-in-Chief)
date: 2026-08-10T07:30:00.000Z
updated: 2026-08-10T07:43:20.935Z
canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/usps-deferred-pension-payments-q3-2026
image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-united-states-postal-service-van-parked-on-a-sunny-street-in-4744769.jpg
categories: Finance
content_type: Analysis
region: United States
publication: Sovereign Magazine
access: members
schema_type: Article
---

The Postal Service has not made its employer contributions to the federal pension fund since April. It deferred about $1.4 billion of them in the quarter that ended June 30, 2026, the same quarter in which it reported a smaller loss and pointed to that as evidence of progress. The deferral is a cash measure and does not appear in the reported loss at all.

## Revenue Growth and Lower Injury Costs Narrowed the Loss

Total operating revenue for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 reached $19.94 billion, up $1.1 billion, or 6.1%, from the same quarter last year. The net loss came to $2.5 billion against $3.1 billion a year earlier, an improvement of $562 million. Controllable loss, the Postal Service's own measure, which strips out costs set by law rather than by management, fell to $1.0 billion from $1.6 billion.

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