WASHINGTON, May 8 (Reuters) - The U.S. Postal Service on

Friday reported a net quarterly loss of $2 billion as it faces a

growing financial crisis and has warned it could run out of cash

as soon as February.

USPS said mail volumes fell another 6.3% in the three months

ending March 31 as operating revenue rose 2.3% to $20.2 billion

over the same quarter last year.

USPS last month said it would temporarily suspend employer

payments for a ​federal pension program to conserve cash and

plans to raise the price of first-class mail stamps to ‌82 cents

from 78 cents, effective July 12.

USPS has reported total net losses of $120 billion since

2007 ​as first-class mail, its most profitable product, has

fallen to its ​lowest volume since the late 1960s.

"We are in a cash crisis, and we are now taking serious and

appropriate steps to conserve funds to operate," Postmaster

General David Steiner said. "To avoid disruption and to sustain

our role supporting American commerce and the public, we require

urgent Congressional action to expand our borrowing authority

and to address outdated constraints on the organization."

USPS's suspension of employee pension contributions will

conserve $200 million in cash every two weeks, or $2.5 billion

through September 30, it said.

Last month, USPS won approval from ⁠the Postal Regulatory

Commission for a temporary 8% price hike ​for priority mail and

package deliveries to deal with ​rising transportation and fuel

costs. USPS plans for the surcharge to be in effect through

January 17, 2027.

Reuters also reported that USPS struck a deal with ​Amazon.com

in which the retailer will ⁠use the Postal Service for

at least 1 billion packages a year, or 80% of its ​volume last

year. Steiner said on Friday that developments with major

customers including Amazon ( AMZN ) and DHL were encouraging.

In March, Steiner ​said the ⁠Postal Service was hiring

restructuring advisers to help address its mounting financial

troubles.