The United States Postal Service on Wednesday proposed a series of price increases to ensure a “successful peak season” later this fall.
Starting this October, commercial priority mail and priority mail express flat rate boxes and envelopes will be subject to a $0.75 increase, while retail priority mail and priority mail express flat rate boxes and envelopes will see a $0.95 raise in prices.
For distance shipping, USPS bases pricing on distance zones: zone 1 is anything shipped within a 50 mile radius from origin to destination, zone 2 is for packages shipped between 51-150 miles, zone 3 for 151-300 mile radius, zone 4 for 301-600 mile radius, and so on until zone 8, which covers domestic shipping of 1,801 miles and up. Zone 9 contains the “freely associated states,” which includes cities in Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
Priority mail and express packages between 0-10 pounds being shipped commercially will see a $0.25 increase for zones 1-4 and an $0.80 increase for zones 5-9; packages between 11-25 pounds will see a $.075 increase for zones 1-4, and a $2.80 increase for zones 5-9; finally, packages between 26-70 pounds will be subject to a $3.00 increase for zones 1-4 and a $6.50 increase for zones 5-9.
Other shipping methods like USPS’ First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select Ground, and Retail Ground services will be subject to similar weight-and-zone-based price hikes. Click here to see the full list of proposed changes.
“This seasonal adjustment will bring prices for the Postal Service’s commercial and retail customers in line with competitive practices,” the USPS release read in part. “These temporary rates will keep USPS competitive while providing the agency with the revenue to cover extra costs in anticipation of peak-season volume.”
The changes, which are set to launch Oct. 2 and last through Jan. 22, 2023, will be reviewed by the Postal Regulatory Commission before going into effect. They were approved by the Governors of the Postal Service earlier this week.
The postal service has, in previous years, implemented similar temporary price hikes to accommodate a surge in shipping.
On top of the proposed holiday price increase, postmaster general Louis DeJoy said Tuesday inflation is going to add over $1 billion to the U.S. Postal Service budget, necessitating a request for another rate increase in January – but said the service is well prepared for the November election.
The Postal Service has already delivered about 40 million ballots to and from voters along with a total of 550 million COVID-19 test kits, DeJoy said.
“Americans should be confident that the United States Postal Service is well prepared and will provide extraordinary services in these coming November elections,” he told the Board of Governors.
As for postal rates, DeJoy previously warned that they’re going to be necessary, especially in the face of inflation.
Rates last went up in July with the cost of a first-class Forever stamp increasing by 2 cents to 60 cents.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
