How much does stamping cost? USPS prices will increase in July (and beyond).
The United States Postal Service is expected to increase in price in July, bringing the cost of a Forever stamp from 58 cents to 60 cents. And that may not be the only bull run in the near term.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said May 5 he expected the Postal Service to continue raising prices “at an uncomfortably fast rate” until the agency was self-sufficient.
USPS proposed a rate increase a month ago, on April 6, the same day President Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022The law is meant to support the agency, which has to face financial challenge as well as stiff competition from shippers such as FedEx and UPS.
In addition to guaranteeing mail delivery six days a week, the new law is expected to save the agency an estimated $50 billion over the next decade, DeJoy said. That mainly comes from ending the requirement that USPS pay into health benefits for current and retired employees for the next 75 years. Retired postal workers must now enroll in Medicare.
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But the new law alone will not bring insolvency for the agency, which has posted a net loss for 14 years in a row. USPS still expects $110 billion loss over next 10 years, DeJoy says while speaking before the Postal Service board of governors meeting.
DeJoy said that further price hikes are needed, “until we’ve accomplished our goal of projecting a trajectory that shows we’re becoming self-sustaining – as required by law.”
USPS mail rates expected to rise
The US Postal Service has proposed the following price hikes effective July 10.
Products Current price Expected price
- Letters (1 oz.) 58 cents 60 cents
- Letters (1 oz.) 53 cents 57 cents
- Additional letters ounce(s) 20 cents 24 cents
- Domestic postcards 40 cents 44 cents
- International Mail (1 oz.) $1.30 $1.40
The Postal Regulatory Commission is reviewing this price increase and is expected to approve it, said Stephen Kearney, chief executive officer of the Alliance of Nonprofit Mailers. said.
The People’s Republic of China did not return a request for comment.
The last price hike for Forever stamps was in August 2021, when the USPS raised the price by three cents to 58 cents.
What other USPS prices have increased?
This early year, USPS has increased rates on Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express rose 2.7% (prices start at $7.37, up from $7.16) and 4.3% (starts at $23.50, previously $22.75) la).
Will there be more USPS price increases?
Postmaster General DeJoy has said they are needed.
The Postal Service will likely seek another 3% to 5% price increase in January, but Kearney’s organization opposes current and future rates.
Alliance of Nonprofit Managers, together with Postal Trade Association, petitioned the Postal Regulatory Commission last month to review the timing of the USPS rate hike. “They don’t need these outrageous rate hikes right now,” Kearney said.
Does USPS need to raise this price?
Members of Congress vary. Before approving the rate increase, the Postal Regulatory Commission should consider how passage of postal reform legislation has changed the financial position of USPS, said Representative Carolyn Maloney, DN.Y., who chair of the House Oversight Committee, said.
One member of that committee, Representative Gerry Connolly, D-Va., agreed. “Postmaster General DeJoy’s plan to raise prices while service deteriorates is a recipe for disaster,” he said in a statement to USA TODAY. We cannot undo that progress by making prices uncompetitive.”
Connolly mentions concern about change in first class mailing standards effective October 1, 2021. USPS currently has a four or five-day standard for mail traveling 931 miles or more. Previously, the agency had a standard of delivering first-class mail in three days.
But most first class mail (61%) and periodicals (93%) will not be affected by these changes, while piecemeal first class mail in a local area will still arrive in two days, USPS said. In general, 70% of first class mail volume will arrive within 1-3 days.
USPS spokesman David Coleman said: “The Postal Service will increase the standard transit time by 1 or 2 days for certain mail that is moved longer distances. “By doing so, the Post Office can mandate its ground network to deliver more (first-class mail), which will lead to greater consistency, reliability and efficiency, providing benefits for its customers.”
The concern is that “when mail service slows, people use mail less,” says Porter McConnell, co-founder Save the Postal Service.
Reduced volume – and competitive pricing – counts towards agency 10 year strategic plan, announced in March 2021 by DeJoy. The USPS rate hike also takes inflation into account, said Representative James Comer, R-Ky., a Republican ranking member of the committee.
“The Postal Service has to act like a business to be financially sustainable,” he told USA TODAY. A key component of the recently passed postal reform bill is to allow the Postal Service – not Congress – to make business decisions.”
Rather than raise rates, the Postal Service should take advantage of the reform’s ability to work with state and local agencies to provide services such as hunting and fishing permits, providing broadband service — or even a Wi-Fi signal in a parking lot — electric vehicle charging and grocery delivery, McConnell said. “Other government agencies often partner with the private sector to expand their presence, but none has more reach than the USPS,” she said.
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Biden’s Better Rebuilding Bill:Plan to accelerate shift to mail trucks at USPS is struggling
New USPS trucks are still being mentioned
Postage rates and delivery times are not the only issues the Postal Service faces. The agency received some backlash for its plan replace its fleet of delivery trucks. The Environmental Protection Agency and Democratic lawmakers argued that the plan involved buying too many gas-powered cars and too few electric cars.
The Post Office said it would make 20% of its new cars battery-powered in an initial $2.98 billion order for 50,000 vehicles. It plans to buy up to 165,000 new trucks.
But earlier this week, Oversight president Maloney sent a letter to DeJoy seeking documentation on the environmental analysis that USPS used in its decision. “I am concerned that the Post Office has relied on flawed assumptions to justify buying gas-powered trucks while underestimating the cost savings and environmental benefits from electric vehicles,” Maloney wrote.
This follows Government Audit Office testimony during a House hearing in April that a Postal Service analysis used to justify its purchase plan was faulty, by exaggerating electric vehicle maintenance costs and gas prices lower. Meanwhile, 16 states including California and New York sued to ask the Post Office to complete a more environmental review before making a purchase.
Regardless of these issues, DeJoy has done a great job setting up the Postal Service for long-term success, says Gaston Curk, of OSM Worldwide. The shipping company, headquartered near Chicago, partners with USPS for last-mile deliveries.
The post office’s viability is very good, he said. “It’s only going to take a couple of years for it to really get back into the shape we need.”
But there could be some short-term difficulties for USPS customers. “Inflation and oil prices really have a huge effect (on the Postal Service),” said Curk. “Until that stabilizes, I think we’ll see some pretty unfortunate, but sane, increase in postage costs.”
Contribution: Associated Press
Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @mikesnider.