As part of the United States Postal Service (USPS) Chief Louis DeJoy’s 10-year cost-cutting plan, the USPS is implementing new standards of service starting on October 1.
This means that mail delivery to many parts of the country will be slower than it was before October 1. Customers will also see price increases for the holidays and post office hours will be cut.
All first-class mail will now take two to five days to be delivered as opposed to three days
That’s because the Postal Service is changing the way it transports your mail. The Postal Service used to put about 20 percent of your mail on airplanes to move it across the country.
This is the mail that was going from coast to coast, and to make the three-day service standard, the agency had to move it faster than was possible on a truck.
Up until Oct. 1, the Postal Service said it should take no more than three days for a piece of first-class mail to be delivered anywhere in the country. After Oct. 1, it will take between two and five days.
Price hikes will go into effect for the holiday season
USPS will raise its prices from October 3 – December 26 for a holiday season surcharge. For first-class packages, the price hike will be 30 cents more.
To return goods back to retailers, the price hike will be $1. The highest price hike will be $5 for priority mail, priority express mail, parcel select and retail ground services for items weighing between 21 and 70 pounds.
Where you live will affect the quality of your mail delivery
Seventy percent of first-class mail sent to Nevada will take longer to arrive, according to The Post’s analysis, as will 60 percent of the deliveries to Florida, 58 percent to Washington state, 57 percent to Montana, and 55 percent to Arizona and Oregon.
In all, at least a third of such letters and parcels addressed to 27 states will arrive more slowly under the new standards.
