The era of communicating by snail mail is long gone, and the United States Postal Service (USPS) has suffered in its wake.
Now, the independent government agency has found a new way to make up some of its losses.
Starting on Sunday, April 26, the U.S. post office will implement an 8% transportation surcharge on packages. It will remain through January 17, 2027, when the agency hopes to implement any necessary long-term approaches.
“This temporary price adjustment will provide needed flexibility for the Postal Service by helping to ensure that the actual costs of doing business are covered, as required by Congress,” the USPS statement reads.
Its implementation is subject to the Postal Regulatory Commission’s approval.
Which package services will be impacted by the surcharge?
The surcharge will apply to “retail and commercial domestic competitive products” sent through:
- Priority Mail Express
- Priority Mail
- USPS Ground Advantage
- Parcel Select
The announcement comes less than two weeks after Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress that the USPS is at a “critical juncture.”
Steiner said that, if things remain the same, the USPS would be out of cash and unable to deliver the mail in less than a year.
In 2006, USPS had 213 billion pieces per year, a number now down to 109 billion pieces.
“For perspective, if all of that lost volume was paid at the current price of a stamp, which is 78 cents, that’s about 81 billion dollars. No company could weather that much revenue loss,” said Steiner.
The Postmaster General floated the idea of raising the price of First-Class Stamps to 90 or 95 cents, from 78 cents—a change he said would solve the agency’s “controllable loss.”
However, the surcharge announcement specifically states that First-Class Stamps will not be affected by the 8% increase.
The growing cost of transportation
In its statement, the USPS positioned itself as a much cheaper alternative to its competitors, noting rising prices.
Package delivery companies UPS and FedEx already have their own transportation surcharges.
“Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges,” the Postal Service said. “We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.”
The current war in the Middle East has exacerbated this issue.
Brent crude oil rose about 4% on Thursday to more than $104 a barrel, a 75% increase per barrel in 2026. Similarly, West Texas Intermediate crude oil rose more than 3.5% on Thursday to about $93.59 — up more than 63% this year.