USPS has announced it has filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of a temporary price change scheduled to take effect Sunday, October 18, 2020.
The planned temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected holiday e-commerce. As a result of these changing market conditions, USPS is planning a time limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from Sunday, October 18 until Sunday, December 27, 2020. Retail prices and international products will be unaffected.
The planned prices, approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on Thursday, August 6, would raise prices on its commercial domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.
This time limited adjustment will increase prices for commercial customers in line with competitive practices without impacting customers at the retail level. In doing this, USPS aims to protect the retail consumer during a vulnerable economic period while increasing prices on commercial volume during heightened volume levels.
No structural changes are planned as part of this limited time pricing initiative. The Governors believe these temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with much needed revenue. The forecasted additional revenue from the time limited increase will depend on the volume of packages shipped between October 18 and December 27, 2020, at commercial rates. The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect.
Source: USPS
