Fuel prices are going to make sending your packages more expensive
USPS
- The US Postal Service says it's hiking prices 8% on some mail categories from April 26.
- The price changes will stay in place until January 17, 2027.
- The changes come after the postmaster general warned Congress that USPS is running out of cash.
Sending packages through the mail is about to get pricier.
The US Postal Service said on Wednesday that it's planning to hike prices by 8% across several categories: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select.
The postal service says this price hike is a "time-limited adjustment" that will help it cover its basic costs. The price change runs from April 26 to January 17, 2027.
At that time, the USPS "can determine if a different long-term approach is needed."
"Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges," the postal service said in its Wednesday statement.
"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 agency said in the statement.
David Steiner, the postmaster general, told lawmakers earlier this month that the agency is running out of money.
"In about a year from now, the Postal Service would be unable to deliver the mail if we continue the status quo," Steiner told lawmakers in a House Oversight hearing.
Oil prices have shot up since the start of the war with Iran on February 28. The conflict has brought oil shipping through the critical Strait of Hormuz to an almost total standstill, which has had a ripple effect on industries from shipping to aviation.