The United States Postal Service (USPS) is in such dire financial straits that it is considering plans for slower mail delivery to rural and long-distance areas after the election. According to The Washington Post, if you live within 50 miles of the USPS’s largest processing facilities, you’d get your mail faster, but “the agency cannot afford to maintain the same model for deliveries into far-flung areas. That could add an additional day to current delivery timetables, though mail would still be delivered in five days or less across the country.” Here’s what you need to know about these potential changes, including what the Postmaster General has to say about it and how it could affect service to your neighborhood.
RELATED: USPS Temporarily Suspending Services in These States
Here’s Which Cities Will Get Slower Mail
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So, who will get slower mail? Here’s how it breaks down:
Urban and Larger Areas: The larger, urban areas directly associated with these Processing and Distribution Centers, like the bigger cities (e.g., Akron, Atlanta, Baltimore), will likely not experience slower mail. These areas generally have high mail volumes and are close to processing centers, so they will continue to have evening mail pickups and regular service.
Rural and Smaller Post Offices: The slower mail service will primarily affect rural and smaller post offices that fall under the jurisdiction of these Processing and Distribution Centers. These offices, especially those farther than 50 miles from a processing center or with lower mail volumes, will see delays as mail collected in the evening will not be transported until the next morning.
Yes, Packages Would Sit Longer at the Post Office, Per the Possible New Plan
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You read that right. Were the new plan to be enacted, packages might sit an extra day at the processing facility. This plan has already been piloted or will be tested in states including Virginia, Wisconsin, Georgia, and Oregon. Within these states, the rural areas and small post offices that are far from processing centers will experience delays in mail collection, as these locations fall under either “Hybrid Optimization” or “Full Optimization.”
Meanwhile, Stamp Prices Increased in July
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To help with the budget crunch, stamp prices went up just this past July. The new rates include a 5-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp, raising it from 68 cents to 73 cents. These adjustments, approved by the Postal Service’s Board of Governors, would result in an approximate 7.8 percent increase in mailing service product prices. Specific changes include increases in the prices of metered letters, domestic and international postcards, and international letters. Additionally, the cost of an additional ounce for single-piece letters will rise from 24 cents to 28 cents.
The USPS May Lose More Customers, Advocacy Group Worries
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“The combination of higher prices and slower delivery raises the risk that the USPS will lose more customers, critics say. That would come at a time when the postal service has already seen a sharp drop in first-class mail volume, which has slipped to 28% to 46 billion pieces in 2023 from almost 64 billion pieces in 2014, according to USPS data,” says CBS News. “With record high postage prices and slower service, we are wary of what these changes will mean for rural communities and the rest of the country,” the Coalition for a 21st Century Postal Service, an advocacy group for greeting card, magazine and newspaper publishers, said in an email to CBS MoneyWatch. “Service can only be degraded so much, and prices increased so high, before individuals and businesses lose confidence in the postal system, as the current steep slide in business seems to indicate.”
Why is This Happening? The USPS is “Neglected,” says the Postmaster General
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The possible changes are a result of needing to save $3 billion from the troubled organization, according to the man at the top. “At the end of the day, I think some portion of the mail showing up 12 hours later, I think it’s a price that had to be paid for letting this place be neglected,” Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Washington Post. “You look around every other country, [delivery] is longer, it’s much more expensive. We’re trying to save the Postal Service — not figuratively, not to advocate for something. We’re trying to literally save the Postal Service.” Public hearings will be held so Americans can give feedback.