For better or worse, there has been no shortage of changes to how your mail gets handled and delivered in recent years. Whether it’s budget cuts shutting down local processing facilities or new security concerns about protecting your sensitive information, sending a letter or a parcel can feel a lot different than it did just a decade ago. And now, two new changes are coming to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that could affect your mail in big ways.
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USPS will no longer be helping out on some UPS deliveries.
If you’re a regular online shopper or send out a lot of packages, there’s a decent chance you’re familiar with the UPS SurePost service. The discount shipping option is ideal for anyone looking to save money in exchange for a lower rate. Until recently, the USPS had an agreement with the private logistics company to help with the last-mile delivery of many of the parcels to help reduce strain on the company’s resources, Supply Chain Dive reports.
However, the contract that allowed this practice lapsed at the beginning of the new year. Now, the responsibility for getting the “millions of packages” to their destinations falls entirely on UPS again.
Notably, the UPS website now says that the estimated delivery time has dropped slightly from two to seven days to two to six days, per Supply Chain Dive. However, the coverage area no longer includes destinations outside the contiguous 48 states.
This could affect what you pay.
One of the most immediate effects could be felt by customers who use P.O. boxes, as USPS is the only outfit allowed to deliver to those units. However, the change could also end up costing consumers more.
“I think that’s probably where it’s headed, where you’re going to wind up paying more than you were for SurePost but not as much as [UPS] Ground, and it’s essentially not going to get the priority that Ground gets when it goes to delivery,” Tony Runyan, chief client officer at Red Stag Fulfillment, told Supply Chain Drive in an interview.
He added that the service could end up changing into a product that more closely resembles FedEx Ground Economy.
Some customers in rural areas are also apprehensive about the changes.
“Well, I just am concerned. You know, we’ve got economic issues in our country, and there’s a lot of people who… have a lot of small businesses, and I worry that it’s going to affect, on a sort of a global scale, both buyers and sellers,” Pam Loeb, a resident of Shelburne, Vermont, told local NBC affiliate WPTZ. “I haven’t been able to order anything. And unfortunately, while I would prefer to do business locally, we do live in Vermont and… everything is not locally available, that there’s a reason that I order some things online.”
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There’s also a new, speedier way to send packages.
While the USPS may no longer be helping out with some discounted packages, it is adding a new way to get your items to their destination faster. On Jan. 6, the agency announced the launch of Next Day Priority, an expedited option that guarantees overnight delivery for businesses to anywhere within 150 miles of a processing facility. Ultimately, this covers 87 percent of the U.S. population, per a press release.
The agency also hinted at further changes to its recently launched Ground Advantage offering, saying it will be improving “service and affordability” as the program expands.
“In 2025, we’ll continue optimizing this offering, integrating smarter strategies to make shipping seamless, cost-effective, and faster than ever,” the USPS said in its press release. “We will be introducing two new offerings, leveraging our expansive network.”
The takeaway.
A few changes will be coming to the USPS this year. The first is the effective end of the agency’s collaboration with UPS in delivering the company’s SurePost discount-rate packages. Experts say customers could see prices go up in the long run as a result. Fortunately, the USPS also announced new services that provide more expedited shipping options for the vast majority of the U.S., as well as other forthcoming changes to its Ground Advantage service that will improve “service and affordability.”