How to Plan for a Slower and More Expensive Postal Service This Holiday Season
If you feel like your mail is arriving at a slower rate this month, it’s not your imagination (nor is your postman lazy). The US Postal Service has been delivering first class mail at a slower pace since new service standards were adopted on October 1; at the same time, it raises the prices for shipping parcels in time for the holidays. Below is a breakdown of cost and speed (or lack thereof) to help you plan more realistically how you send and receive your holiday mail.
It will almost certainly take longer for your mail to arrive.
The new postal service scheme is expected to be part of a 10-year plan to reorganize the postal service to prevent money from leaking to the agency. The estimated delivery time will be reduced by about 30% . While all mail is likely to be somewhat slower, states west of the Rocky Mountains and the tip of the mainland 48 will generally have longer delays, sometimes up to one day on average. For example, 70% of first class mail sent to Nevada takes longer to arrive.
In general, mail that you previously expected to receive within three days can now take three, four or five days, depending on how far it needs to be delivered.
The Postal Service previously expected domestic mail less than 280 miles to be delivered in two days, with further delivery in three. The new system divides everything into five levels: if your letter travels 139 miles, it should be delivered in two days. If he travels 930 miles or less, three days. Long distance mail will be delivered on the fourth or fifth day.
This Washington Post tool breaks down the entire process by zip code to give you an idea of how long the post office predicts you will have to wait for your mail.
Sending packages will cost more
In August, the Postal Service raised the price of the standard stamp from 55 cents to 58 cents, and also raised the cost of shipping parcels – but only for the holidays. Between October 3 and December 25, parcels will cost $ 25–5 more to ship, depending on the service you use to send them and how far they travel.
You can get a specific number for the shipping cost of your package using the post office price calculator , but in general, new rate increases are distributed as follows:
- Priority Mail (PM) and Priority Mail Express (PME) boxes and envelopes: 75 cents
- Zones 1-4, £ 0-10: 25 cents
- Zones 5-9, 0-10 lbs: 75 cents
- Zones 1-4, £ 11-20: $ 1.50
- Zones 5-9, 11-20 Pounds: $ 3.00
- Zones 1-4, £ 21-70: $ 2.50
- Zones 5-9, £ 21-70: $ 5.00
- First class package: 30 cents
Slow mail delivery can have a positive effect.
Adding three days to the expected mail waiting time may seem like a huge change, but given the Postal Service’s success in meeting its current goals, this is partly just realism. Under the previous plan, it was nearly impossible to predict when a mail message might deliver long distance: According to a report submitted to Congress by the Postal Service, in 2020, only 58% of emails, expected to take three days, actually hit their mark.
If the new standards for the postal service allow the agency to reach the predicted time, at the very least, consumers and businesses will be able to better plan mail delivery.
“This allows, from our perspective, customers to plan, have predictability,” Robert Cintron, vice president of logistics for the Postal Service, told The Washington Post . “They will know what they will get. For the longest [delivery] distances that we need to reach, we have one or two days, and we must reach them today. It doesn’t matter if we drive 300 or 3000 miles, they are the same standard of service. And this is indeed the part that we can see is unstable. “
This all sounds reasonable , but it remains to be seen if the Postal Service will actually be able to deliver mail on its new, slower schedule.