The US Postal Service is implementing new service standards for First-Class Mail. That means the prospect of longer delivery times for letters, small packages, bills and tax documents.
Last month, the agency announced it would increase its normal delivery times by a day or two, especially for mail traveling longer distances. The Postal Service says this will mean the ground network can deliver more First-Class mail, thus leading to better consistency, reliability and efficiency. The Washington Post says the Postal Service could reduce mail transported by plane from 20 to 12 percent.
The Postal Service says this will not change the standard for local single-piece First-Class delivery. That standard will remain at two days. It also says it expects over 60 percent of First-Class mail and over 90 percent of periodical deliveries to be unaffected with these new guidelines.
The new standards went into effect Friday. The Postal Service says people need to plan ahead and send early.
Also, with holiday mailing coming soon, the Postal Service has announced temporary rate increases ranging from 75 cents to $5, depending on weights, for Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Parcel Select Ground and USPS Retail Ground options.
The Postal Service says it has some of the lowest mail postage rates in the world, but it is also staring at $160 billion in losses over the next 10 years after being billions of dollars in the red for years.
