Complete Story
04/01/2026
USPS Announces Fuel Surcharge
Source: Mailers Hub, March 25, 2026
Per the filing, pursuant to 39 C.F.R. § 3035.102, the United States Postal Service hereby gives notice of time-limited changes in rates of general applicability for competitive products. Specifically, the Postal Service will be increasing prices for certain domestic competitive products, namely, Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select. No price changes are being made to Special Services or International competitive products. The new prices will take effect on April 26, 2026, and will roll back to approved levels on January 17, 2027.
Prices for the Postal Service’s domestic competitive shipping products will increase eight percent across the board during this limited time period. Traditionally, the Postal Service has only sought to utilize a time-limited price increase such as this during the peak shipping season (October through December). The decision to initiate this TLPC prior to the peak shipping season is intended to address changing market conditions concerning transportation costs, including the increasing price of fuel and contracted transportation, and to begin better aligning the Postal Service with standard industry practice when it comes to addressing such costs. As it stands today, these market conditions are expected to continue throughout the coming months.
However, unlike our competitors in the shipping industry, the Postal Service does not currently apply fuel or other transportation-related surcharges, meaning that while our competitors in the shipping industry have been able to address changing conditions over time by adjusting their own fees or surcharges, we have not been able to, despite the fact that such conditions also have a material impact on our finances. Given the already tenuous nature of the Postal Service’s current financial position,1 it is imperative for the Postal Service to act in response to these changed circumstances and to align with industry practice. The eight percent increase helps to address these circumstances and is also well below the published surcharges of our competitors for fuel alone. The Postal Service intends this transportation-related time-limited price change to be a bridge to the eventual implementation of a permanent mechanism to reflect changes in market conditions in our competitive prices, consistent with industry practice.
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