PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – The U.S. Postal Service wants to make temporary changes to certain delivery services to help cover transportation costs. This comes as gas prices are rising across the country.
The post office says this proposed change would help with the rising cost of transportation. The postal service has proposed an 8% price increase for priority mail express, priority mail, ground advantage and parcel select. The hike still needs approval from the postal regulatory commission. The agency says no other products or services will be affected by the price rise this time.
USPS proposes price increases to cover rising transportation costs: Which 4 services would be affected?
A spokesperson with the Postal Service sent 10 On Your Side a list of what transportation costs include (but are not limited to):
- Logistics/shipping/trucking market conditions that have changed dramatically
- Fuel increases
- Transport/Vehicle Maintenance
- Higher insurance costs for carriers—passed along to USPS
- The cost of maintaining a truck / trucking company has gone up dramatically in the past two years – carriers pass those increases to USPS
- We have seen a number of bankruptcies in the transportation/logistics space, so a lot of factors drive up costs.
The post office says transportation expenses have increased and competitors have increased prices. This 8% price hike would be less than one-third of what other companies are charging for fuel alone, according to USPS.
This comes after our sister station in Richmond, WRIC, reported the United States Postmaster General David Steiner told Congress last week that the Postal Service will be “out of cash in less than 12 months” at its current rate. …