U.S. Postal Service Announces Temporary Price Increase

The United States Postal Service filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) today of a temporary price change to take effect Oct. 18, 2020.

The planned temporary price adjustments are in response to increased expenses and heightened demand for online shopping package volume due to the coronavirus pandemic and expected holiday ecommerce. As a result of these changing market conditions, the Postal Service is planning a time-limited price increase on all commercial domestic competitive package volume from Oct. 18 until Dec. 27, 2020. Retail prices and international products will be unaffected.

The planned price increase would go into effect at 12:00AM Central on Oct.18, 2020 and remain in place until 12:00AM Central Dec. 27, 2020.

The planned prices, approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on August 6, would raise prices on its commercial domestic competitive parcels – Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, Parcel Select, and Parcel Return Service.

This time-limited adjustment will increase prices for our commercial customers in line with competitive practices without impacting customers at the retail level. In doing this, the Postal Service is protecting the retail consumer during a vulnerable economic period while increasing prices on commercial volume during heightened volume levels.

No structural changes are planned as part of this limited time pricing initiative, allowing customers the greatest ease in implementing the new prices with minimal complexity.

The Governors believe these temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with much needed revenue. The forecasted additional revenue from the time-limited increase will depend on the volume of packages shipped between Oct. 18 and Dec. 27 at commercial rates.

If favorably reviewed by the PRC, the planned price changes include:

Product Current Planned Increase
Parcel Select Destination Starts at $3.19 24 cents
Delivery Unit (DDU)
Parcel Return Service Starts at $3.05 24 cents
Parcel Select Lightweight Starts at $1.81 24 cents
FCPS Commercial Starts at $2.74 25 cents
Priority Mail Commercial Starts at $7.02 40 cents
Parcel Select Ground Starts at $6.92 40 cents
Parcel Select DSCF Starts at $4.37 40 cents
Parcel Select DNDC Starts at $5.98 40 cents
Priority Mail Express Commercial Starts at $22.75 $1.50

Some rate cells in Parcel Select Ground will be charged less than $0.40 so as not to exceed USPS Retail Ground retail prices:
*19 lbs., zones 8/9 – the increase will be zero instead of $0.40
*20 lbs., zones 8/9 – the increase will be $0.06 instead of $0.40
*Oversized – the increase will be zero instead of $0.40

A full list of commercial pricing can be found on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website https://www.usps.com/business/prices.htm.

The Postal Service has some of the lowest mail postage rates in the industrialized world and also continues to offer a great value in shipping.

The PRC will review the prices before they are scheduled to take effect on Oct.18, 2020. The complete Postal Service price filings with prices for all products can be found on the PRC website under the Daily Listings section at prc.gov/dockets/daily. The price change tables are also available on the Postal Service’s Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com/PriceChange/Index.
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2020/0814-usps-announces-temporary-price-increase.htm

Related Posts

Print Unit Sales Rose 9.5% At the End of October (publishersweekly.com)

With sales up in all categories, unit sales of print books rose 9.5% in the week ended Oct. 31, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. The top-selling book was The Deep End (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #15) by Jeff Kinney, which sold more than 171,000 copies and helped to drive up sales in the juvenile fiction category by 15.5%. A second new release that landed high on the category list was Jimmy Fallon’s 5 More Sleeps ’til Christmas, which sold more than 21,000 copies. For most categories, sales increases over the week ended Nov. 2, 2019, weren’t driven by hot new bestsellers but by solid sales overall. The #1 title in the juvenile nonfiction category, for example, was Big Preschool Workbook, which sold a modest 7,200 copes. The YA fiction category, which had a 25.7% increase, was once again led by Stephenie Meyer’s Midnight Sun, which sold more than 17,000 copies.

Kohl’s Reports Second Quarter Fiscal 2021 Financial Results

Highlights: *Second quarter net sales and earnings exceed expectations and company raises full year 2021 financial outlook *Second quarter net sales increase 31.4% *Record second quarter diluted earnings per share of $2.48 and company raises full year 2021 guidance to $5.80 to $6.10 *Strengthened financial position during the quarter, ending with $2.6 billion in cash *Repurchased $255 million of shares in the quarter and now plans to repurchase $500 million to $700 million of shares in 2021. “Our performance in the second quarter marked another important step in further establishing Kohl’s as the leading destination for the active and casual lifestyle. We delivered record second quarter earnings with sales and margins materially exceeding expectations. As pleased as we are with our ongoing strategic progress, much of our opportunity is still ahead of us. We are on the eve of launching several transformational partnerships that will drive sustainable growth for years to come,” said Michelle Gass, Kohl’s chief executive officer.

May Bookstore Sales Jumped 130% (publisahersweekly.com)

Bookstore sales continued their strong rebound from the lows of spring 2020. According to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau, bookstore sales soared 130% in May over May 2020, rising to $632 million. Last April and May saw the weakest bookstore sales performances of 2020, with sales in May 2020 totaling just $275 million. Compared to May 2019, May sales this year were down 9.2%.
Back To Top
×Close search
Search