Some delivery times for the U.S. Postal Service will begin slowing down permanently on Friday.
The U.S. Postal Service will start to “implement new service standards” for first class mail and periodicals — slowing its target delivery time by about 30%.
NPR reports that some of the changes will result in increased time for some pieces of mail going cross-country and other long distances. USPS Spokesperson Kim Frum told NPR that despite the slow-downs, 61% of first-class mail and 93% of periodicals will not be affected by these changes.
Single-piece first-class mail traveling in the same region will still have a two-day delivery time, but first-class packages will experience the slow-down.
Additionally, beginning on Sunday and ending December 26th, the Postal Service will temporarily increase prices on all “commercial and retail domestic packages” because of the holiday season. The price increases will not affect international products.
The changes are a part of the Postal Service’s 10-year strategic plan that was announced by Postmaster General Louis DeJoy back in March. The plan was announced in order to make USPS more reliable and efficient.
Frum told NPR that the Postal Service will use more ground transportation, calling it more reliable and cost-effective than air transportation.
Last Friday, the Postal Service announced its standard for first-class mail delivery was met 83.6% of the time throughout the quarter ending June 30, in comparison to its 88.9% performance during the same period in 2020. USPS also reported a net loss of of $3 billion for the quarter ending June 30, compared with the $2.2 billion in the previous year.