USPS wants to raise the price of a first-class stamp as high as 95 cents

3 days ago 15

Americans whitethorn soon wage astir $1 to message a first-class letter.

The U.S. Postal Service wants to rise first-class stamp prices to betwixt 90 cents and 95 cents arsenic it faces a fiscal crunch, Postmaster General David Steiner said Tuesday astatine a legislature hearing. The existent terms of a first-class stamp is 78 cents.

The USPS has for years struggled with precocious costs and dwindling message volume, resulting successful a $9 cardinal nonaccomplishment successful 2025. While the Postal Service has a 10-year plan to trim expenses and reconstruct profitability, the bureau inactive faces large fiscal challenges, with Steiner telling the House Oversight Committee that the USPS is astatine hazard of moving retired of currency successful 12 months.

"As you each know, determination are lone 3 things that immoderate institution tin bash to amended fiscal show — merchantability much products, rise prices oregon chopped costs," Steiner said successful his congressional testimony. "On the pricing side, we request to look for higher prices connected some our bundle and message products."

Raising the terms of first-class stamps to arsenic precocious arsenic 95 cents "would mostly lick our controllable loss," helium added.

Cheaper than France

Steiner pointed retired that the existent terms of 78 cents for first-class stamps is the lowest "in the industrialized world." By comparison, France and the U.K. complaint astir $3 and $2.50, respectively, for the aforesaid service.

"And the longest region that letters person to question successful those countries is astir 600 miles — smaller than the authorities of Texas. We present from the extremity of Puerto Rico to the extremity of Alaska for 78 cents," helium added.

Steiner, who took implicit arsenic Postmaster General successful July and antecedently served connected FedEx's committee of directors, stepped into the relation aft Louis DeJoy left the bureau successful aboriginal 2025.

In 2021, DeJoy instituted the 10-year plan to instrumentality the bureau to profitability by 2024. Those changes included aggregate hikes successful stamp prices and an overhaul of its determination proscription system, including no longer guaranteeing that message would person a postmark the time it was mailed.

Stark warning

Despite DeJoy's plan, the Postal Service's losses person continued to mount. On Tuesday, Steiner told lawmakers that the USPS needs to marque much changes to enactment afloat.

"I americium not definite that the American nationalist is alert that the Postal Service is astatine a captious juncture," helium said. Without changes, "Less than a twelvemonth from now, the Postal Service volition beryllium incapable to present the message if we support the presumption quo."

Aside from raising the terms of a first-class stamp, Steiner said the USPS should rise its borrowing bounds from the existent level of $15 billion, which has been successful spot since the 1990s. He besides called for reforms to the agency's pension programme by allowing it to put successful securities different than Treasury bills, which helium said could assistance boost concern returns.

Edited by Alain Sherter

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