The USPS has been urged to reconsider its twice-yearly stamp price increase by Keep US Posted, a non-profit advocacy group of consumers, non-profits, newspapers, greeting card publishers, magazines, catalogs and small businesses.
The price increases, which form part of the USPS’s ‘Delivering for America’ overhaul plan, are driving down mail volume and leading to more losses for the USPS, according to Keep US Posted.
The next increase is set to take place on Sunday, January 21 and will be the fifth rate hike in two years – the most mailing rates have increased during the USPS’s 248-year history.
“These unprecedented postage increases are just driving down mail volume and fueling more fiscal instability for USPS,” said Keep US Posted executive director Kevin Yoder. “The Postal Service just posted an operating loss of US$6.5bn in 2023 and is projecting a US$6.3bn loss in 2024 — all after receiving a US$120bn windfall from Congress in 2022.
“It’s time for [postmaster general] Louis DeJoy to abandon the Delivering for America plan’s twice-annual stamp increases. Traditional mail is still the biggest money maker for USPS, and each rate hike just drives more mail from the system.”
USPS announced in November 2023 that mail volume had fallen by 9% and package volumes had gone down by 2%, resulting in a US$6.5bn loss for 2023. According to Keep US Posted, Emanuel Cleaver (D-MO) and Sam Graves (R-MO) have teamed up with other members of Congress to send a letter to the USPS Board of Governors urging them to delay any further stamp increases this year until the effects of the twice-a-year increases on mail volume and revenue are better understood.
Yoder continued, “Congress must act before taxpayers have to bail out USPS. We applaud Congressmen Cleaver and Graves for taking the lead to confront these destructive stamp hikes while there is still time.”
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