At eHub, it’s our pride to help clients work with all the major shipping carriers available to them. We work with UPS, FedEx, DHL, and, of course, USPS, or the US Postal Service, providing a vast range of shipping options and services from and to any area of the country.
Our carrier-related services span several areas, including helping our clients understand and react to rate increases from any of these carriers. USPS recently filed its planned rate increases for the 2021 year with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) – what are these changes, and how might they impact your standard USPS shipping formats? We’ll go over this plus dig into some of the general benefits of using USPS to begin with.
Benefits of Using USPS
Firstly, why USPS? There are several reasons why many businesses rely primarily on the US Postal Service for their primary shipping needs, including:
- Delivery to any address in the USA
- No fuel or residential delivery surcharges to companies
- Free Saturday delivery
- Free shipping supplies and scheduled pickups for no additional cost
That said, many of USPS’s competitors also have these same themes at play. For this reason, shipping rates will often be one of the key elements a business considers when choosing a shipping partner. Let’s go over how USPS rates will change in 2021.
Basics and Approval
As noted above, USPS has submitted its planned rate increases to the PRC for 2021. We’ll review the precise rate increases briefly, but some general basics first.
Firstly, if approved, the new USPS rate changes will kick in on January 24, 2021. In addition, a $100 charge will be imposed on packages found in the USPS mail stream that are larger than the maximum size of 130 inches (combined length and girth) – this applies to all service levels, from standard ground and air mail up to First Class package service and any areas in between.
Average Increases for Common Labels
Here are the average percentage increases that will be seen for the varying service levels within USPS once the rate increases take effect – if they are approved, which has not happened yet:
- First Class Package Service: Average increase of 6.5%
- Priority Mail: Average increase of 4.5%
- Priority Mail Express: Average increase of 2.5%
- Parcel Select Ground: Average increase of 1.3%
Are these changes enough to impact your business and make you consider switching to another shipping carrier? This is where our pros come in – we’ll use all our latest techniques to help you find the best shipping company and save money on shipping in several ways.
For more on USPS rate increases or to learn about our shipping API or software programs, speak to the staff at eHub today.
