US Postal Service to raise shipping prices on certain orders

The United States Postal Service (USPS) plans to increase shipping prices on certain orders beginning today.

The move comes into effect as part of a series of standards changes which also include an increase in shipping times for certain first-class packages and mail from one-to-three days to one-to-five days.

These changes come as part of a proposal to reduce USPS costs by $160 billion over the next decade in order to stabilize the service’s financial losses, totaling roughly $90 billion since 2007. Under the change, expect the cost of shipping a package to increase anywhere from 25¢ to $5 depending on the size of the package and the distance it is being shipped.

These debt problems are a symptom of the US’ broader debt—an issue that has been coming to a head in recent days. After an emergency stopgap on its debts was passed on September 30, the US has until October 18 to officially raise its debt ceiling or risk a default that would hobble the country’s economy and cripple public institutions such as the USPS. A collapse of the USPS would likely spell disaster for many businesses across the US despite the prevalence of private shipping companies.

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