The US Postal Service is to introduce a volume pricing model for customers using the Parcel Select Ground service. Customers sending small, dense and heavy packages will be charged less under the scheme while those who send parcels that take up more space in vehicles and warehousing will be charged more.
The new pricing model begins on 10th July, alongside a price increase of 6.5% on First Class Mail. As of April this year however, those sending parcels greater than one cubic foot or greater than 22 inches long have had to pay a surcharge of US$1.50 for all Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail and Parcel Select Ground deliveries.
Last week, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy warned of “uncomfortable” price increases in future, saying pricing had been out of whack for some time. “I believe we have been severely damaged by at least 10 years of a defective pricing model, which cannot be satisfied by one or two annual price increases, especially in this inflationary environment,” DeJoy said in remarks to the USPS Board of Governors.
These new price structures come as part of the US Postal Service’s Delivering for America strategic change programme. Volume charging isn’t new in the world, with Royal Mail having had a similar policy for 10 years or more where it comes to mail and large letters.
