As 2025 is set to begin in a few days, there will be several changes to the United States Postal Service (USPS), including cost increases and potential delivery time changes.
Newsweek has broken down all the major changes you need to know ahead of the new year.
Cost increases
Price increases are likely for some delivery services beginning on January 19, 2025. If approved, the change would raise Shipping Services prices by approximately 3.2 percent for Priority Mail service and Priority Mail Express service, 3.9 percent for USPS Ground Advantage, and 9.2 percent for Parcel Select.
The changes are subject to approval from the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC).
The proposed price boosts are part of the agency's "Delivering for America" 10-year plan for "achieving financial sustainability and service excellence."
USPS said the rate changes "will support the $40 billion of investments in people, technology, and infrastructure and continue the modernization and improvement of the Postal Service's operations and customer experience."
"As a strategic part of the Delivering for America 10-year plan, these proposed changes will support the Postal Service in creating a revitalized organization capable of achieving our public service mission," it added.
However, there will be no changes to the price of First-Class stamps in January, but Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said an increase could be proposed later in the year.
Delivery Times
Some USPS customers may find themselves affected by new delivery times in 2025.
"Depending on location, time and distance, expected time to deliver will increase for some ZIP code pairs," a press release from USPS in October reads. Exactly how many zip codes could be affected was not provided. Newsweek has contacted the USPS for clarification via email.
According to a USPS spokesperson who spoke to CBS MoneyWatch, under the proposed changes, mail would continue to be delivered within the current service standard of two-to-five days. They said most mail from rural areas is currently delivered in three days or less, and this would on the whole remain unchanged.
They noted that mail delivery from certain rural areas might require an additional 12 to 24 hours, but it would still remain within the two-to-five-day window. In some cases, mail that previously took three days to reach its destination might now take four days.
"Delivery for approximately 75 percent of First-Class Mail will not be impacted by
the refinements to our current service standards, and around two-thirds of mail will be delivered in 3 or less days," the USPS said. "All First-Class Mail and USPS Ground Advantage will continue being delivered within 5 days."
DeJoy said the changes to take place next year are necessary to "enable us to operate more efficiently and reliably, grow our business and give us a chance for a viable future" after an 80 percent drop in First-Class mail since 1997 and a corresponding growth in packages.
New Stamps
Every year USPS brings out a range of new stamps, most of which are on sale only for a specific period of time.
Some of the new offerings next year include a Lunar New Year stamp celebrating the Year of the Snake, a Black Heritage stamp featuring musician Allen Toussaint, and a Betty White stamp.
English (US) ·