Longer, More Expensive Deliveries Coming Under Proposed USPS Changes

The United States Postal Service announced a new ten-year plan that will result in higher prices and longer delivery times as the agency deals with declining mail volume and billions of dollars in losses.

Under the proposed plan, First Class mail will be delivered within five days instead of three days. The cost of postage will also increase, and hours at post offices around the country will be cut. It is unclear how much the Postal Service plans to raise prices on stamps and mailing packages. According to the Washington Post, a price increase of nine percent could be looming this summer.

"Does it make a difference if it's an extra day to get a letter?" Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told the House Oversight and Reform Committee in February. "Because something has to change. We cannot keep doing the same thing we're doing."

The plan also calls for investing $4 billion to modernize the Postal Service as it deals with declining mail volume but an increase in the number of packages it ships.

American Postal Workers Union President Mark Dimondstein issued a statement to CNN, saying that the proposal isn't all bad and includes plans to hire 11,000 new workers and open "46 new annexes to handle the ever-increasing number of packages the USPS processes."

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