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Whether you're waiting for a check in the mail or need to ship a package across the country, there are certain standard services we've all come to expect from the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). But the agency is hardly on solid footing, as it has been battling a number of challenges over the past few years, from staffing shortages to financial shortcomings. These problems have trickled down to customers, leading to a considerable amount of complaints about mailing delays and increased costs.

The situation has become so dire that President Joe Biden signed the Postal Service Reform Act on April 6, which will provide nearly $50 billion in relief to the USPS over the next 10 years as an attempt to help the agency get back on track. But even before this bill was signed, the Postal Service has been making a number of adjustments to its service to try to combat these ongoing issues. Read on to learn all the ways the USPS has already changed and is planning to change your mail service in the past year.

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If you've felt like some of your mail deliveries have gotten slower over the past few months, you're not imagining things. On Oct. 1, 2021, the Postal Service implemented "new service standards" for First Class Mail and Periodicals. "A service standard is the number of days between the acceptance and delivery of a piece of mail that the Postal Service considers to be timely delivery," the agency explained on its website.AE0FCC31AE342FD3A1346EBB1F342FCB

In other words, the USPS has slowed down the timeframe in which it has to deliver some of your mail. The agency increased its time-in-transit standards by one or two days for First-Class Mail and Periodicals that are traveling longer distances. "The current service standards are challenging to meet reliably. Adjusting the service standards will provide customers with more stable and realistic expectations," the USPS said when it announced the change.

The agency added that as a result of these new standards, customers should adjust by mailing certain items earlier. "If it would take you more than a day to drive your mail to its destination, make sure to give your long-distance mail some extra time to travel with USPS," the Postal Service recommended.

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As soon as the new year rolled in, the USPS decided to pare down your shipping options. Ituagency first announced in August that it would be phasing out its Priority Mail Prepaid Flat Rate Stamped Envelope in 2022. "The envelope, which is only sold online … will remain available until January or while supplies last," the Postal Service said at the time.

By Jan. 12, the envelopes were no longer available to purchase on the USPS website, eSeller 365 reported. The agency said the decision to discontinue this shipping option was largely due to the fact that demand for the product had tanked. "The Postal Service is discontinuing the envelope because orders have steadily declined over the years, while production and fulfillment costs continued to rise," the USPS said.

One of the most recent USPS changes has impacted the cost to ship certain certain packages. On April 3, the Postal Service introduced two new shipping surcharges: Nonstandard Fees and the Dimension Noncompliance Fee. MenurutFederal Register, the new fees affect customers trying to ship certain domestic retail and commercial mail that fall into one of the following categories: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Package Service, USPS Retail Ground, and Parcel Select.

With the Nonstandard Fee, the surcharge starts at $4 for any package longer than 22 inches but less than 30 inches. For packages over 30 inches in length, the fee goes up to $15. You will also have to pay an additional $15 if your package is greater than 2 cubic feet in volume. And the Dimensional Noncompliance Fee is targeted toward customers who try to get out of paying Nonstandard Fees. With this new fee, you will be charged $1.50 for packages that are greater than one cubic foot or longer than 22 inches if you did not provide dimensions or if they are incorrect, per the USPS.

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The Postal Service's berencana untuk meningkatkan biaya Namun, tidak berhenti hanya dengan beberapa biaya baru. Pada 6 April, USPS mengajukan pemberitahuan kepada Komisi Pengaturan Pos (RRC), mengumumkan rencana untuk meningkatkanHarga email kelas satu sebesar 6,5 persen. Kenaikan ini termasukmeningkatkan biaya dari surat kelas satu Forever Stamp dari 58 sen menjadi 60 sen.

Perubahan yang diusulkan juga mencakup peningkatan harga tambahan harga tambahan ons menjadi 24 sen, harga surat 1-ons meteran menjadi 57 sen, harga stempel kartu pos menjadi 44 sen, dan harga surat satu ons yang dikirimkan ke negara lain ke $ 1,40 sen. Semua biaya baru akan mulai berlaku pada 10 Juli "jika ditinjau secara menguntungkan oleh RRC," kata USPS.

Ketika ditanya selama wawancara tentang alasan di balik kenaikan harga yang diusulkan, Postmaster GeneralLouis Dejoy dikatakan, "Karena kita butuh uang, "Reuters melaporkan.

Tetapi sebelum kenaikan harga baru mulai berlaku, USPS merencanakanPerlambat waktu pengiriman untuk lebih banyak surat. Pada 18 April, Layanan Pos mengumumkan bahwa itu akan terjadimemperpanjang jangka waktu pengiriman Untuk hampir sepertiga dari paket kecil dan ringan. Menurut agensi, standar layanan baru akan mulai berlaku pada 1 Mei untuk paket kelas satu dan dengan perubahan ini, waktu transportasi untuk 32 tepat dari paket kelas satu "akan meningkat satu atau dua hari."

"Memodifikasi standar layanan ini akan memungkinkan waktu transportasi tambahan untuk pengiriman paket jarak jauh dan meningkatkan efisiensi jaringan," kata USPS.

Di sisi lain, standar layanan untuk 64 persen volume paket akan tetap tidak berubah, sementara 4 persen dari volume layanan paket kelas satu sebenarnya akan mendapatkan waktu transportasi yang lebih pendek dua hari, bukan tiga hari. Agensi juga menyingkirkan hari pengiriman tambahan untuk pengiriman surat prioritas, yang diberlakukan pada bulan April 2020 sebagai cara untuk memberikan waktu tambahan USPS untuk pengiriman mengingat masalah rantai pasokan global dan ketersediaan karyawan di tengah pandemi covid .

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