The U.S. Postal Service is seeking approval to raise its fuel-cost surcharge on domestic priority mail and package deliveries beginning in January 2027, citing rising transportation costs.
The new surcharge of 11 percent, requested in a notice filed Thursday with the Postal Regulatory Commission, would replace a temporary 8 percent charge that went into effect in April.
Also as part of the request, domestic shipping rates would climb 5.9 percent on average for Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select, while international shipping rates would increase an average of 7.9 percent.
The changes would take effect Jan. 17 if approved. The 11 percent surcharge gets another look in July 2027 based on first-half fuel prices.
First-class stamps, which rose from 78 cents to 82 cents in July, would not be affected.
The USPS said its transportation expenses increased by $225 million in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.
On Tuesday, USPS asked Congress for $2 billion in support. Postmaster General and CEO David Steiner warned of significant cuts without action. The agency reported a $6.5 billion annual loss in fiscal 2026, down from $9 billion the year before.
USPS governors approved the earlier 8 percent surcharge on March 24. It covered the same domestic products and lasted through Jan. 17, 2027.
The agency called it a temporary solution.
“While this price increase is a time-limited adjustment, it will provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions,” USPS said then.
Fuel costs did not abate, with competitors moving first to add surcharges, USPS said.
“Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges. We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world,” USPS said in March.
This year diesel prices topped $6.50 per gallon for the first time amid supply disruptions stemming from wars in Iran and Ukraine, putting pressure on shipping costs across carriers.
USPS has raised rates repeatedly amid mounting losses, posting a $9.5 billion loss in fiscal 2024 and $9 billion in 2025. First-class mail volume, representing its most profitable product, has plummeted to levels last seen in the late 1960s.
Steiner told lawmakers in March that the agency could run out of money by October or November if it continued meeting retirement payments. He said remedies could include raising the price of stamps, delivering mail only five days a week, and closing some post offices.
A holiday peak-season increase on the same package services took effect in October and runs until mid-January.
Steiner has described the Postal Service’s financial model as broken and repeatedly called for congressional reforms to retirement obligations and other mandates the agency says are outside its control.
Its fiscal 2026 loss was lower mainly because of higher revenue and lower workers’ compensation expenses, even as transportation costs rose with fuel prices.
