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USPS Adds First-Ever Fuel Surcharge

Temporary 8% package fee aims to offset soaring fuel costs
Posted Mar 26, 2026 3:00 AM CDT
USPS Adds First-Ever 8% Fuel Surcharge on Packages
The United States Postal Service logo is shown on delivery vans parked outside the main post office Monday, March 23, 2026, in east Denver.   (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Americans who ship with the Postal Service are about to see a new line on their receipts. The USPS will roll out its first fuel surcharge on packages April 26, tacking on an 8% fee that's set to run through Jan. 17, 2027, pending regulatory approval, the Wall Street Journal reports. Letters are exempt: a first-class stamp will remain 78 cents.

The agency says the move brings it in line with FedEx and UPS, which already levy—and have recently increased—fuel surcharges as diesel prices spike. Fuel prices are surging due to the Iran war, CNBC reports. A medium Priority Mail flat-rate box will jump from $22.95 to $24.80. USPS, which has long avoided surcharges, calls the fee a temporary "bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions" as it faces deep losses, a six-day delivery mandate, and a looming hit from Amazon's plan to shift more packages off the postal network.

"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," the USPS said in its announcement of the surcharge. Democrats, however, were quick to jump on the surcharge as yet another affordability crisis they blame on the Trump administration, the Guardian reports.

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