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For the third year in a row, the U.S. Postal Service is hiking the prices of its delivery services — but just for a few months.
The Postal Service is requesting a temporary price increase on a variety of mail services for the peak holiday season to offset rising delivery costs. The Postal Service said in a statement the temporary rate adjustments are "similar to ones in past years that help cover extra handling costs to ensure a successful peak season."
The price increases, which will range from 25 cents to upwards of $6 per package, would go into effect on Oct. 2, 2022 and last through Jan. 22, 2023 for individuals and businesses on mailings that include Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and First-Class Package Service.
A postman drives a United States Postal service (USPS) mail delivery truck through Washington, DC on August 13, 2021. The US Postal Service is raising rates for the holidays.
"These temporary rates will keep USPS competitive while providing the agency with the revenue to cover extra costs in anticipation of peak-season volume," it said. The Postal Regulatory Commission still has to approve the higher rates.
The Postal Service enacted similar temporary price increases in 2020 and 2021 because of heightened demand and extra shipping costs.
Last month, the cost of a U.S. postage stamp increased by 2 cents, raising the cost of mailing a first-class letter by 3.4%, to 60 cents. A price hike that modest seems almost quaint given that overall consumer prices are up 9.1% year over year, the fastest pace in 40 years.
Parcels and packages are where the Postal Service is really making its money today. The agency handles final delivery of many packages shipped by Amazon and other online retailers, with items delivered in bulk to the post office nearest to the buyer's home.
Benjamin Franklin was the first postmaster general in U.S. history. Before 1971, the postmaster general was a member of the president’s Cabinet.
The Postal Service processes and delivers 484.8 million pieces of mail per day.
There are more than 143,000 blue mail collection boxes in the U.S.
There are 31,324 retail Post Offices in the United States.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service is the law enforcement arm of USPS. In 2018, Postal inspectors carried out 5,969 arrests and 4,648 convictions for postal crimes, including mail theft and mail fraud.
The U.S. Postal Service has no official motto. The quote often thought to be its motto — "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" — is inscribed on the James A. Farley Post Office in New York City and comes from the ancient Persian historian Herodotus.
USPS receives no tax dollars, and funds itself through the sale of postage and other services.
Contrary to popular belief, the Pony Express was never officially a part of the U.S. Postal Service. The official name of the Pony Express was the Overland Express Route.
Sales of the breast cancer research stamp have raised more than $89 million since 1998.
The Alzheimer’s research postage stamp raised $626,500 in 2018.
The Save Vanishing Species Stamp has raised $57 million for conservation since 2011.
The United Kingdom’s iconic red mail collection boxes are called pillar boxes. After the 2012 London Olympics, pillar boxes in the hometowns of gold medalists were painted gold.
The United Nations has an agency called the Universal Postal Union that coordinates postal policy internationally.
If the U.S. Postal Service were a private company, it would have ranked 40th on the 2018 Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. companies.
CNN Business' Chris Isidore contributed to this report.
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A postman drives a United States Postal service (USPS) mail delivery truck through Washington, DC on August 13, 2021. The US Postal Service is raising rates for the holidays.