USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now
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For better or worse, there has been no shortage of changes to how your mail gets handled and delivered in recent years. Whether it’s budget cuts shutting down local processing facilities or new security concerns about protecting your sensitive information, sending a letter or a parcel can feel a lot different than it did just a decade ago. And now, two new changes are coming to the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) that could affect your mail in big ways.
RELATED: See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says .
USPS will no longer be helping out on some UPS deliveries.
If you’re a regular online shopper or send out a lot of packages, there’s a decent chance you’re familiar with the UPS SurePost service . The discount shipping option is ideal for anyone looking to save money in exchange for a lower rate. Until recently, the USPS had an agreement with the private logistics company to help with the last-mile delivery of many of the parcels to help reduce strain on the company’s resources, Supply Chain Dive reports.
However, the contract that allowed this practice lapsed at the beginning of the new year. Now, the responsibility for getting the “millions of packages” to their destinations falls entirely on UPS again.
Notably, the UPS website now says that the estimated delivery time has dropped slightly from two to seven days to two to six days, per Supply Chain Dive. However, the coverage area no longer includes destinations outside the contiguous 48 states.
This could affect what you pay.
One of the most immediate effects could be felt by customers who use P.O. boxes, as USPS is the only outfit allowed to deliver to those units. However, the change could also end up costing consumers more.
“I think that’s probably where it’s headed, where you’re going to wind up paying more than you were for SurePost but not as much as [UPS] Ground, and it’s essentially not going to get the priority that Ground gets when it goes to delivery,” Tony Runyan , chief client officer at Red Stag Fulfillment, told Supply Chain Drive in an interview.
He added that the service could end up changing into a product that more closely resembles FedEx Ground Economy.
Some customers in rural areas are also apprehensive about the changes .
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There’s also a new, speedier way to send packages.
While the USPS may no longer be helping out with some discounted packages, it is adding a new way to get your items to their destination faster. On Jan. 6, the agency announced the launch of Next Day Priority , an expedited option that guarantees overnight delivery for businesses to anywhere within 150 miles of a processing facility. Ultimately, this covers 87 percent of the U.S. population, per a press release.
The agency also hinted at further changes to its recently launched Ground Advantage offering, saying it will be improving “service and affordability” as the program expands.
“In 2025, we’ll continue optimizing this offering, integrating smarter strategies to make shipping seamless, cost-effective, and faster than ever,” the USPS said in its press release. “We will be introducing two new offerings, leveraging our expansive network.”
The takeaway.
A few changes will be coming to the USPS this year. The first is the effective end of the agency’s collaboration with UPS in delivering the company’s SurePost discount-rate packages. Experts say customers could see prices go up in the long run as a result. Fortunately, the USPS also announced new services that provide more expedited shipping options for the vast majority of the U.S., as well as other forthcoming changes to its Ground Advantage service that will improve “service and affordability.”
See a Sticker on Your Mailbox? Don’t Touch It, USPS Says
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Your mailbox serves a very simple purpose: receiving mail and leaving outgoing mail for a carrier to pick up. Still, some of us enjoy sprucing up our mailboxes, adding personal flair, color, or even decals to help an otherwise standard mailbox stand out. But if you notice a paw print sticker on your mailbox that you didn’t add, don’t start peeling it off just yet—it’s likely part of a program run by the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) to help keep carriers safe. Read on to find out what these stickers mean and why you shouldn’t remove them.
RELATED: USPS Wants to Raise the Price of Your Mail Again—Here’s When It Could Happen .
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In 2023, more than 5,800 Postal Service workers were attacked by dogs while delivering mail, up from 5,300 in 2022, according to a USPS press release.
Larger cities had the highest numbers of attacks, with Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, St. Louis, and Cleveland claiming the top five spots.
“Even though a customer’s dog is friendly to most people, it can always have a bad day,” said letter carrier Tara Snyder . “I know, from experience, even when a dog is in the house, customers need to make sure their door is secure so their dog can’t push it open and bite the letter carrier.”
To her point, the USPS writes that “all dogs can bite, even those perceived as nonaggressive.” In fact, many of the attacks that letter carriers report are by dogs whose owners told them, “My dog won’t bite.”
Such an attack can result in consequences for the homeowner, too. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute, the average cost per insurance claim for a dog bite is $64,555, the USPS states.
“When a postal employee suffers an injury, the owner could be responsible for medical bills, lost wages, uniform replacement costs, and pain and suffering for the employee,” they explain.
RELATED: USPS Is Making These Changes to Your Mail, Starting Now .
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To combat dog bites, the Postal Service shared tips on how pet owners can “support safe mail delivery.” These include keeping dogs inside the house or behind a fence, away from the door or in another room, or on a leash.
“Pet owners also should remind children not to take mail directly from a letter carrier as the dog may view the carrier as a threat to the child,” they state.
Mail carriers also follow protocol to keep them aware of areas where dogs might be present, and they’re equipped with scanners to remind them of possible dog hazards, as well as dog warning cards that are added during mail sorting.
In 2020, the USPS added another preventive measure: the PAWS Program . First introduced in Pennsylvania, the program uses mailbox stickers to keep carriers safe.
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The PAWS Program uses color-coded stickers affixed to mailboxes to inform mail carriers about dogs in the area. An orange sticker with a black paw print tells carriers that there is a dog at this home, while a yellow sticker with a black paw print tells them there is a dog at the next house.
Citizens are informed ahead of time that the stickers may appear on their mailboxes. In a notice sent to Lakewood, Ohio, residents, the Postal Service wrote, “Carriers will soon be placing a paw sticker on mailboxes to indicate that a dog or dogs live in the area —yellow indicates dog nearby/orange indicates dog at residence. The sticker will act as a reminder to the carrier that they should proceed with caution, especially when delivering packages to the door.”
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Removing these stickers may do more harm than good, as your mail service can be halted if your carrier feels unsafe. Not only does this affect the home of the dog owner, but it also applies to the entire neighborhood, the USPS said in a previous press release . Service isn’t restored in these instances “until the aggressive dog is properly restrained.”
At the end of the day, these stickers are put in place to “reduce the risk of dog bites and attacks that occur while delivering mail,” which is just another reason you should leave the sticker on your mailbox.
“We all love our dogs,” Kimberly Tilley , acting postmaster for Winston-Salem, told WGHP. “We love our animals, but we … have to take responsibility to protect the carrier and the people around us as well from our animals.”
Tilley added that dog bites are more common than you think, and they can be traumatic for carriers. “Once a carrier has been bit, it sets some fear in them long term for the rest of their life,” she told the outlet.
However, although these stickers are strongly recommended, if you object to having a sticker placed on your mailbox, you can opt out , Kyle Stevens , Southwest Carrier Annex station manager in South Dakota, told KELO in 2021. To do so, the first step would be to contact your local post office.
This story has been updated to include additional entries, fact-checking, and copy-editing.
