Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has a few new uses for ZIP codes under his Delivering For America Plan, but that’s not all those five-digit numbers are being used for. DeJoy has a new use for them that has quietly added what amounts to a de facto surcharge on deliveries, mostly to rural areas.
The surcharge doesn’t affect what ordinary postal customers are paying at the post office for deliveries. They were instead slipped into what are called Negotiated Service Agreements, which the Postal Service makes with various commercial partners, back in September. These NSAs are filed under seal with the Postal Regulatory Commission, so not typically in what’s considered the public domain.
But they do eventually bubble up to the surface when those companies, such as eBay, inform their customers of pending rate changes.
That’s how these changes came to light, with partners like eBay warning those who use their online auction service that there would be changes to delivery rates for select ZIP codes, effective Sept. 16.
The changes for selected ZIP codes applies to weight-based and cubic packages up to 20 pounds for priority mail, priority mail flat, and Ground Advantage. Packages over 20 pounds are not affected.
Save The Post Office Analysis
A detailed analysis of the affected ZIP codes by Save The Post Office, which used eBay’s online listing, found that 17,810 ZIP codes are affected, and that most are rural. The Zip codes include 20 million residential addresses and 1.3 million business addresses.
The eBay post includes links to a database of all the affected ZIP codes, along with a shipping calculator. Value Added Resource, meanwhile, has put the ZIP Codes into a searchable PDF.
“The Postal Service doesn’t call the cost differential a ‘surcharge,’” Steve Hutkins notes in his analysis. “Instead, there are two rates — the regular published commercial pricing and the discount rate negotiated with merchants like eBay and XPS Connect.”
Hutkins started the Saving the Postal website in 2011, after his local post office in New York’s Hudson Valley was in danger of closing. He has continued the site, analyzing all things Post Office in depth, as well as highlighting post office closings, suspensions and consolidations.
“For the impacted ZIP codes, the discount rate no longer applies for many products, and the new rate reverts to the published commercial rate,” Hutkins added. “The difference is, for all intents and purposes, a surcharge.”
Day Later, And A Dollar Shorter
Hutkins told Cowboy State Daily that most of Wyoming will be subject to both the Regional Transportation Optimization plan under Delivering For America as well as the surcharge.
“That means outgoing mail and parcels will slow down by a day, and incoming parcels from online retailers will have higher shipping costs,” he said. “That’s especially interesting because the Postal Service and the PMG have been saying that rural areas may lose out on RTO, but they will still gain because some of their mail and parcels may arrive sooner thanks to the RTO. The USPS doesn’t mention that those incoming parcels will cost more.”
Postal Service Spokesman James Boxrud referred Cowboy State Daily to a November 2024 press release that touted “new competitive prices for 2025.”
“Although mailing services price increases are based on the consumer price index, shipping services prices are primarily adjusted according to market conditions,” Boxrud said. “These new rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with needed revenue.”
Boxrud added that the Postal Service would not be raising its prices in January for mailing services.
“As a strategic part of the Delivering for American 10-year plan, these changes will support the Postal Service in creating a revitalized organization capable of achieving our public service mission — providing a nationwide, integrated network for the delivery of mail and packages its least six days a week — in a cost-effective and financially sustainable manner over the long term, just as the U.S. Congress has intended.”
‘Cookie-Cutter’ Solution
Some of the differentials Hutkins found in his analysis are quite large.
For example, a 5-pound parcel that goes from New York City to Syracuse New York, which isn’t subject to the surcharge, costs $7.40 for merchants.
But nearby Camden, New York, which is now subject to the surcharge, pays $9.31 for this same package under the merchant agreement — a 25.7% bump.
Robert Jacknitsky, a state representative for postal employees with NPMHU Local 321, looked at areas in Wyoming with a surcharge and said he had some questions.
“I discovered that all Cheyenne zones — i.e. 82001-82009 — don’t have one,” he said. “But Laramie is a different story.”
Jacknitsky found that 82070 and 82073 have surcharges, while 82071, which is for University of Wyoming, and 82072, do not.
“For clarity, 82073 is the designation for all P.O. mailboxes in Laramie,” he said. “How is it that we charge extra for mail that we work ourselves, which don’t require home delivery?”
Jacknitsky suggested it’s another example where the Post Office has conducted an inadequate study and thrown out a “cookie-cutter” directive.
“This is what we said about the P.O. previously,” he said. “If they would have done proper study of Cheyenne and our unique location at the intersection of I-25 and I-80, there’s no way they would take our mail.”
Jacknitsky said it’s fair to question the structure of these NSA’s, which are charging one price for metro areas and another for rural areas.
“I can’t help but feel that the Post Office is violating the postal regulations vicariously through other companies,” he said. “Simply put, the P.O. is using companies like eBay and Etsy to do their dirty work.
“We as a service cannot charge more for rural ares than urban. If I give you a price break for mailing through me, but a smaller discount for rural areas, wouldn’t that amount to charging different prices due to location?”
Insult To Injury
Many Wyomingites are already angry about the Delivering for America plan, which speeds delivery of mail for metro areas at the expense of rural ones, and will move all of Wyoming’s large processing capabilities to Denver or Billings.
Wyoming’s congressional delegation have been united in their opposition to that part of the plan, and even sponsored legislation seeking to prohibit the Postal Service from removing all of a state’s large mail processing centers out of state.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis told Cowboy State Daily in an email that the rural surcharge being applied through third-party sellers is a last straw.
“The people of Wyoming have endured enough challenges trying to get their mail,” she said. “The last thing they should have to do is pay a surcharge. Instead of nickel and diming the people of Wyoming, USPS should focus on figuring out how to reliably deliver mail across the Cowboy State.”
Rep. Harriet Hageman, meanwhile, said it’s another example of DeJoy completely missing the target when it comes to actually delivering for America.
“From sea to shining sea, Postmaster General DeJoy has completely failed his job to serve all American communities,” she told Cowboy State Daily in an email. “It is ludicrous for rural customers to be charged more for lesser service, and with a Republican trifecta, USPS should expect legitimate and aggressive oversight into its failures.”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
