USPS to Hike Shipping Rates in 2026: Commercial Shippers to Bear the Brunt

Starting January 18, 2026, shipping will get pricier. The USPS is desperate to fix its deficit, so they’ve pushed a new rate hike through their board—it’s just waiting on the regulator’s stamp now. The big takeaway, though, is how hard they are leaning on commercial accounts. Some of these jumps are actually steeper than those from private carriers like UPS or FedEx.

While costs are rising across the board, the most significant hikes are targeting commercial shippers, with some increases outpacing the annual adjustments planned by FedEx and UPS.

The increases vary significantly by service and customer type, with commercial accounts taking the most brutal hit. Ground Advantage is seeing the widest gap, with an average hike of 7.8% masking a sharp 9.6% jump for commercial shippers compared to just 5.9% for retail customers. Priority Mail rates aren't far behind, rising 6.6% on average, while Priority Mail Express will see a slightly more modest 5.1% increase. Elsewhere, Parcel Select services are set to rise by a flat 6%, and local delivery via Connect Local will cost 4.9% more.

The pricing strategy signals a shift in the kind of mail the USPS wants to prioritize. According to Nate Skiver, founder of LPF Spend Management, the agency is pivoting toward heavier shipments moving shorter distances. Skiver's analysis shows that lightweight Ground Advantage packages—those under 1 pound—will face a steep 12.2% increase, whereas heavier packages between 8 and 20 pounds will see a much softer 4.4% rise.

With a crippling $9 billion loss on the books for 2025, Postmaster General David Steiner is scrambling for solutions. These bold pricing moves are a direct attempt to shore up the bottom line before things get worse. Even with shipping volumes dropping, the price hikes are doing precisely what they were designed to do—generate cash. Revenue ticked up 1.2% year-over-year, thanks mainly to Ground Advantage and the new rates. CFO Luke Grossmann framed these increases as a necessary step, calling it a "judicious use of our pricing authority" to make up for the fact that people simply aren't mailing as much as they used to.