The US Postal Service wants to charge you peak shipping fees this holiday season
Video above from December: Baltimore residents report long delays at post office on Christmas Eve
The United States Postal Service really wants to get your holiday packages delivered on time. So it wants to start charging more.
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 price increases, which range from 25 cents to $5 per package, would go into effect on Oct. 3, 2021, and last through Dec. 26, 2021, for individuals and businesses on mailings including Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and First-Class Package Service, according to .
The Postal Regulatory Commission still has to approve the higher rates.
In 2020, USPS implemented a similar temporary rate adjustment during peak holiday season in anticipation of heightened demand and extra shipping costs. However, the postal service with holiday demand last year thanks to a historic amount of packages and rising employee COVID-19 cases.
In December 2020, packages were "up to the ceiling" in Philadelphia, local American Postal Workers Union president Nick Casselli told CNN.
"I've been in postal for 35 years, I've never seen what I'm seeing," he said.
Delays in processing lasted through the holiday season, and some customers until January and February.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, James Seaman told CNN affiliate KJRH at the end of January that he was still receiving holiday cards that were originally mailed out in December.
"You can't rely on getting things through the mail right now in a timely manner," Seaman told KJRH.