NEWS! July 2026 Postage Rate Change Approved

Market Dominant Postage Prices to officially change on July 12th, 2026

The Postal Regulatory Commission has officially approved the U.S. Postal Service’s planned price adjustments and structural classification changes for Market Dominant products, with one notable exception.

The PRC did not approve of the introduction of the new NCOA+ API service. Following strong industry feedback regarding fair competition and strict technical standards, the Commission ruled that a complex dispute under 39 U.S.C. § 404a cannot be properly vetted within the 21-day comment period timeline. 

The concerns of the introduction of the NCOA+ API were raised in comments from PostCom, NPPC, and NAPM.  

The USPS must re-propose NCOA+ under a separate 39 C.F.R. part 3040 classification proceeding if they choose to move forward.  

Approved Price Adjustments (Effective July 12, 2026):

• First-Class Mail: 4.803% increase (0% unused authority remaining)
• USPS Marketing Mail: 4.714% increase (0.089% unused authority remaining) – this new figure was determined from CHIR-5 under the R2026-1 docket.
• Periodicals: 6.803% increase (0% unused authority remaining) reflects an additional 2 percentage points of the non-compensatory surcharge.
• Package Services & Special Services: 4.803% increase (0% unused authority remaining)

CY 2027 Promotions & Incentives: Seven promotions were approved (including the new Impact Messaging and Direct Mail Discovery initiatives), with First-Class Mail Single-Piece mailpieces now explicitly eligible for applicable discounts.

Major Structural & Classification Changes:

• First-Class Mail Pricing Flexibility: Mailers can now combine Presorted Letters and Postcards to satisfy the 500-piece minimum volume requirement for presort rates.
• New Technical Fees: Introduction of a $0.25 Package Quality Noncompliance Fee for USPS Marketing Mail, Bound Printed Matter, and Media/Library Mail parcels that fail to meet Intelligent Mail package barcode validation criteria. (exempt from this for now is Heavy Printed Matter and Periodicals).
• Streamlined Periodicals Structure: Simplification of Outside County Periodicals pricing structure, transitioning to per-piece and per-pound components while eliminating separate bundle and container processing metrics.

While the price hikes comply mathematically with current regulatory caps, the Commission expressed ongoing concerns regarding substantial mail volume declines, service performance, and the Postal Service’s long-term financial trajectory. Structural system reviews will continue under the Commission’s open rulemaking docket, Docket No. RM2024-4. 

The full decision can be found under the PRC docket R2026-1 as Order No. 9584 

For more information on these topics or other postal issues contact GrayHair Software at engage@grayhairsoftware.com