USPS Announces Significant New Service Changes, Idaho Will Be Impacted

Between email, text messages and social media, it’s never been easier to reach out to someone you care about and wish them “happy birthday” or congratulate them for a big accomplishment. While those gestures are nice, deep down you still get more excited when physical mail shows up at your home. 

If you’re signed up for the United States Postal Service’s “informed delivery” you can’t help but smile when you see an image of a handwritten envelope coming your way. Delivering those smiles is probably the most rewarding part of working for the USPS. 

READ MORE: USPS Warns Idaho Citizens About Dangerous Smishing Scam

From their reliability and reach to their prices, there are a lot of reasons Idahoans still rely on the United States Postal Services. That said, the postal service is about to switch postage prices up on us again. According to an official notice on the USPS website, starting January 19, 2025 they are raising the prices on four of their products as part of their 10-year “Delivering for America Plan.” 

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We briefly told you about the plan when the price of stamps went up in July 2024. The postal service originally laid out the plan in 2021 to help modernize and revitalize its operations. That means improving logistics, USPS facilities, equipment and their famous fleet of vehicles. Making that happen takes a little bit of money which is why they’ve been slowly hiking the prices of their products. Ultimately, they hope that following through with that vision will generate $44 billion in additional revenue. 

This hike is meant to help keep them competitive while still generating that needed revenue.

How Will the Latest “Delivering for America” Hike Affect Idahoans?

The postal service said that their proposed changes were approved by the Board of Governors of the USPS at the beginning of the month. Starting January 19, these rates will change: 

• USPS Ground Advantage: 3.9% average increase
• Priority Mail Service: 3.2% average increase
• Priority Mail Express Service: 3.2% 
• Parcel Select: 9.2% 

Will the Price of Stamps Go Up Again?

No. This time around, the price hikes will NOT affect the price of the first-class and Forever stamps. The price for those jumped from 68 cents to 73 cents in July. When the Forever Stamp was introduced in 2007, they cost just 41 cents. The Forever Stamp is always worth the current price of first-class stamps, no matter when you purchased them. So if you still have some from 2007, the first year they were available, stuffed in a junk drawer, they’re still good.