Shipping Rates Could Be Going Up in Louisiana Thanks to the U.S. Postal Service

LAFAYETTE, La. (KPEL News) - Shipping rates are about to go up, thanks to a new policy from the U.S. Postal Service that impacts major shipping companies.

The USPS said on Wednesday that it is ending discounts that shipping consolidators such as UPS and DHL use in delivering packages to your doorsteps. The move will cut costs for the postal service, but it will end up costing you more.

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“I’m not trying to take over the package business. I’m just trying to save the mail business,” U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy told The Associated Press. “Reevaluating these business arrangements is the right thing to do for the Postal Service and the American people. And of course, we will make agreements with consolidators who are willing to negotiate deals based upon a more rational use of our network in a fashion that is mutually beneficial."

The USPS policy change will only affect those shipping consolidators, and not companies like Amazon, which directly negotiates with the government agency.

However, it will likely mean higher shipping costs for all sorts of products shipped by consolidators. Those companies have saved money by using the Postal Service network for final deliveries, including big names like DHL eCommerce and OSM Worldwide.

UPS is another consolidator that will be targeted by the policy through its SurePost and Mail Innovations services.

But as companies see their shipping costs go up, that typically leads to prices and fees going up as well as those companies pass along costs to consumers in an effort to remain profitable.

In late August, the USPS tried to quietly push a new plan that would save them about $3 billion a year as part of a 10-year plan. But some of those changes could hurt Americans as well.

The new delivery schedule being pushed by the agency would mean up to a 12-24 hour delay for deliveries in rural parts of the United States. Instead of three days or less, some places could see deliveries take a bit longer.

Which, if you're in dire need of something that is being mailed or shipped, can be a make-or-break situation.

But it's all a part of the agency's plan to cut costs - it has seen tens of billions of dollars in losses over the course of decades. And some critics say the postal service is essentially asking Americans to pay more for worse service.