Starting April 26, the U.S. Postal Service will implement a nine-month 8% increase to its postage prices to “better align its costs of transportation with the market.”

The planned price change, which was approved by the Governors of the Postal Service on March 24 and is pending review by the Postal Regulatory Commission, would remain in place until midnight Central Time on Jan. 17, 2027.

It would affect base postage prices on the following retail and commercial domestic competitive products: Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage and Parcel Select.

The price increase would “provide a necessary bridge to a permanent mechanism to reflect market conditions in prices for competitive products that can support the Postal Service’s ability to achieve the universal service obligation in a more financially sustainable manner going forward,” USPS officials wrote in a March 25 news release.

Officials added: “Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges. We have steadfastly avoided surcharges and this charge is less than one-third of what our competitors charge for fuel alone, so even with this change, the Postal Service continues to offer great value in shipping with some of the lowest rates in the industrialized world.”