Starting Oct. 1, the United States Postal Service will implement new service standards for its first-class mail and packages, extending delivery times for roughly one-third of its volume.

Additionally, starting Oct. 3, the USPS will enact a temporary price increase on commercial and retail domestic package shipments for the 2021 peak fall and holiday season.

Currently, first-class mail in the continental United States is supposed to be delivered in two days if traveling up to 280 miles and three days if traveling more. However, the new standards allot two days for items traveling as far as 139 miles, three days for 930 miles, four days for 1,907 miles and five days for anything beyond, with an on-time rate of 95%, according to the USPS. An estimated 70% of first-class mail will still arrive in under three days.

At least one-third of letters and parcels addressed to 27 states will arrive more slowly under the new standards, The Washington Post reported. For example, 70% of first-class mail sent to Nevada will take longer to arrive, as will 60% to Florida, 58% to Washington, 57% to Montana and 55% to Arizona and Oregon, respectively. The changes will also impact customers sending packages from coast to coast, as well as to and from Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and U.S. territories that rely upon air transportation.

The changes stem from Postmaster General Louis DeJoy’s Delivering for America plan to try to trim the agency’s $160 billion debt. The plan would also reduce post office hours and raise postage prices, especially during the holiday season.

#Surcharges are going to make #shipping products domestically more expensive in the 2021 holiday season. This 45-second video explains. Prepare now. @Melissa_ASI @ASI_MBell @asicentral pic.twitter.com/vx56I7whAV

— Chris Ruvo (@ChrisR_ASI) August 18, 2021

As announced in August, the Postal Service also is implementing peak-season surcharges to account for anticipated rampant demand and increased operating costs during the holidays. The move will make shipping goods domestically more expensive for promotional products companies and other shippers that rely on those organizations.

“These temporary rates will keep the Postal Service competitive while providing the agency with the revenue to cover extra costs in anticipation of peak-season volume surges similar to levels experienced in 2020,” USPS said in a statement.

USPS will add surcharges on most packages shipped domestically from Oct. 3 until Dec. 26. The surcharges will apply to commercial and retail customers, including packages sent by individuals. International shipments won’t be affected.

Impacted services include Priority Mail Express (PME), Priority Mail (PM), First-Class Package Service (FCPS), Parcel Select, USPS Retail Ground and Parcel Return Service. The surcharges will range from $0.75 per package for PM and PME flat-rate boxes and envelopes up to $5 per piece for certain packages that weigh between 21 and 70 pounds.

Word on the surcharges and delays comes as the promotional products industry, like most industries, deals with supply chain disruption due to fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic. The disruption has slowed the delivery of inventory imports and made importing drastically more expensive, contributing to stock shortfalls and rising product prices. Domestic labor shortages and delays in delivery from domestic truck and rail carriers are other negative factors driving up price and dragging out order production/delivery times.