July 2026 USPS Rate and Rule Changes

Summary of the July 2026 USPS changes

USPS is eliminating ounce-based pricing for Ground Advantage at Commercial Pricing rates. Beginning July 12th, all Ground Advantage shipments under 1 pound will cost the same within a given zone, regardless of their exact weight in ounces.

This change to Commercial Pricing will affect shipments to and from non-contiguous locations, including Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and military addresses. Most contiguous shipments qualify for our below-Commercial Pricing rates, which will continue using ounce-based pricing for Ground Advantage shipments under 1 pound, but shipments to rural destinations will also see the increase.

Due to the changes to Commercial Pricing for Ground Advantage, customers shipping packages to or from the following non-contiguous destinations will see higher rates:

With the new USPS rate structure, all packages under 1 pound shipped to specific ZIP Codes (generally in rural or suburban areas) will also now be charged the 15.99 oz rate. Packages shipped from those rural ZIP Codes remain unaffected (unless shipping to another rural destination).

For example: When shipping to a rural destination, shipping a 2 oz package now costs the same as a 15.99 oz package.

Beginning July 12th, USPS will round all fractional package dimensions up to the next whole inch when calculating postage.

There is an exception to this new rounding rule for Cubic Rating, where both Ground Advantage Cubic and Priority Mail Cubic will still be rounded to the nearest quarter inch.

USPS is also increasing the maximum allowable package length for cubic pricing from 18 inches to 22 inches.

USPS is lowering the amount of Ground Advantage Cubic pricing tiers for softpack envelopes from 10 tiers down to 5. This eliminates Ground Advantage Cubic tiers 0.6 through 1.0 for softpack and padded envelopes. The new measurement thresholds (Length + Width) for Ground Advantage Cubic will now match Priority Mail Cubic standards.

USPS is lowering its DIM weight divisor from 166 to 139.

Here's a quick refresher on dimensional weight: It's determined by multiplying Length * Width * Height, then dividing by the DIM divisor. If the resulting "dimensional weight" is higher than your actual weight, that's the weight you'll be charged for instead.

Because of this change, more packages may be subject to dimensional (DIM) weight pricing. Combined with USPS's new dimension rounding rules, some shipments that previously avoided dimensional weight pricing may now see higher rates.

Effective July 12, 2026, USPS is increasing their overweight/oversize fee to $200 if they find a package that is over 70 lb or larger than 130 inches in combined Length + Girth, where Girth is the measurement around your package, or ((Width + Height) x 2).

Previously, items caught and returned to the mailer at the point of entry were exempt from the fee. Under the new rule, all overweight or oversize items found anywhere in the Postal network will be assessed the $200 fee. In most cases, the fee will be automatically billed to the shipper through Carrier Adjustments. Otherwise, payment must be made before USPS releases the package.

USPS has also clarified that any package flagged as oversize/overweight will have its rate corrected to 70 lb in addition to being assessed the $200 fee.

USPS is introducing a new non-compliance fee of $50 if HazMat items are not declared at the time of purchasing the label. USPS has shared that this fee will be non-disputable and non-refundable.

Signature Confirmation is increasing from $3.95 to $4.15. This will apply to any USPS domestic package to which it's added.

Adult signature confirmation is unchanged at $9.70.