Ruralinfo.net 
The U.S. Postal Service today filed notice with the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) of mailing services price changes to take effect on July 12. The new rates include a 4-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail Forever stamp from 78 cents to 82 cents.
The Postal Service has informed the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) of its intention to temporarily suspend its employer’s contributions for the defined benefit portion of the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) to conserve cash and preserve liquidity due to its ongoing, severe financial crisis.
Let me be clear: this was a unilateral action by USPS management, and not something negotiated with the NRLCA. Rural carriers should be aware that this does not impact TSP contributions or matching funds.
The regulation would require 65 insurance companies that cover more than 8 million Americans — including federal workers, retired members of Congress, mail carriers, and their immediate family members — to provide monthly reports to OPM with identifiable health data on their members.
The Postal Regulatory Commission on Monday approved the U.S. Postal Service’s request to add an 8% surge for transportation-related expenses on parcel products. The change will be effective April 26 through Jan. 17, 2007.
USPS has a roughly $80 billion budget, and Amazon represented $6 billion in annual revenue to the agency, according to two people familiar with the business arrangement.
The US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released its Plan Year 2027 Carrier Call Letter for the Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) and Postal Service Health Benefits (PSHB) Programs, outlining a clear shift toward prevention, wellness, and long-term health outcomes.
Amazon and the U.S. Postal Service have reached a new package-handling agreement, according to people familiar with the matter, after Amazon threatened to drastically cut back on the number of packages it sends through the struggling agency.
Based on this release, the Equipment Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for rural carriers will decrease 2.0¢ to 95.0¢ per mile. This EMA rate will be effective April 4, 2026 (Pay Period 09-2026).
The National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association is deeply concerned by the Administration’s executive order seeking to impose new federal restrictions on vote by mail and to involve the United States Postal Service (USPS) in functions that properly belong to the states.