Effective July 13, 2025, the Postal Service™ will revise Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM®) to reflect changes to certain prices and mailing standards for the following competitive products:
n Priority Mail Express®.
n Priority Mail®.
n USPS Ground Advantage®.
n Parcel Select®.
n Extra Services.
n Return Services.
n Mailer Services.
n Recipient Services.
n Other.
This article describes new prices and product features for competitive products established by the Governors of the United States Postal Service. New prices are available on the Postal Explorer® website at pe.usps.com.
Competitive products changes are identified by product as follows:
There are no price or product changes scheduled for the Priority Mail Express competitive product.
There are no product changes scheduled for the Priority Mail competitive product.
The Postal Service is revising the basic eligibility standards for USPS Ground Advantage – Commercial to be sealed against inspection. Additionally, except for restricted material as described in DMM section 601.8.0, USPS Ground Advantage – Commercial will now be eligible for any mailable item (e.g., personally identifiable information or PII).
These revisions will provide consistency with the basic eligibility standards for the USPS Ground Advantage – Retail, and USPS Ground Advantage – Commercial products.
The Postal Service is discontinuing the Destination Network Distribution Center (DNDC) destination entry level for Parcel Select Destination Entry mailings. Parcel Select Destination Entry mailings must be sorted to a 5-digit scheme, 5-digit, SCF, or 3-digit (nonstandard only) for entry at the applicable DSCF/DRPDC, DHub, or DDU and DS&DC (destination sectional center facility or destination regional processing and distribution center, destination hub, or destination delivery unit and destination sorting and distribution center).
There are no price or product changes scheduled for the Extra Services competitive products.
There are no structural changes to USPS Returns® service.
There are no price or product changes scheduled for the Mailer Services competitive products.
There are no price or product changes scheduled for the Recipient Services competitive products.
The Postal Service is revising DMM section 705.18.0, “Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute,” to limit the use of sacks and eliminate hazardous materials:
Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute sacks will be limited to a 5-digit sortation for parcels only. The 5-digit Open and Distribute sacks may continue to be entered at all destination entry levels (e.g., SCF/RPDC, DDU and S&DC).
Priority Mail Express Open and Distribute and Priority Mail Open and Distribute is also being revised to eliminate hazardous material from being included in mail enclosed in a Priority Mail Express or Priority Mail Open-and-Distribute container.
The Postal Service is revising the Nonstandard Fee structure to add a new component: “Characteristics.” The new component will consist of parcels with characteristics that are considered to be nonstandard by the Postal Service (e.g., cylindrical tubes and rolls, wood or metal boxes).
The Postal Service is also revising the Nonstandard Fee assessment criteria. A parcel that is nonstandard by both length (more than 22 inches or more than 30 inches) and by characteristics will only be subject to the highest fee. A parcel that is nonstandard by either length or characteristics, and by cube (more than 2 cubic feet) will continue to be subject to both the length or characteristics fee and the cube fee.
In addition, the Postal Service is requiring mailers with Shipping Services file manifests or other approved electronic documentation to include, when applicable, the extra service code (ESC) for the characteristics fee, along with the current standard to include accurate dimensions (length, width, height) of all parcels that measure more than 22 inches in length, 18 inches in width, or 15 inches in height. For mailers who do not meet the requirement to include the parcel’s accurate dimensions or characteristics, ESC will then assess the Dimension-Noncompliance fee.
Nonstandard fees will continue to be applied to retail and commercial Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, Parcel Select Destination Entry, and USPS Connect® Local. However, in addition to the current Nonstandard Fee product exceptions, parcels mailed at the USPS Ground Advantage “Oversized,” Parcel Select Destination Entry “Oversized,” and USPS Connect Local “Oversized” prices will not be subject to a Nonstandard Fee.
Note: The Postal Service is making a minor revision from FRN (90 FR 21417–21423) in DMM sections 213.1.8, 223.1.10, 253.1.7, and 283.1.7 to revert to the original requirement to include dimensions in the Shipping Services file manifests, or other approved electronic documentation of 22 inches in length, rather than 22 inches in length or 18 inches in width or 15 inches in height stated in the FRN.
The Postal Service provides additional resources to assist customers with this price change for competitive products. These tools include price lists, downloadable price files, and Federal Register Notices, which are available via the Postal Explorer website at pe.usps.com.
The Postal Service will incorporate these revisions into the next update of the online DMM, which is available via Postal Explorer at pe.usps.com.
— Product Classification,
Product Solutions, 6-26-25
