The U.S. Postal Service plans to temporarily hike its prices by 8% starting April 26 to cope with rising fuel prices, as gasoline and diesel prices continue to rise across the nation in response to market disruptions triggered by the U.S. and Israel’s attack on Iran.USPS today said it had filed notice with its controlling body, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC), regarding “a time-limited price change to better align its costs of transportation with the market.” The PRC will review the proposed price change before it is scheduled to take effect.“Transportation costs have been increasing, and our competitors have reacted with a number of surcharges,” USPS said in a release. “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.”Global fuel prices have soared since Iran choked off most ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in reaction to the Western bombing campaign that began on February 28. That move has throttled back on worldwide oil supplies, as well as increasing risk, prices, insurance, and confusion in international energy markets.U.S. Regular Gasoline Prices have risen on average from $3.502 per gallon on March 9 to $3.720 on March 16 and to $3.961 on March 23, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).UPS uses data from that same agency to make weekly adjustments to its…
