Prices will still go up as much as 12 percent to 17 percent as part of an overall U.S. Postal Service rate hike, but it's not as high as the 40 percent increases that shippers -- and consumers -- could have faced had the post office not decided to tweak the bypass mail program.
The Postal Regulatory Commission announced Monday that it would reconfigure the way bypass mail works. Goods sent via bypass mail will no longer have to be separated into distinct 70-pound packages. Instead, mailers will be allowed to divide the total weight of items on a pallet by 70 to determine the minimum number of packages that could have been created. Then they'll pay the 70-pound single-piece parcel post rate.
"The Postal Service believes this will reduce shippers' costs and offset the effect of the rate increase," the Postal Regulatory Commission wrote in its findings.
Bypass mail is sent directly through shippers on air carriers, at Postal Service prices. Shippers pay parcel post rates -- among the cheapest shipping rates the Postal Service offers. They must ship a minimum of 1,000 pounds at a time.
The state's congressional delegation and Gov. Sarah Palin asked the Postal Service to try to find a way to keep the cost of bypass mail from rising too much, because they were concerned about the effect on rural communities where people depend on the service but can least afford a price hike.
Alaska Airlines and three of the other cargo carriers in the state also sent a letter to the congressional delegation outlining their concerns about the price increase. They estimated that if the full price hike took effect, the price of a gallon of milk could go up $1.27 in Bethel and Dillingham and as much as $1.47 in Nome and Kotzebue.
The price hikes are part of an overall rate adjustment that increases the cost of stamps two cents, to 44 cents.
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