Why do postal services charge extra for expedited mail?

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postal system A United States Postal Service worker retrieving mail from a mailbox in Manheim, Pennsylvania.

Postal services charge extra for expedited mail, such as Express Mail, because these services require individualized priority handling and expedited conveyance that deviate from the standard, mass-processed methods used for regular mail.1

To maintain efficiency and keep costs low, postal organizations typically rely on bulk processing, where items are grouped together for transport and sorting. In contrast, expedited services prioritize specific items, necessitating dedicated resources and faster, often more expensive, transport routes to meet guaranteed delivery timelines. These additional fees help cover the higher operational costs associated with providing such specialized, high-speed service in a competitive commercial market.1