Amazon and the United States Postal Service have reached a tentative new delivery agreement, ending months of uncertainty over the future of one of the most consequential partnerships in U.S. logistics.
Under the terms of the deal — first reported by The Wall Street Journal on April 6 — the USPS will continue delivering approximately 80% of Amazon’s current package volume, representing more than one billion packages per year. Amazon will pull back the remaining 20%, redirecting that volume to its own rapidly expanding delivery network.
The agreement requires review and approval by the Postal Regulatory Commission before it can take effect.
What Changed
The deal represents a significant de-escalation from where negotiations stood just weeks ago. In March 2026, reports indicated that Amazon had threatened to cut its USPS volume by two-thirds or more if a satisfactory direct agreement could not be reached. That threat followed months of stalled negotiations after the USPS moved toward a competitive “reverse auction” model for its last-mile delivery network.
The final agreement — a 20% reduction rather than a 66%+ reduction — preserves the bulk of the relationship while still giving Amazon room to grow its own logistics footprint.
The Revenue at Stake
Amazon is the USPS’s single largest customer, generating an estimated $6 billion in annual revenue for the Postal Service. Even with a 20% volume reduction, the remaining 80% represents roughly $4.8 billion in annual revenue — a critical revenue stream for an agency already grappling with significant financial headwinds.
For Amazon, the USPS remains a key delivery partner, particularly for last-mile and rural deliveries where Amazon’s own network has not yet achieved full coverage.
Amazon’s 3.5% Fuel Surcharge
The agreement comes on the heels of Amazon’s announcement that it will impose a 3.5% fuel and logistics-related surcharge on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fulfillment fees, effective April 17, 2026. The surcharge applies to FBA orders in the U.S. and Canada and will extend to Buy with Prime and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) orders on May 2.
Amazon described the surcharge as temporary, citing rising fuel and transportation costs. The company estimates it amounts to an average increase of approximately $0.17 per unit for U.S. FBA orders, though actual impact varies based on product size and dimensions.
DHL eCommerce Nearing Five-Year USPS Deal
Amazon is not the only major mailer solidifying its relationship with the Postal Service. DHL eCommerce is in the late stages of finalizing a five-year agreement with the USPS, valued at approximately $10 billion — or $2 billion per year in committed volume.
According to sources familiar with the negotiations, DHL requested a longer-term agreement (five years versus the typical two or three) to justify $400–500 million in network investments it plans to make over the contract period. Final contract language was sent to DHL as recently as late last week, and both parties expect the deal to be signed before the National Postal Forum in early May, where it would be publicly announced.
The DHL agreement, like the Amazon deal, underscores the Postal Service’s continued importance as a last-mile delivery partner for the country’s largest parcel shippers — even as those same shippers invest heavily in building out their own networks.
The USPS 8% Price Increase
Both deals are being finalized against the backdrop of the USPS’s 8% temporary price increase on competitive parcel products (Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express, Ground Advantage, and Parcel Select), which takes effect April 26, 2026. For DHL, which passes USPS pricing through to its own customers, the timing of the increase has created tension — DHL has indicated that the 8% was not part of its ongoing contract negotiations and was unexpected.
What to Watch
- PRC review: The Amazon-USPS agreement requires Postal Regulatory Commission approval before it can take effect.
- DHL announcement at NPF: Expect a formal announcement at the National Postal Forum in early May if the DHL-USPS five-year agreement is signed on schedule.
- Amazon’s delivery network expansion: Amazon Logistics now operates over 4,400 DSP partners, 390,000+ drivers, and 40,000+ semi-trucks. The 20% volume Amazon is pulling from the USPS will move to this network, representing a meaningful test of its capacity in new geographies.
- USPS financial trajectory: Between the Amazon volume reduction, the DHL deal, and the temporary price increase, the Postal Service is simultaneously losing its largest customer’s volume while trying to stabilize revenue through higher pricing and long-term commitments from other mailers.