A change in U.S. Postal Service (USPS) standards starting Oct. 1 could slow some first-class mail to and from Haines by a day or two.

USPS spokesperson James Boxrud said that while most mail won’t be affected, long-distance first-class deliveries, including letters, postcards and small packages, could see minor slowdowns. USPS announced that 61% of first-class mail and 93% of periodicals wouldn’t be affected by the new standards, which the USPS announced would increase reliability and efficiency and reduce costs.

The length of delays will depend on how far the mail has to travel. “The farther away it is, the longer it’s going to take,” Boxrud said.

But, he added, “there isn’t going to be any changes to the way mail comes into Alaska.” While USPS is increasing use of ground transportation in the Lower 48, mail will continue to be transported by plane to Alaska. A rumor that swirled around last week that mail would be barged into Haines or other towns in Southeast was inaccurate.

“If somebody sends something from Seattle (to Alaska), that won’t change,” Boxrud said. But first-class mail from Miami to Haines, or vice versa, could take longer to deliver.

On Oct. 1 the postal service’s standard for first-class mail in the Lower 48 will go from a one-to-three-day delivery window to a one-to-five-day window. The standard will be four to five days for first-class mail sent between the Lower 48 and Alaska, Hawaii or U.S. territories.

The Washington Post reported in June that the new standards would represent the biggest slowdown of mail services in more than a generation.

The Post reported that 70 percent of first-class mail sent to Nevada will take longer to arrive, as will 60 percent of the deliveries to Florida, 58 percent to Washington state, 57 percent to Montana, and 55 percent to Arizona and Oregon. The Post analyzed data submitted by USPS to the Postal Regulatory Commission, an independent federal body that sets postal rates, regarding the current and proposed mail standards. The data didn’t include Alaska.

When it unveiled the proposed changes last spring, the USPS said it hasn’t met its first-class mail service targets in nearly a decade.