I always find it curious when ecommerce businesses that depend on packaged goods delivery seem to support fewer shipping and delivery options for themselves and their customers.
Perhaps it’s due to difference in how differently-sized or -weighted products ship, or whether a business’s US customer base is primarily urban or is more geographically diverse.
Novel but not the reason for home delivery mail.
Again … from USPS Postal History
An even more revolutionary customer convenience was introduced in 1863. Before 1863, postage paid only for the delivery of mail from Post Office to Post Office. Citizens picked up their mail at the Post Office, although in some cities they could pay an extra two-cent fee for letter delivery or use private delivery firms. Customers sometimes faced long lines at Post Offices to check for mail, often in vain.
Among the postal reforms suggested by Postmaster General Montgomery Blair in his 1862 report to the President was free delivery of mail by salaried letter carriers, which he felt would “greatly accelerate deliveries, and promote the public convenience.”18 Congress agreed, and in an act effective July 1, 1863, provided that free city delivery be established at Post Offices where income from local postage was more than sufficient to pay all expenses of the service.19 Within a year, free delivery was offered in 65 cities nationwide; by 1880, free delivery was offered in 104 cities, and by 1900, in 796 cities.
This is just your narrative but not the true history of the postal service.
It was discussed, possibly in the Federalist papers, or some other broadside in the colonies. I’ll try to find the exact reference.
My memories are from a college course on politics. It has been almost half a century.
A royal post of some sort has existed for millenia, chiefly for the purpose of the monarch conveying orders, and return acknowledgement by royal subordinates. ( Indeed, the phrase “snow, or rain, or darkness of night” comes from the writings of Herodotus, the Greek historian, when he described the royal post of King Darius of Persia in about 500 BC. )
The founding fathers had these strange heretical ideas about government, that it might have limitations, and it might have obligations to its citizenry, and that it might have to act according to rules. So they did have conversations about how to integrate such a government with the postal system - especially when the government might run/own the postal system
This, BTW, is part of the reason that voting was first restricted to property owners. The average person did not have a conventional mailing address, and maintaining voter rolls was difficult if people could not be positively and uniquely identified.
That’s true enough, as far as it goes, but the delivery of goods by the USPO is actually much older than that.
There’s a reason why the Second Congress included the specific phrase “…letters and packets…” (and variations thereof, such as “…letters or packets…” &etc.) in so many clauses found in the text of the Postal Service Act of 1791.
Federalist 42 states
I shall confine myself to a cursory review of the remaining powers comprehended under this third description, to wit: to regulate commerce among the several States and the Indian tribes; to coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin; to provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the current coin and secureties of the United States; to fix the standard of weights and measures; to establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform laws of bankruptcy, to prescribe the manner in which the public acts, records, and judicial proceedings of each State shall be proved, and the effect they shall have in other States; and to establish post offices and post roads. The defect of power in the existing Confederacy to regulate the commerce between its several members, is in the number of those which have been clearly pointed out by experience.
It makes no argument nor does it assert that the establishment of post offices and post roads as to link the voting population to the government or to administer government rule of law upon them.
And the true parameters were set up as @Dogtamer has alluded to …
Ok we took a strange fork in the Oregon trail some ways back!
Getting back on topic.
You tried to ford the river. Always caulk the wagon.
No matter what occurs-and I can’t imagine any domestic company thinking that USPS will be a money-maker for them- can only foresee many raises in cost.
Plus might do away w/ media-mail (this also might occur under a Commerce secretary!)
The British sold the Royal Mail from one private company to another over a decade ago. Anyone watch Mr. Bates vs. the Postal Service?
When watching the series I kept thinking: sounds like the sort of snarl-up that could happen here! Though our system is different, not an after-thought in a “general” store-similar events might well occur!!
I tend to believe that no one in DC believes anyone would buy it either. If any do they will probably enact protections for the workforce which will make it hard to happen. I tend to believe that they will privatize specific operations within USPS,
Even though they had some rebellion among their Amazon Logistics contractors, they appear to have no shortage of them. Amazon offers very attractive financial support for its contractors to buy their vehicles, and a growing volume of business. I am sure such a deal will make the acquisition of
the physical assets of USPS attractive.
I am confused by this THINGS, thing.
So you are against GA/PM to be delivered to the Rural 20% (again what is your percentage), but AGREE First Class mail should be delivered for property tax bills, Tax refunds, government and business mail, and letters from Grandma?
Or stuff em as well on the letters and bills? Just let them use the Internet.
I can only assume, that you also against the government support to build out the Internet for all in areas not served?
I complete get it that you are a big city, computer savvy, business, but my older relatives are just both internet and computer impaired.
NO amount of help is possible.
Just this last month, I have gotten a dozen random meaningless messages on i-messages, and a few butt dials from my 89yo Aunt, that were so odd, I thought someone died, and when she did not answer repeated calls back, I called 2 family members to check.
Maybe in 10-20 years when that generation passes, I will agree with you.
My stance is that the USPS should not be in the packages job, period. The rural thing was a litmus test. Being yes, the same “product” (as close as it can be) whether to a big city or rural.
Yes, USPS should deliver all mail (letters, periodicals, tax notices, etc) everywhere.
If that means, like discussed several years ago (wow it is 15 years, 2010) due to dropping volume, that the mail days are reduced then so be it. Those reduced days would be for everyone before you ask. Same “product” across the board.
Not the topic of the thread, and please don’t assume that since I “support” one thing that I “support” or are “against” another, I often disagree with both of the current “sides”, but yes I support the government doing infrastructure (broad band, highways, etc).
The “need” to deliver packages “everywhere everyday” has gotten out of hand. Yes, it might seem “odd” that someone who needs package delivery as an online seller would say this. It is “odd” to me to see the mailman twice (one truck handling mail, another truck just for the glut of packages) and Amazon 3 times on the same day (delivering packages to different houses and ocassionally the same one more than once).
Modern logistics models have determined that it is more effective and profitable. We regularly have two UPS drivers, one for pickup and one for drop off, we also have numerous LTL route drivers because we live in a area that facilitates that volume and you obviously do too or you would not see, what you assume is “out of hand…”.
Lets not pretend the rural route driver has been upgraded to a 53’ trailer for Billy Bob at the end of the county road shall we?
In the logistics business, trucks, people and planes not moving, is the real waste of money. More of them moving means more revenue. We also no longer do the Pony Express with actual horses, because we found better ways to move mail across long distances, and like that innovation, the USPS adapted to packages long, long, long, before email reduced the letter volumes.
The logistics business is a well developed specialty with sophisticated algorithms which has had sophisticated algorithms since the 1970s.
They work.
DeJoy attempted to apply these algorithms and the expertise to USPS and did not succeed in making it profitable. Either USPS is too complex for these algorithms to handle (something I as a former technologist doubt), or the human beings applying the algorithms and implementing the organizational changes were inadequate to perform, or the artificial limits on freedom for anyone running USPS preclude success.
We all lack the data to identify which gets the blame.
I am not unprejudiced. I worked back in the 1970s for a company which customized warehousing and logistics software for major corporations. I worked with many of the logistics professionals, and stole some of their techniques when I was in my consulting years. My dad was a letter carrier at the end of his life, it was the best job he ever had. My 102 yo Mom still receives survivor benefits, 44 years after his death.
I just need to point something out. There is nothing written anywhere that says USPS needs to be profitable.
The US Postal Service is one thing that sets the USA apart from many many MANY other nations. We can actually send letters and packages to anywhere in the country (and even to parts of the country that aren’t in the country! APO etc), and STUFF GETS THERE. USPS WORKS. Can’t even do that in some other 1st world countries.
USPS is also unique. What works for UPS, Fedex, DHL, XPO, etc, does not work for UPSP. Look at the Grumman LLV’s used as mail trucks to this day, and now the new Oshkosh NGDV. Looks bad, but Mail Carriers LOVE THEM. They can see everything, they are comfortable, and functional. While the Mercedes Metris vans USPS got were a step up in comfort, mail carriers complained that they were a giant blind spot, and they did not function for mail delivery as well as the old AM General DJ’s.
We all have opinions here, and debating will not change anyone’s opinion.
The thread is about how the ending of USPS as we currently know it would effect us as sellers, and I think we have exhausted that topic.
The correct words would be “DeJoy failed to successfully integrate..” not blame the people beneath him or the systems in place.
Just like Capt. Dave Snowden, he is responsible for the outcome of his mission, just like letting a bulk cargo ship run into a 4+ billion dollar national asset. If you cannot do the job, don’t take the job, that is why he and those preceding and following him get paid what they get paid and why they are expected to be able to do the job they are assigned.
Only one of two things can be true; either he failed to do his job and made the USPS “deliver for America”, or he succeeded in expediting its demise, as several in his preferred political party have called for.
The difference is, Capt. Snowden didn’t use noncompetitive contracts to buy his way into the captains chair with donations to admirals or congress, which makes his career failure a real tragedy unlike DeJoy.
DeJoy, will simply buy his way onto a board of directors someplace else despite his blatant failure with the USPS.
POST EDIT- I did not realize this thread closed 3 hours ago when I posted it…
