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It seems nobody at esquire even bothered to read the wikipedia article on the USPS as they would have crossed the section titled Universal service obligation an

It seems nobody at esquire even bothered to read the wikipedia article on the USPS as they would have crossed the section titled Universal service obligation and monopoly status[1]. This brings me to 2 things; 1) Monopoly: The USPS has a legal monopoly on letter carrying. You're not legally allowed to compete with them and that, simply, is why mailing a letter through UPS is so expensive. 2) Universal Service: One problem with completely privatizing as that you would have to legally mandate private companies to deliver to everyone. I think the USPS could be a profitable company, they've just royally screwed up customer service. Screwed it up so bad that most people actually resent it. Not only is going to the post office comparable to a bad visit to the dentist but just try to make sense of their services [2]. They're incomprehensible. If I just want to mail a letter with a tracking number I should be able to go to the post office and say, "I would like to mail this with a tracking number." Actually forget that, I should be able to go to a vending machine, put in $1 and have it print me a tracking number that I can slap on the envelope. Instead I have to wait 30 minutes in a slightly dilapidated room, with service change signs dated back to 2004 and ask for "First Class mail with tracking and delivery confirmation". Every time, I say "I just want a tracking number" and they have to ask me 10 questions. Just give me a damn tracking number and clean your office. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usps#Universal_service_obligation_and_monopoly_status https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usps#Universal_service_obligat... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usps#Service_level_choices https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usps#Service_level_choices

rgbrenner 14y ago
Haven't been to the post office lately? >I should be able to go to a vending machine ... Yes, they have those. They are called "Automated Postal Center"(APC). > "First Class mail with tracking and delivery confirmation" and they have to ask me 10 questions. These two things never existed together. There was delivery confirmation, which is not tracking. USPS did not previously provide tracking on First class mail. Over the past few years they have been improving their tracking of delivery conf #s, and today it's similar to UPS/FedEx tracking.. so recently they renamed it to "USPS Tracking" (in mid-Jan 2013).
- newishuser 14y ago
  Exactly, I've been 15 times for this very reason and still can't figure it out.
eurleif 14y ago
On the other hand, my address is weird. Because of historical reasons, the address is on 14th Ave., but the house isn't actually physically located on 14th Ave. Sometimes when I get an Amazon package, UPS or FedEx can't find where I live. Sometimes they even deliver to the same house number on 13th Ave. (I've never met whoever lives there, but I believe they've hand-delivered packages to me a few times. Thanks, stranger!) However, USPS has never failed to deliver correctly. And I think there's something to be said for their reliability in general.
mmanfrin 14y ago
and that, simply, is why mailing a letter through UPS is so expensive. What?
- skore 14y ago
  I'm confused as well. I thought the reason why mailing a letter through UPS is expensive is because using a system set up for delivery of packages to deliver a letter is a bit wasteful and thus they have to set higher costs to make any money on letters.
  - streptomycin 14y ago
    Wikipedia says: "FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) directly compete with USPS express mail and package delivery services, making nationwide deliveries of urgent letters and packages. Due to the postal monopoly, they are not allowed to deliver non-urgent letters and may not directly ship to U.S. Mail boxes at residential and commercial destinations." I don't know what specifically the definitions of urgent and non-urgent are, but you get the idea. UPS may not now be designed to deliver non-urgent letters efficiently, but that's largely because they aren't allowed to, so why would they bother?
    - skore 14y ago
      (Not strictly a reply to you, but following up since I found that interesting.) The original quote was > that, simply, is why mailing a letter through UPS is so expensive. So the actual reason is: Mailing a letter through UPS does not exist. Mailing an express letter does exist and it is more expensive. And I think they wouldn't bother either way, simply because it's not economical for them. Once again a reason why having it as a quasi-government service makes sense.
      - streptomycin 14y ago
        And I think they wouldn't bother either way, simply because it's not economical for them. Once again a reason why having it as a quasi-government service makes sense. If nobody was in that market at all and there was no legal barrier to entering the market, it would be economical for somebody to offer the service, be that UPS or some other company.

rgbrenner 14y ago

Haven't been to the post office lately? >I should be able to go to a vending machine ... Yes, they have those. They are called "Automated Postal Center"(APC). > "First Class mail with tracking and delivery confirmation" and they have to ask me 10 questions. These two things never existed together. There was delivery confirmation, which is not tracking. USPS did not previously provide tracking on First class mail. Over the past few years they have been improving their tracking of delivery conf #s, and today it's similar to UPS/FedEx tracking.. so recently they renamed it to "USPS Tracking" (in mid-Jan 2013).

newishuser 14y ago
Exactly, I've been 15 times for this very reason and still can't figure it out.

eurleif 14y ago

On the other hand, my address is weird. Because of historical reasons, the address is on 14th Ave., but the house isn't actually physically located on 14th Ave. Sometimes when I get an Amazon package, UPS or FedEx can't find where I live. Sometimes they even deliver to the same house number on 13th Ave. (I've never met whoever lives there, but I believe they've hand-delivered packages to me a few times. Thanks, stranger!) However, USPS has never failed to deliver correctly. And I think there's something to be said for their reliability in general.

mmanfrin 14y ago

and that, simply, is why mailing a letter through UPS is so expensive. What?

skore 14y ago
I'm confused as well. I thought the reason why mailing a letter through UPS is expensive is because using a system set up for delivery of packages to deliver a letter is a bit wasteful and thus they have to set higher costs to make any money on letters.
- streptomycin 14y ago
  Wikipedia says: "FedEx and United Parcel Service (UPS) directly compete with USPS express mail and package delivery services, making nationwide deliveries of urgent letters and packages. Due to the postal monopoly, they are not allowed to deliver non-urgent letters and may not directly ship to U.S. Mail boxes at residential and commercial destinations." I don't know what specifically the definitions of urgent and non-urgent are, but you get the idea. UPS may not now be designed to deliver non-urgent letters efficiently, but that's largely because they aren't allowed to, so why would they bother?
  - skore 14y ago
    (Not strictly a reply to you, but following up since I found that interesting.) The original quote was > that, simply, is why mailing a letter through UPS is so expensive. So the actual reason is: Mailing a letter through UPS does not exist. Mailing an express letter does exist and it is more expensive. And I think they wouldn't bother either way, simply because it's not economical for them. Once again a reason why having it as a quasi-government service makes sense.
    - streptomycin 14y ago
      And I think they wouldn't bother either way, simply because it's not economical for them. Once again a reason why having it as a quasi-government service makes sense. If nobody was in that market at all and there was no legal barrier to entering the market, it would be economical for somebody to offer the service, be that UPS or some other company.