quote:

Originally posted by ScooterX:
I think it's still a bargain and Fed-ex, UPS and DHL think so too. They drop off pallets of boxes they don't want to deliver at our post office- when getting paid more than stamp rates to deliver.
I've always thought what would happen if USPS said no to this practice.

This practice has been ongoing for decades! Overnight service to the rural parts of Idaho from the "Big 3" private delivery services meant they shipped to the USPS for them to complete the delivery. I have seen how FedEx in particular shipped a package to another state and then back. It was definitely not the shortest route or time! UPS does not do it any better and DHL left the market several years ago!
The USPS may not be perfect but for those who live or have lived in isolated rural communities it is the only service we get until the others can make a profit. No USPS, no service for us!
Have you checked the price of 'fast' food recently? How about them TACOS? Or what about them nickle candy bars?

Some of it may be a chicken and egg thing.

I lived in Austin during the tail end of the internet bubble. Everything was crazy - and I had twice a day, 6 day a week mail service, to my apartment. Could have been 7 days, I don't know.

It was cheaper to send a letter to my HS friends, than talk on the phone, so we sent letters pretty regularly. 2-3 days, at most.

Now, we are having issues getting payments through the mail at all. The local postmaster is a very nice gentleman, and did not seem too surprised by us having an issue - blamed it on a particular sorting machine, and his only suggestion was to start sending everything priority.
We stopped using any handwritten addresses, we now use ZIP+4 codes on the letters, and that seems to have helped. No one in our region trusts the postal service, anymore, so following up on missing checks has become normal - and some are switching to ACH payments.

I like sending letters - I think its a bit of a miraculous service - and, if I could separate them out from the rest of it/get them in 2-3 days, I think most business people would appreciate the filter that postage presents.

I pay almost all of my bills with online banking or credit cards.
I inherited a 100 stamp roll about 5 years ago and still have some for a few more years.
Most of the items I still have to mail somehow involve the government.