On 04/07/2010 12:00 PM, Benjamin Scott wrote: > Independent companies are prohibited from delivering to "US Mail" > boxes. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing keeping people > from mailing all their correspondence in FexEx envelopes delivered to > someone's doorstep, or an independent mailbox. I'm sure you send all > your letters that way, right? :) > > FWIW, I think independent companies should be allowed to deliver to > US Mail boxes, and nation-wide government subsidies for the USPS > should be phased out. I think granting special privilege to the USPS > made sense in the past, but times have changed. I think independent > post is viable with today's technology and infrastructure. Let the > USPS compete, and success or fail, on their own merits. If USPS can't > compete, things like address maintenance (ZIP codes, etc.) could be > done by a smaller, proper government agency. Extremely rural areas > may or may not deserve subsidies to maintain some kind of service, but > if they do, it should be done on a much smaller scale. > > Could UPS, FedEx or another private company deliver a 1oz letter for 44ยข? I agree with you about the US Mail boxes on private homes, but on multi-family dwellings, there is a different story. In may areas, newspapers historically would set up special mail boxes for their papers. But, let's say I want to send a letter to someone who lived in Rancho Cucamonga, Ca. let's say we have private mail companies and competition. I drop the mail into the nearest mailbox that might be owned by New England Mail Service. Since Rancho Cucamonga is in San Bernadino County, they might have the San Bernadino Mail and Post company. How does my letter get to them. Somewhere there might be a clearing house. My letter would go to the local clearing house to be sorted, then it may be sent to an East Coast clearing house, then to a West Coast, then to San Bernadino, etc. large organizations, such as USPS, FedEx, and UPS have multiple modes, local and regional centers and as well as national centers. The USPS was created so it could be more efficient, but closing a post office requires an act of Congress. The city I live in, Newton, Ma has 9 post offices (8.5 since Chestnut Hill serves both Newton and South Brookline). Today, there is little need for the small post office. Most of the services can be provided through automated postal offices. IMHO, close most of the small post offices, bid out post office box service to other companies (such as Mail Boxes Etc, Fed Ex, UPS, and others). What would happen if the USPS proposed to close the South Nashua post office, move the PO boxes a nearby UPS Store or sell it to UPS or FedEx or a private company to use as a po box and automated PO facility.
You mentioned rural areas, and some agency or company would have to provide the service. -- Jerry Feldman <g...@blu.org> Boston Linux and Unix PGP key id: 537C5846 PGP Key fingerprint: 3D1B 8377 A3C0 A5F2 ECBB CA3B 4607 4319 537C 5846
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