Could UPS deliver the mail?

[Brown287]

http://articles.moneycentral.msn.co...t-dispatches.aspx?post=1207536&ucpg=24#uc2Lst
I was reading this article on the MSN, I know thats its over 4 months old, but it was a very interesting read plus the comments were far more interesting. Anyhow it got me wondering rather or not UPS could deliver mail at a profit. One of the posts commented on some study UPS did stating that we could deliver the mail for less than 10 cents a letter. Ive never heard of some study but if it does exist I'm sure someone on here will clarify. Just imagine going to every house or in my routes case to every Mail Box at the end of the street. Any ways I'm sure we could do it with obvious route alterations.

 

[MC4YOU2]

I have heard of this study too. It was at the same time that I discovered that the USPS uses money from artificially high letter rates to self subsidize their cheaper than dirt parcel rates therby offering us and fdx some rather unfair competition. Was also told legally UPS cannot offer a ground letter delivery service.

 

[BLACKBOX]

For one, our PC cars would be totally inefficient to handle mail and parcel delivery's. It would be a logistical nightmare and quite far-fetched.

But, if UPS was the exclusive carrier for ALL USPS packages up to 70 lbs, we would be able to re-employ every laid-off UPS'er and then some. UPS Freight will also have the volume its looking for.

Let FDX handle the letters if it comes to that.

 

[Brown Rocket]

I envy their never having to leave the truck and gettting to dump everything in a little box. I however do not envy the 700 plus stop count.

I also think UPS could screw up letter delivery as bad as they do and we already deliver their BASIC stuff so we already do their parcel for them.

 

[cachsux]

You really want to deliver pizza,weight loss,and carpet cleaning fliers?

 

[klein]

I think that report is totally nuts. 10 cents a letter.
Figure it out : You earn about $50 - $60 per hr with benefits.
Just you would need to deliver 500-600 letters per hr.
Walking , otherwise gas and vehicle costs, will be added.
And that doesn't even include the national and international transport costs.

Besides, UPS would need to invest billions in sort machines, or purchase the ones, USPS uses.

Additional charges for mail pick up (mail boxes, maintenence, and staff at postal outlets).

No way in hell, could UPS ever do that.
And remember, USPS workers earn $10 less per hr (in average).

This is a silly thread !
Try sending UPS enevlope to your same city/town. Nothing under $20!

 

[drewed]

I think that report is totally nuts. 10 cents a letter.
Figure it out : You earn about $50 - $60 per hr with benefits.
Just you would need to deliver 500-600 letters per hr.
Walking , otherwise gas and vehicle costs, will be added.
And that doesn't even include the national and international transport costs.

Besides, UPS would need to invest billions in sort machines, or purchase the ones, USPS uses.

Additional charges for mail pick up (mail boxes, maintenence, and staff at postal outlets).

No way in hell, could UPS ever do that.
And remember, USPS workers earn $10 less per hr (in average).

This is a silly thread !
Try sending UPS enevlope to your same city/town. Nothing under $20!

Klein, it could be done, that study was done before the gas prices started spiking mid decade, but we could do it far less then 45 cents, the USPS pays tons of money in air transportation costs to fedex and ups domestically and internationally.... The USPS is a federally mandated organization so whether or not they make money theyll still be in existance, theres no set delivery date for 98 percent of their packages so theyve grown this overly ineffecient system. UPS on the other hand has to control costs/ effeicencys to make money.

 

[UPSBOI]

And remember, USPS workers earn $10 less per hr (in average).

You need to recheck your facts! They make very close to what we do.

 

[dannyboy]

klein

once again you are thinking with the lower brain, instead of using the whole brain.

why would we have to purchase sorting machines? do you not think that there would be a lot of used machines available?

as for mail deliveries, i say bring it on. nothing like adding 100,000-250,000 new jobs at ups. and while the numbers showed 10 cents a while back, i do know we could do it for less than 20 cents now. and make a ton of money, as long as our drivers dont stop on the way back in for a beer. or 12.

d

 

[drewed]

klein

once again you are thinking with the lower brain, instead of using the whole brain.

why would we have to purchase sorting machines? do you not think that there would be a lot of used machines available?

as for mail deliveries, i say bring it on. nothing like adding 100,000-250,000 new jobs at ups. and while the numbers showed 10 cents a while back, i do know we could do it for less than 20 cents now. and make a ton of money, as long as our drivers dont stop on the way back in for a beer. or 12.

d

Exactly danny, we would just have to put more drivers out in smaller routes to get it done, the biggest question is do you build a seperate div for it, have a second dispatch for mail lets say at noon to mail.

 

[randomUPSISer]

I have doubts UPS could do it as cheaply as they say without sacrificing service to certain postal codes and addresses.

For example, I am willing to bet the "study" assumes that UPS would be able to skip service to the most costly of addresses, OR increase rates for those addresses. An an example, think of "Joe Farmer" in the middle of Iowa who is 25 miles from any other house... think UPS would make a profit on that 10 cent envelope that has to go to his house today? The USPS by mandate of the constitution HAS to deliver that letter... profit or not. There are TONS of addresses in similar situations all across America that the USPS has to deal with.

Currently, UPS is trying its best to create bulk stops to increase profit margin. Why on earth would UPS want to have to stop at nearly every address in America EVERY SINGLE DAY to drop off something worth less than 10 cents to the company? The idling truck + hourly wage would negate that with ease.

I bet we could do it cheaper than 45 cents "on average" though. My best guess is it simply wouldn't remain a 45 cent flat rate any longer. We would bill based on the distance and journey through the network, just like we do small package now. That could get messy for most Americans who are used to just slapping a stamp on the envelope. Instead they'd have to go to UPS.com, log in with their account ID, print a label, and then get charged for the particular journey of their envelope. Thats a GIANT strain on the companies IT systems, hubs, accounting, billing, and operations to say the least.

 

[drewed]

I have doubts UPS could do it as cheaply as they say without sacrificing service to certain postal codes and addresses.

For example, I am willing to bet the "study" assumes that UPS would be able to skip service to the most costly of addresses, OR increase rates for those addresses. An an example, think of "Joe Farmer" in the middle of Iowa who is 25 miles from any other house... think UPS would make a profit on that 10 cent envelope that has to go to his house today? The USPS by mandate of the constitution HAS to deliver that letter... profit or not. There are TONS of addresses in similar situations all across America that the USPS has to deal with.

Currently, UPS is trying its best to create bulk stops to increase profit margin. Why on earth would UPS want to have to stop at nearly every address in America EVERY SINGLE DAY to drop off something worth less than 10 cents to the company? The idling truck + hourly wage would negate that with ease.

I bet we could do it cheaper than 45 cents "on average" though. My best guess is it simply wouldn't remain a 45 cent flat rate any longer. We would bill based on the distance and journey through the network, just like we do small package now. That could get messy for most Americans who are used to just slapping a stamp on the envelope. Instead they'd have to go to UPS.com, log in with their account ID, print a label, and then get charged for the particular journey of their envelope. Thats a GIANT strain on the companies IT systems, hubs, accounting, billing, and operations to say the least.

The issue is that it doesnt have to be delivered today for 10 cents, theres no guarantee of service time on first class mail, if they want it today they pay a premium... Wed cut delivery days to 5 saves money and theres a reason UPS doesnt have a flat rate letter, federal law prohibits it, we can have our boxes...but not letters

 

[Brown287]

It comes down to one thing...profit! You can say what ever you want about UPS, but they always seem to turn a nice profit. You can even compare us directly with FedEx and we seem to squeeze more profit out then they do. Imagine all that volume that would make an already profitable business even more profitable. I think that its our work routine that makes UPS so profitable. Good or bad management does seem to always make us work hard enough to make money. If there is to be profit made from delivering the mail then I believe UPS could do it.

 

[randomUPSISer]

The issue is that it doesnt have to be delivered today for 10 cents, theres no guarantee of service time on first class mail, if they want it today they pay a premium... Wed cut delivery days to 5 saves money and there's a reason UPS doesn't have a flat rate letter, federal law prohibits it, we can have our boxes...but not letters

I don't believe we'd have a flat rate letter anyway, if we if legally we could. By billing based on "flat rate" you get a huge profit margin on some shipments, and negative profit on others. (ie: losses) The hope is that the profits on the positives outweigh the negatives enough to where you end up with a good profit at the end of the day.

By billing based on distance, you can essentially ensure that you have a profit margin on EVERY shipment, regardless of if its across town, or across the country.

There's a reason we don't do flat rate in small package now, and it has nothing to do with legalities of it. As mentioned earlier in this thread, the USPS may just be subsidizing their "flat rate" with inflated letter charges?

 

[Brown287]

I have doubts UPS could do it as cheaply as they say without sacrificing service to certain postal codes and addresses.

For example, I am willing to bet the "study" assumes that UPS would be able to skip service to the most costly of addresses, OR increase rates for those addresses. An an example, think of "Joe Farmer" in the middle of Iowa who is 25 miles from any other house... think UPS would make a profit on that 10 cent envelope that has to go to his house today? The USPS by mandate of the constitution HAS to deliver that letter... profit or not. There are TONS of addresses in similar situations all across America that the USPS has to deal with.

Currently, UPS is trying its best to create bulk stops to increase profit margin. Why on earth would UPS want to have to stop at nearly every address in America EVERY SINGLE DAY to drop off something worth less than 10 cents to the company? The idling truck + hourly wage would negate that with ease.

I bet we could do it cheaper than 45 cents "on average" though. My best guess is it simply wouldn't remain a 45 cent flat rate any longer. We would bill based on the distance and journey through the network, just like we do small package now. That could get messy for most Americans who are used to just slapping a stamp on the envelope. Instead they'd have to go to UPS.com, log in with their account ID, print a label, and then get charged for the particular journey of their envelope. Thats a GIANT strain on the companies IT systems, hubs, accounting, billing, and operations to say the least.

Nice thought but if you think about it our commercial routes for the most part already subsidize our rural routes as it is. You figure the same economics would apply in this scenario. Besides if theres one thing that UPS has done is expand accordingly to operation demands. Yes there have been hick-ups along the way but for the most part UPS always seems to adapt when needed.

 

[tarbar66]

No way in hell, could UPS ever do that.
And remember, USPS workers earn $10 less per hr (in average).

There was a thread awhile ago about finding out how much Postal employees made. There was a link that provided the information after you put the Zip Code in for the town. Very few Postal people made over $60,000 a year in the areas that I checked.

 

[tarbar66]

I found the USPS info from the other thread.

Re: ups top pay vs usps top pay
click on this and enter your zip code and see how much your USPS
co-workers are making....

 

[klein]

I found the USPS info from the other thread.

Re: ups top pay vs usps top pay
click on this and enter your zip code and see how much your USPS
co-workers are making....

And Dannyboy, if you can deliver mail or flyers for 10 cents a piece. I can probably go on the net and get a contract for you to do so.
In your neighborhood.
Have fun.

You would only have to deliver to 300 homes per hr, to get $30.
Another 300 homes to do, for bennies, and vacation time.
(600 homes in total).
I'm sure you are a fast walker and driver. (never mind, don't drive, or you'ld need to make up for gas money and wear and tear).

 

[drewed]

And Dannyboy, if you can deliver mail or flyers for 10 cents a piece. I can probably go on the net and get a contract for you to do so.
In your neighborhood.
Have fun.

You would only have to deliver to 300 homes per hr, to get $30.
Another 300 homes to do, for bennies, and vacation time.
(600 homes in total).
I'm sure you are a fast walker and driver. (never mind, don't drive, or you'ld need to make up for gas money and wear and tear).

klien.....how many stops do you think a USPS mail carrier does if he never has to leave the truck?

 

[bad company]

And Dannyboy, if you can deliver mail or flyers for 10 cents a piece. I can probably go on the net and get a contract for you to do so.
In your neighborhood.
Have fun.

You would only have to deliver to 300 homes per hr, to get $30.
Another 300 homes to do, for bennies, and vacation time.
(600 homes in total).
I'm sure you are a fast walker and driver. (never mind, don't drive, or you'ld need to make up for gas money and wear and tear).

You're formula assumes that there is only one piece of mail per household. I myself average about 10 a day, mostly junk mail. And I live in a 250 resident apartment complex. The mailman here takes about all of 15 minutes to stuff all the mail the boxes here.

10 pieces x .10 = $1.00
$1.00 x 250 = $250.00
So in about 15 minutes, my mailman just made $250 worth of deliveries. Not too bad...