Does the U.S. Postal Service have an unfair competitive advantage?

cheryl

I started this.
Staff member
Does the U.S. Postal Service have an unfair competitive advantage? - Washington Post

Special treatment from federal, state and local governments has given the U.S. Postal Service an unfair advantage over private-sector competitors such as the United Parcel Service and FedEx, according to an economic analysis released this week.

Robert Shapiro, a former top official at the Commerce Department and principal economic adviser to Bill Clinton’s first presidential campaign, said in a report on Wednesday that USPS benefits from about $2 billion per year in tax exemptions, a monopoly on mail delivery and unique access to federal financing.
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
This has been argued ad nauseum. They are only "losing" money because they had to prefund 75 years worth of retirement benefits. Hell, doing this would bankrupt most companies, including Google.
always have--always will

And they're still losing billions

The Post Office also delivers to EVERY address in the country. If they privatized it how long do you think it would be before whoever bought the Post Office would drop "unprofitable" routes?
 

oldngray

nowhere special
The Post Office also delivers to EVERY address in the country. If they privatized it how long do you think it would be before whoever bought the Post Office would drop "unprofitable" routes?

Actually they don't. In some rural areas the post office doesn't deliver and people need to come into town to pick up their mail.
 

UPS4Life

Well-Known Member
This has been argued ad nauseum. They are only "losing" money because they had to prefund 75 years worth of retirement benefits. Hell, doing this would bankrupt most companies, including Google.
But they're still losing money, if you're losing money you fix your problem. They also don't pay registration fees or inspections for the states that require state inspection and I'm sure they don't pay fuel taxes every quarter/year.


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silenze

Lunch is the best part of the day
My mailman spends half his day walking because they thought it was a smart idea to have mailboxes at the house and not at the street
 

bluehdmc

Well-Known Member
Actually they don't. In some rural areas the post office doesn't deliver and people need to come into town to pick up their mail.

Which are small towns a 'for profit' postal carrier probably wouldn't service at all.
Although the USPS wants to close some of the smaller post offices in places like Hooterville, US; the congress person representing that area won't let them do it. I still think the people there would get some sort of service.

I purchased something years ago that was shipped by mail, I talked to someone in customer service there, they said some package delivery companies wouldn't come out there.
 

rod

Retired 22 years
The mail carriers around here seem to get harassed and ridden with more than the UPS drivers. The other day I met one walking into the library and as he opened the door he scanned a bar code sticker that was placed at the top of it. He said that was all part of his timed route. He had to be at certain places at the same time everyday. At least UPS isn't sticking bar codes on customers doors yet.
 
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