USPS Delivers about 30% of UPS and FEDEX Packages in the US!

CameraQuest

CameraQuest

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Many have posted comments on this and other forums,
praising FEDEX and UPS while damning USPS - the US Post Office.

Well, think twice.

Guess What?

According to my super secret spy who is on the FEDEX payroll,
roughly 30% of UPS and FEDEX packages
are actually delivered by lowly USPS!
-- for prices roughly twice USPS would charge !

WHY?

Its simple. Only USPS delivers to EVERY SINGLE ADDRESS in USA!

Out of the way locals are not serviced by FEDEX or UPS,
so USPS is sub contracted to deliver their packages!

Believe it don't.

Stephen
 
isn't it ironic that many of the people who are served only by the USPS would damn it to extinction?

we can be such ignorant little apes sometimes.
 
i love the post office and hate ups!
i only use canada post to ship…and in all the years of buying/selling i have only had one package get way laid and it was the fault of customs as best as i can figure.
 
USPS certainly delivers a lot of UPS and FedEx packages around here.

I live in a very rural area, one where large numbers of households have their USPS mail delivered to a P. O. Box rather than to their house. [It's far safer that way.]

In such cases, you are supposed to use a delivery address that contains both a "physical address" and your PO box number. USPS likes it that way, so do both UPS and FedEx.

But now cue the on-line shopping cart. These blasted things are quite often programmed to accept one or the other, but not both of those two aspects of your address. No reason: It's just dim-witted programming. And then after the sale has been completed, the vendor decides how to actually do the shipment.

The result is that lots of packages get shipped by USPS to a physical address where USPS cannot deliver [you hear me, Amazon???], and lots of other packages get sent to a PO Box --- but via UPS or FedEx.

And so, around noon each day (in my little village), the USPS and FedEx drivers pull in to the local post office, where they hand off parcels that have only some PO Box number as the delivery address. And then the friendly and very patient USPS workers stare at the parcel, and say "Yup, that goes in this box right here ..."

Meanwhile the rural carriers in my village, with equal frequency, get handed parcels that have only a physical address --- but one where there is no mail box because the recipient receives all mail at a PO Box. And at the end of the day, those rural carrier hand those undeliverable parcels to the still friendly and patient USPS workers who stare and say "Yup, that's for Joe Smith; it goes in PO Box xxx".


In short: A fair amount of the, err, "cooperation" that occurs between USPS and UPS/FedEx is actually forced by sheer stupidity underlying on-line shopping carts. And the whole system manages to work purely because this is a tiny place where everybody knows everybody else.
 
I knew USPS delivered for FedEx and UPS and the planes themselves some of them are USPS but not a percentage, very interesting, and very sorry for those who have had issues with the shipping 🙁
 
Hmmm...I use USPS all the time, since I don't drive, and the local Fedex and UPS offices are ~20 minutes away by bike. I always buy insurance, never lost a sent package yet . UPS probably misdelivered far more packages, as well.
 
For myself, in my little rural town, USPS is awesome. Not only do they deliver reliably, they are quite friendly and helpful. There have been rare occasions when something doesn't show when expected, usually when coming into the country through customs, and they are extremely helpful in helping to track down said package.

Just a small vote for my USPS. 🙂

EDIT - Whenever I have a choice in the shipping I always ask for USPS. Sometimes, such as through BHPhoto, it can cost a little more; but it is more than worth it for me.
 
JRG said:
USPS certainly delivers a lot of UPS and FedEx packages around here.

I live in a very rural area, one where large numbers of households have their USPS mail delivered to a P. O. Box rather than to their house. [It's far safer that way.]

In such cases, you are supposed to use a delivery address that contains both a "physical address" and your PO box number. USPS likes it that way, so do both UPS and FedEx.

But now cue the on-line shopping cart. These blasted things are quite often programmed to accept one or the other, but not both of those two aspects of your address. No reason: It's just dim-witted programming. And then after the sale has been completed, the vendor decides how to actually do the shipment.

The result is that lots of packages get shipped by USPS to a physical address where USPS cannot deliver [you hear me, Amazon???], and lots of other packages get sent to a PO Box --- but via UPS or FedEx.

And so, around noon each day (in my little village), the USPS and FedEx drivers pull in to the local post office, where they hand off parcels that have only some PO Box number as the delivery address. And then the friendly and very patient USPS workers stare at the parcel, and say "Yup, that goes in this box right here ..."

Meanwhile the rural carriers in my village, with equal frequency, get handed parcels that have only a physical address --- but one where there is no mail box because the recipient receives all mail at a PO Box. And at the end of the day, those rural carrier hand those undeliverable parcels to the still friendly and patient USPS workers who stare and say "Yup, that's for Joe Smith; it goes in PO Box xxx".


In short: A fair amount of the, err, "cooperation" that occurs between USPS and UPS/FedEx is actually forced by sheer stupidity underlying on-line shopping carts. And the whole system manages to work purely because this is a tiny place where everybody knows everybody else.
Click to expand...
Wow it sounds like all government and big corporations!!!
 
I've always had good luck with USPS, and unlike FedEx and UPS, the USPS will pay out on a lost package, UPS and FedEx will fight you tooth and nail.

Had a horrible experience with Canada Post last year. They lost a Leica M2 and kept insisting they had returned it to Customs in the States. Took me over a month but I finally tracked down the last driver who handled the package and talked to her supervisor. Magically the package appeared and finally got sent to US Customs and then returned to me.

Best,
-Tim
 
First Class mail for small packages is wonderful and quick. I ship the camera straps I make through First Class, and it is always cheap and arrives in two or three days, domestically. It really frustrates me when I'm forced to pay $13 to ship a small item via UPS, when the same item would be $5 or less, USPS.
 
USPS has the most consistent service of all of them.
Few losses
UPS damages by far more packages than all the others combined from my experience.
It's something they are very aware of according to friend who sits high up in CS at UPS.
It won't change though according to him. Risk assessment says speed makes more money than care…

I only us USPS best and least expensive.
 
JRG
You might consider delivery to a Work Address, or to a MailBox Etc., or similar that has a physical address for the Box you rent. If available in a near by town.

---------------------------------

FedX and UPS has used the USPS for many years.. not really a secret...🙄

BUT, having a Physical Address is really important...
That is why, if you live in the Country or Rural areas... go to a nearby town that has a Mailbox Etc, they rent you a box,
but provide a "Physical Adress" for you. It gets delivered to your Box, because, part of the Address is the Mailbox Etc real address, along with your box #.
 
DNG said:
JRG
You might consider delivery to a Work Address, or to a MailBox Etc., or similar that has a physical address for the Box you rent. If available in a near by town.

---------------------------------

FedX and UPS has used the USPS for many years.. not really a secret...🙄

BUT, having a Physical Address is really important...
That is why, if you live in the Country or Rural areas... go to a nearby town that has a Mailbox Etc, they rent you a box,
but provide a "Physical Adress" for you. It gets delivered to your Box, because, part of the Address is the Mailbox Etc real address, along with your box #.
Click to expand...

Well, I work from home. 🙂 And practically all of my neighbors have the same problem, because they too have USPS mail delivered to a PO box.

The issue is dead simple. If you are in this situation, you are supposed to use an address that resembles this one:

J. J .Smith
7799 Route 888
P. O. Box 225577
Podunk, North Florida 000222

And if you are permitted to do so, USPS knows exactly what to do, as do UPS and FedEx. So, the problem is purely one of poorly written software.
 
f16sunshine said:
USPS has the most consistent service of all of them.
Few losses
UPS damages by far more packages than all the others combined from my experience.
It's something they are very aware of according to friend who sits high up in CS at UPS.
It won't change though according to him. Risk assessment says speed makes more money than care…

I only us USPS best and least expensive.
Click to expand...

I knew it had to be something like this. The end of public services and the privatization of the world will bring nothing good.

My best experience has been with the national postal service in Taiwan. Packages with incorrect and incomplete addresses always made it to me. After that, the USPS ranks slightly behind Japan, about even with China, and finally far far better than France. (I should just be glad that I don't live in Italy).
 
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