Feds Foil Competition
by Alex Hutchins
All my life, I have listened to the bureaucratic inefficiency of the Federal Government comments from family, friends, and co-workers and have developed a pre-conceived idea regarding this truth that makes it very difficult for me to view the Fed any differently. And, I am confident that you and most Americans share this same paradigm with me.
This is an “ideal” example of how our preconceived ideas will and have led us astray.
The USPS (US Postal Service formerly referred to as Post Office) BEATS competition as UPS and Fedex executives hang their wealthy heads in shame. The New Paradigm is Efficient Feds Rock with cheaper costs for overnight delivery than their competition.
If it fits into the envelope,
USPS can send it anywhere
overnight for $17.50,
regardless of the WEIGHT
for-$25 $75, FedEx will ship same envelope overnight
for $30-$63, UPS will ship same envelope overnight
USPS does not stop with what fits in the envelope.
USPS again ships cheaper than both FedEx and UPS even when the package wieghs: 5,10, or 15 lbs.
While USPS is the cheapest shipping carrier in most cases, their reliability is easily the worst among the 3 carriers. Our online store primarily uses USPS because most of our orders are under 2 pounds. But we routinely get packages delayed or lost in the mail. This past few months alone, we have had 3 customers email us wondering where the hell their order was. Given our volumes, 3 customers is probably statistically insignificant but having to deal with any unhappy customers is a pain in the neck. Read more
The Happy Housewife is all about shipping via USPS.
Why is USPS so much cheaper?
Here is a possible reason:
Sunday, November 28, 2010
WASHINGTON -- The United States Postal Service is routinely castigated for losing money, but in a series of internal audits it has identified $94 million in unnecessary expenses linked to its lack of diligence under its FedEx mail-hauling contract.The Inspector General of the U.S. Postal Service audited all eight Postal Service regions across the country beginning in 2007 and ending earlier this year. It found the same problems in each region:
Mail that should have been shipped by surface transportation found its way onto expensive FedEx jets.
First-class mail that could have been sent on cheaper commercial airlines instead went on FedEx jets.
By failing to sort mail to specific locations into cargo crates, called bypass containers, it incurred FedEx sorting charges.
Nothing in the audits reflects badly on the Memphis logistics giant, but the implications of the findings, once the cost-savings opportunities identified are achieved, could affect the amount of money flowing to FedEx.
To read this entire amazing story, click here
To read this entire amazing story, click here
An interesting sidebar
When the founder of FedEx, Fred Smith, was in college, he presented this concept of FedEx
in a paper to one of his professors who gave him a “C” stating this idea would never work.
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