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Comment by aphextron | Hacker News Reader

>* They're the only shipping company that I trust to deliver to an apartment building. Seriously. I've had nightmares with every other company delivering to apartments

This hints at the real reason the postal service is so important to hold on to. They have a mandate to deliver to every person in the country no matter what.[0] They run huge losses to do this, but it's an invaluable service subsidized by taxpayer dollars the same as any other infrastructure. A private company has no incentive to do this if it's not profitable. People in rural areas and unconventional living situations will get screwed.

[0] https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_020.htm

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> ...but it's an invaluable service subsidized by taxpayer dollars ...

No, they are not subsidized by tax payer dollars. From[0] - "The Postal Service receives NO tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations."

[0]https://about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-facts/top-10-things...

That sounds weird because I was just surprised to learn that here in Hawaii there are areas that don't have postal delivery. Not a "put the mailbox out on the highway" kind, but the "we don't go there, get a PO box" kind.

Difficult problem. Rural Free Delivery has a long history with various attempts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rural_Free_Delivery https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_020.htm

If you live in a ZIP code served by an actual Post Office (there is a USPS in that ZIP code) and your home doesn't get delivery service then you're probably entitled to a free PO Box. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2011/pb22317/html/upd...

I live in a rural area in the lower 48 and USPS won't deliver here. We have to go to a physical post office and stand in lame lines to get packages. We also have to pay an annual fee for the PO Box, and sometimes there are waiting lists.

FedEx and UPS happily deliver to my front door, 25 miles and down a long dirt road from the nearest town.

> FedEx and UPS happily deliver to my front door, 25 miles and down a long dirt road from the nearest town.

What's the shipping cost, though? It's great that it's a real option either way.

No cost difference from other address destinations in the rest of the state.

Context: USPS-enforced PO Box in Wisconsin, but house-delivery by private companies such as FedEx and UPS.

mkempt is right. There's no premium shipping cost vs any other FedEx/UPS destination.

It's interesting that the USPS is in fact a service explicitly mandated by the US Constitution, not merely an agency that somehow crammed into the commerce clause + necessary and proper clause.

> It's interesting that the USPS is in fact a service explicitly mandated by the US Constitution

No, it is, in fact, not mandated by the Constitution.

Congress explicitly empowered to create post offices and post roads by Art. I, Sec. 8, but that's not a mandate to do so.

A mandated function would be something like the decennial census.

Your observation is contrary to my experience. Where I live UPS and Fedex put packages on my doorstep while USPS leaves them in a post office fourteen miles away. Letters too. Similar stories in other rural places I've lived. Sometimes they don't come for days when the road is bad, but USPS never even tries. I'm pretty sure UPS and Fedex lose money every time they deliver to me, but they do it anyway. USPS never has.

Maybe that wouldn't be true of first class mail as it is for parcels. But we won't know as long as it remains illegal to compete with the USPS in first class.

My experience in the city is that USPS will have a key to apartment buildings and walk ups. I've seen out door mailboxes but everywhere I've lived has had them behind the front door. This means packages are always delivered behind atleast one locked door. FedEx and UPS will ring all the bells and if you're unlucky and no one is home it'll get left in a bush or you'll have to reschedule. I've never had a package stolen, but I've seen the notes left on the front door by unfortunate neighbors.

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