Despite a slow start to its same-day delivery program for e-commerce purchases, the U.S. Postal Service is in a strong position to challenge FedEx, UPS and other competitors in that potentially lucrative market.
USPS began testing same-day delivery, under the brand name of Metro Post, in San Francisco at the beginning of 2013. It promised delivery by 8 p.m. of packages tendered by 2 p.m. on that day. In December, it extended the pilot to New York City.
The San Francisco launch did not generate much excitement. “We found only a dozen or so folks willing to go with it,” said Harry Whitehouse, chief technology officer and co-founder of Endicia, a provider of electronic postage and shipping services through the U.S. postal system.
Same-day delivery promises to be a fierce battleground for carriers and online merchants. It is already being offered in the Bay Area and elsewhere by FedEx, UPS, Amazon.com, eBay and Google Shopping Express, among others, but demand remains tepid.
via The U.S. Postal Service Could Win The Battle For The Same-Day Delivery Market – Forbes.
People will rely on USPS same day delivery services if they find that they are more convenient and economical than the ones offered by its competitors. It is a market that can be very profitable indeed. There are people who can afford to use such services for saving time and extra safety.
You’re probably right on this one. Both unions will want a share of the hours. However, nothing will happen if the USPS doesn’t pull its gigantic head out of its equally gigantic ass and just get regular mail out at a decent hour every day and hire enough people to get the damn job done. But in postal world, that would be logical and actually make business sense. That can’t happen without violating the USPS laws of physics, where common sense is more like the anti-sense that sucks all productive suggestions into a black hole of stupid never to emerge from the other side. Did Einstein or Hawking ever study political and government astrophysics?
This is an easy one. Simply resurrect the “speedy carrier” and run it directly from the P&DC using light duty personnel if available. Any one can drive a vehicle. Doesn’t have to be a carrier vehicle either, just use a Government vehicle. Then everyone’s happy except the carriers. They bitch over anything so why try to placate them?
Ah……..I can see it now. The big battle between APWU & NALC over same day delivery jobs. APWU claiming the resurrection of special delivery jobs and NALC claiming they do it now and APWU special delivery jobs no longer exist. My take…a hybrid part-time clerk/carrier position that existed back in the 70s. There won’t be enough hours to justify positions for this premium service that only the elite customer will need in the larger cities.