# An example of the efficiency of government (US Postal Service) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 9, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783 "2013-10-09T16:31:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/21 "2013-10-09T18:55:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This is how bureaucracies work - and it is a good system. If you tried to assess every situation individually and do everything in the most efficient way possible you’d spend most of your time sitting around figuring out what you were going to do and very little time actually doing anything. Yeah, there’s an entire industry created around the concept. It’s called “logistics”. It’s not hard to constantly create improved efficiencies for every step of the process. That’s what companies have been doing since the dawn of industry. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/22 "2013-10-09T18:58:05Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > They don’t. FedEx uses a multi-tiered hub-and-spoke strategy. Memphis is the root hub, but things destined for the next city over will go to the next higher hub to get sorted. They are also smart enough to set up dedicated routes for places with a lot of traffic between them (there’s one from NYC to Albany, for instance.) Yeah, in their early days they sent everything through Memphis, in fact that was what founder Fred Smith proposed in the famous paper he wrote in college. But as the company grew they opened additional hubs in cities such as Newark and Oakland so that packages could be kept within a single region of the country. Memphis is still by far their biggest hub but the company is now very flexible about how it ships packages. ---
**Author:** ![Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jimmy\_Chitwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimmy_Chitwood)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/23 "2013-10-09T19:25:35Z")
Well, but hang on: > [@jtgain](#): > > (it’s a legal document to an official, so that I can’t just hand it to the person). It’s not exactly the Post Office’s fault that your documents absolutely have to go through their official channels rather than just being dropped in somebody’s mailbox. They aren’t the ones standing in the way of your free market solution; it’s the fact that your addressee requires that the Post Office be involved. And it’s not really all that astounding that they don’t have a special customer-friendly policy to address situations where you need them to be involved in the transportation of a thing twenty feet. What are they, busboys? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/24 "2013-10-09T20:07:10Z")
I’m still trying to figure out how a package going from Los Angeles to South Dakota ended up in Memphis. And it’s through USPS, not FedEx. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/25 "2013-10-09T20:12:00Z")
Do I get to be the first to point out that the USPS isn’t really run by the US government? ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/26 "2013-10-09T20:37:16Z")
\ Yes, we know \ ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/27 "2013-10-09T20:43:17Z")
Fed Ex delivered a package for my neighbor across the street to me instead the other day. I suppose that means ALL of Fed Ex and ALL of the private sector sucks! ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/28 "2013-10-09T20:58:51Z")
I don’t think anyone is suggesting that the USPS is inefficient because they made a mistake. They didn’t make a mistake. They executed the transaction exactly the way their systems dictated it should be done. It’s their system that is inefficient, at least in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/29 "2013-10-09T21:39:47Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out how a package going from Los Angeles to South Dakota ended up in Memphis. And it’s through USPS, not FedEx. FedEx has contracts to carry mail for the post office, so it could have been on a FedEx plane even if it was mail. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/30 "2013-10-09T21:51:55Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, I had a semi-overweight package that needed delivered to PO Box located in my hometown (it’s a legal document to an official, so that I can’t just hand it to the person). Is it something to do with your bar admission? I can almost guarantee they will accept hand delivery; it’s allowed for service in the rules of procedure for just about every jurisdiction. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/31 "2013-10-09T22:03:33Z")
> [@campp](#): > > Besides, it is a constitutional artifact that all US citizens get identical rates and treatments by the USPS. So, no, she couldn’t just “open the door” for the customer. Right, postage rates are _deliberately_ arbitrary. It has nothing to do with your particular piece of mail that day; you’re paying a nominal charge for the whole system. If it were not so, it would be prohibitively expensive, for many purposes, to send mail to remote corners of the country–defeating the purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/32 "2013-10-09T22:12:22Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > What kind of jackhole runs this place? The jackholes who deliver millions of pieces of mail a day, all week long, excepting Sundays and maybe Saturdays, in spite of people slowing them down by trying to game the system or make an exception for their one rare, special flower of importance. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/33 "2013-10-09T23:26:58Z")
Imagine how much worse it would be if the PO were run by the government. I shudder. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/34 "2013-10-09T23:33:33Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > So, I had a semi-overweight package that needed delivered to PO Box located in my hometown (it’s a legal document to an official, so that I can’t just hand it to the person). > > Not knowing how much postage I needed, I took it to the post office. It’s an old post office, and the PO Box I’m sending it to is front and center when I walk through the door. I laugh a this, and know I will have to pay postage, even though a private entity would let you just drop it off. Government procedure, etc. I accept that. But it gets worse. > > I approach the counter and am told that the package must be sent priority mail at charge of $5.80 due to its weight. I point out the address, point to the P.O. Box approximately 17 feet away and say that regular mail will be fine; I am confident in your ability to walk 17 feet. > > Absolutely not. Postal regulations require packages of this size to be sent priority mail at a cost of $5.80. Fine. Slide the card. The back of the card isn’t signed. Please sign the card. Fine. I also need to see picture ID since your card wasn’t signed. Sigh. Fine. > > Type. Type. Type. Here is your tracking number, sir. I smile. I tell the clerk that I’m sure I won’t be needing it but she informs me I may very well need it. Since it is priority mail it gets “whisked” (she used that word) to the central processing center over 120 miles away for sorting and “prompt” (she used that word) delivery by tomorrow or Friday at the latest. > > At this point, I had to play a little. I asked her if she could just unlock the box for me and let me slide the package in. Of course she didn’t allow that. > > My thoughts after doing this: ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? What kind of jackhole runs this place? If this was Joe the Private Package Delivery, Inc., then Joe would fire everyone on the East Coast that came up with this policy. Where is the efficiency in sending a package 120 miles away to deliver it in the same fucking building we are standing. All during a government shutdown? > > When conservatives bitch about government efficiency and not wanting more tasks to fall to the government, this is a reason why. If I went to my local FedEx store and asked for a package to be sent to the business right next door to the FedEx, what do you think the employees of the store would do? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/35 "2013-10-09T23:37:48Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > I laugh a this, and know I will have to pay postage, even though a private entity would let you just drop it off. You’re funny. You’re a funny guy. A for-profit delivery company would let you just drop something off without paying for postage. Out of the goodness of their hearts! Real funny guy, you are. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/36 "2013-10-09T23:37:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > If I went to my local FedEx store and asked for a package to be sent to the business right next door to the FedEx, what do you think the employees of the store would do? “There’s the door, sir.” ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/37 "2013-10-09T23:41:26Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > You’re funny. You’re a funny guy. A for-profit delivery company would let you just drop something off without paying for postage. Out of the goodness of their hearts! > > Real funny guy, you are. Someone once dropped a package off at my business PO Box at a UPS Store. He offered to pay, but they declined. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/38 "2013-10-09T23:53:08Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Someone once dropped a package off at my business PO Box at a UPS Store. He offered to pay, but they declined. OK. My experience with for-profit delivery companies has not been nearly so altruistic. But I’m glad this person had a nice experience. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/39 "2013-10-10T00:00:05Z")
I don’t think that’s abnormal. The PO boxes at UPS stores are a side line of business. They make money off the box regardless of who delivers to it. The difference is that deliveries to mailboxes are constrained by legislation and regulations that postal workers have no authority to modify, while UPS deliveries are constrained by UPS procedures which are inherently more flexible (and won’t land you in jail if you break them.) ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2013, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783/40 "2013-10-10T00:07:26Z")
It was a legitimate mailbox in which I received all my business mail. Still, every PO in the country could easily have a policy that they’ll deliver your package to a PO Box within the building for a dollar. It wouldn’t be that difficult. The clerk processes it, stamps it, and drops it in a specified bin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-example-of-the-efficiency-of-government-us-postal-service/670783.md?page=3)