This is basically it–USPS has had a good long time to set up routes and they go to every damned address in the US every day. Every address. Every day. Six days a week. Economics of scale–they have to go there anyway so they just charge what they need to to make it worthwhile to take up space for whatever the package is and to cover any delivery time commitments. And for fifty five cents you can send a letter anywhere in the US and it will get there within a couple days. Try THAT with FedEx or UPS! The post office is a national treasure and anyone trying to privatize it is going to have the usual outcome of privatization–shitty service for a fuckload o’money. Nature of the beast.