Recently (?) FedEx and UPS have some new service where they take your package from the sender, get it to the recipient’s city/area, and then deliver it to the post office for final delivery to the actual address
what?
any one have any idea why this is offered as a service? i mean, for very rural areas where they don’t want to send a truck 200 miles out of its way to deliver one package, i can understand. but for local areas where a UPS truck drives by daily… ?
The postal carrier has a regular route and visits each and every location. UPS and FedEx don’t (although they may stop by everyday for large businesses). That means that when you deliver something via FedEx or UPS, they have to get a driver to deliver it specially for you.
By fobbing the job off to the post office, FedEx and UPS don’t have to hire as many drivers or spend extra time making trips. If FedEx and UPS get the package to the post office early in the morning, the post office will deliver it that day.
So, the post office benefits by having FedEx and UPS pay them for the mail carriers they have doing their routes anyway and FedEx and UPS save money by needing fewer drivers. Customers still get their packages delivered the same day as before.
That is basically DHL’s business model isn’t it? Therefore it seems logical that there is some advantage (probably cost) and UPS and Fed Ex are offering this shipping method to compete with DHL. “Combining our superior package expeditor service with the USPS’ broad domestic coverage results in less handling and lower cost for less time-sensitive goods.”
Fair enough. But can FedEx and UPS get it from the start point to the end point’s local post office any cheaper than the post office?
Deleted: Already covered by previous answers.
I doubt it. I’m sure FedEx and UPS makes a lot more money for delivering to/from companies than for delivering to residential addresses. Delivering lots of packages to different addresses for residential delivery is never going to be as cost effective as delivering lots of packages between fewer addresses for commercial delivery. As stated the USPS is already covering the routes so it frees up drivers and reduces costs for UPS or FedEx.
DHL no longer handles domestic freight in the US.
You beat me to it!
My brother works for FedEx… I’ll have to check with him and see if they’re doing this in all areas or if it’s just a pilot program somewhere.
Wow, that’s news to me. I don’t get mail delivery, but I do have a POB. The PO won’t even hold a package for me from FedX or UPS. I have to get it shipped to my work location.
All major freight carriers have air and ground hubs that overlap geographically so it makes sense to utilize the postal network to handle remote deliveries. It’s just a matter of cross-docking from one side of an airport to another in many cases. The trick is to presort it and schedule the arrival so the transfer can be encorporated into the other carrier’s sort system.
Its happening everywhere and has been for awhile.
With this system, the PO will hold a package for a PO box, because “they” are delivering it.
DHL had some issues using the system. They told customers they would ship things overnight, or next day and then give it to the Post Office to send parcel post, the slowest method. I had some pissed off customers when their stuff took a week instead of the “next day” they were promised. The DHL quit all domestic shipping…and I was relieved.
Check with the carrier you use to see where their closest sort facility is and if it’s close then set up your deliveries as HAPU (hold for pickup). Of course, if you get a Postal option that would be best.
I’ll have to check with my PO, because they have never done this for us before. This costs them money. I’m really surprised.
Fedex and UPS may not deliver a package direct to a POB in their own trucks. Their product (like Fedex Smartpost) that hand it off to the PO (at some PO sorting location) will deliver to a POB or any postal address.
I used to go to UPS all the time to pick up packages, since they would not leave them at my door. (High theft rate or something in my area.) At one point they said it would be easier if I just gave the shipper the UPS address, and my name, and then the package would just get held automatically, and they would call me. Sounded good, since the alternative was to let them try delivery once, then get the tracking number and have it held.
This worked fine until one day, someone like Amazon decided to use USPS to ship something instead of UPS like they had been. And I ended up getting a call from UPS saying that they had a package for me from the USPS. They were quite bemused.