# why can't Fedex/UPS cut a deal with USPS to use regular mailmen for last mile delivery?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [January 13, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817 "2010-01-13T18:58:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@code\_grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/code_grey)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/1 "2010-01-13T18:58:23Z")
it seems such a waste that Fedex/UPS have to send their own couriers in big trucks to deliver the packages while there is already a mailman going to the neighborhood on a daily basis. So why can’t they cut a big volume, low cost delivery deal with the USPS so that the last mile delivery would go through the mailman, at least for the not very urgent packages of appropriate sizes and pass the savings to the consumer?
If there is big entrenched resistance inside USPS to such a measure, why can’t it be pushed through by a special act of Congress? Perhaps it could be called Fedex Cost Reduction to Benefit American Consumer Act?
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### Author:  [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/2 "2010-01-13T19:16:37Z")
They do use mail men for some last mile delivery. Sometimes I get stuff online that is shipped fedex to a nearby post office and then to my house.
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### Author:  [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/3 "2010-01-13T19:21:03Z")
They’re already doing that internally. A lot of coast-to-coast First Class or Priority mail is flown by FedEx from one mail sort facility to another. FedEx and the USPS have been partnered for a few years.
And, like **gazpacho** , I’ve received small packages wearing FedEx labels but were delivered by the local mail carrier.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/4 "2010-01-13T19:22:31Z")
Here’s something that will really blow your mind: USPS contracts with FedEx for a large amount of cross-country mail carriage already, too.
In any case, what makes you think using the USPS for last-mile delivery, especially in relatively densely-populated areas, would be any cheaper than FedEx sending and staffing their own trucks? And how would they offer all their most profitable products, like overnight delivery, delivery confirmation, freight shipping, document distribution, etc., if they had to rely on USPS for their last-mile infrastructure?
As **gazpacho** points out, they do rely on USPS for package deliveries in some rural areas, presumably because the army of highly-qualified FedEx accountants has figured it’s cheaper to do so in those circumstances.
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### Author:  [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/5 "2010-01-13T19:29:15Z")
> [@gazpacho](#):
>
> They do use mail men for some last mile delivery. Sometimes I get stuff online that is shipped fedex to a nearby post office and then to my house.
Me too. Especially, IME, places that do free shipping for orders over a certain dollar amount.
FedEx ships to the post office where my mail is sorted, then the package comes with the daily mail the next day or so.
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### Author:  [@Hi\_Medlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hi_Medlo)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/6 "2010-01-13T19:33:20Z")
You may have noticed FedEx drop off boxes in front of your post office, or next to USPS boxes on the street. It’s part of the partnership deal involving the use of FedEx planes to fly some of the mail.
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### Author:  [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/7 "2010-01-13T19:35:35Z")
One thing I should have mentioned. The fedex to post office packages that I have received are not overnight packages. They take a few days to be delivered.
The service I was thinking of is fedex smart post.
> **[FedEx](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FedEx)**
>
> FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company specializing in transportation, e-commerce, and business services. The company is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of its original air division, Federal Express, which operated under this name from 1973 until 1994.
> FedEx is best known for its delivery service, as well as FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Office, FedEx Su...
> [@](#):
>
> # FedEx SmartPost: Consolidates parcels from merchants such as e-commerce and catalog companies and uses the United States Postal Service for the final delivery. Formerly the independent company Parcel Direct until FedEx acquired them for $120M in 2004.[9]
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/8 "2010-01-13T20:08:02Z")
both UPS and FedEx have a product where USPS does the delivery through your local post office. often small parcels that a letter carrier can carry on a normal walking route.
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### Author:  [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/9 "2010-01-13T20:54:41Z")
> [@code\_grey](#):
>
> …there is already a mailman going to the neighborhood on a daily basis.
Little known fact: the post office **does not** deliver to every neighborhood/address. Even though FedEx or UPS **may** deliver there.
I did not know this until I moved to a rural part of Washington state. We **cannot** get mail delivery to our house, even though we are within the town limits (in fact, only a few blocks from the town post office) – we have to rent a PO box.
This makes for some interesting situations – on-line stores that only ship via the post office but will not ship to PO Boxen, for instance. Or, in going to transfer our vehicle registrations a couple years ago, for which they required a physical mailing address. To prove the physical address, we needed to show we received mail (bills) there. The problem should be obvious.
To get around it, fortunately both of us registered to vote – and the voter registration card displayed BOTH our physical and mailing addresses, which the BMV accepted as valid proof.
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### Author:  [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/10 "2010-01-14T00:24:51Z")
DHL does this.
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### Author:  [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/11 "2010-01-14T00:43:16Z")
I could see a few problems issues that could arise: the securing of immediate/electronic PODs (Proofs of Delivery), less than timely deliveries by Postal Service employees and possible union-related issues.
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### Author:  [@Bobalude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobalude)
#### Post date: [January 14, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/12 "2010-01-14T06:28:17Z")
it’s called SmartPost
[http://www.fedex.com/us/smartpost/approach/service.html](http://www.fedex.com/us/smartpost/approach/service.html)
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### Author:  [@Grave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grave)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/13 "2010-01-15T03:06:32Z")
That service is currently available, as was correctly mentioned earlier. There was no resistance to it from the USPS since it means increased postage revenue for them. The problem is that USPS last-mile is neither reliably quick nor track-able. Great solution for both shippers and consumers who don’t care how long the product takes to reach its destination (periodicals are a good example of this) or simply want a very low cost method.
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### Author:  [@retsin2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/retsin2000)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/14 "2010-01-15T03:22:33Z")
> [@Digital\_Stimulus](#):
>
> Little known fact: the post office **does not** deliver to every neighborhood/address. Even though FedEx or UPS **may** deliver there.
>
> I did not know this until I moved to a rural part of Washington state. We **cannot** get mail delivery to our house, even though we are within the town limits (in fact, only a few blocks from the town post office) – we have to rent a PO box.
>
> This makes for some interesting situations – on-line stores that only ship via the post office but will not ship to PO Boxen, for instance. Or, in going to transfer our vehicle registrations a couple years ago, for which they required a physical mailing address. To prove the physical address, we needed to show we received mail (bills) there. The problem should be obvious.
>
> To get around it, fortunately both of us registered to vote – and the voter registration card displayed BOTH our physical and mailing addresses, which the BMV accepted as valid proof.
Same thing for us. We live about 4 blocks from the post office in a small town in Colorado but no mail delivery to the house. I just have everything delivered to me at work so I don’t have to try to guess how an online retailer is going to ship it. The PO people are pretty cool though in that not infrequently I get mail in the PO box that was incorrectly addressed to our physical address.
One thing though - you shouldn’t have to rent your PO Box, or at least we don’t. Because they don’t deliver to our house we get the box for free. Once a year I have to prove what our physical address is to the USPS in order to have them waive the fees.
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### Author:  [@Digital\_Stimulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_Stimulus)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/15 "2010-01-15T03:27:58Z")
> [@retsin2000](#):
>
> One thing though - you shouldn’t have to rent your PO Box, or at least we don’t. Because they don’t deliver to our house we get the box for free. Once a year I have to prove what our physical address is to the USPS in order to have them waive the fees.
:eek: Really?
Thank you for mentioning it. I _will_ be looking into that.
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### Author:  [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/16 "2010-01-15T03:53:51Z")
Amazon had something worked out with the USPS when the last Harry Potter book came out. The books were shipped via UPS en masse to post offices, then delivered by USPS carrier on July 21, 2007, the book’s release date. ([Cite.](http://www.allbusiness.com/services/business-services/4319215-1.html))
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### Author:  [@NoiseBomb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoiseBomb)
#### Post date: [January 15, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-fedex-ups-cut-a-deal-with-usps-to-use-regular-mailmen-for-last-mile-delivery/524817/17 "2010-01-15T16:52:56Z")
> [@Digital\_Stimulus](#):
>
> This makes for some interesting situations – on-line stores that only ship via the post office but will not ship to PO Boxen, for instance. Or, in going to transfer our vehicle registrations a couple years ago, for which they required a physical mailing address. To prove the physical address, we needed to show we received mail (bills) there. The problem should be obvious.
>
> To get around it, fortunately both of us registered to vote – and the voter registration card displayed BOTH our physical and mailing addresses, which the BMV accepted as valid proof.
Interesting. In NC I have the physical address for the “owner” bit and the PO box for the “mail to” address, and the DMV is fine with it. I think what I did was show a copy of my lease to prove residence and just told them where to send stuff. My driver’s license has only the physical address on it.
The way I avoid problems is by using both address lines whenever they’re available. Just as back in my apartment-dwelling says mail was addressed to
Noisebomb
123 Main St.
Apt. 42
Somewhere, USA 99999
it is currently addressed to
Noisebomb
456 Other Dr.
PO box 666
Heresville, USA 88888
Luckily UPS and FedEx do deliver here (I’m in the sticks but not THAT far out) so I haven’t had the issue of a “USPS only and no PO boxes” situation yet. Also my street name is short enough that I can cram “456 Other Dr, PO Box 666” on to one line if necessary, which i did have to do at least once.