I use the post office exclusively for shipments. Priority and first class w=
ithin the USA, and EMS outside. Yes, the tracking is abysmal by UPS/Fedex s=
tandards, but it is somewhat better than it used to be. For foreign shipmen=
ts, they're much less than UPS/Fedex. Within the US, Priority seems to be a=
 little more expensive, but I'm not convinced getting a UPS account would b=
e worth it (for me anyway). And I refuse to deal with Fedex.=20

FWIW,The USPS losses are not covered by the taxpayer. The post office has t=
o break even, in the end. My gut feeling is that Saturday delivery will eve=
ntually go away. The mail volume simply isn't there anymore. But their real=
 cost problem are the bloated salaries and staffing levels. And for various=
 political reasons, that isn't likely to go away.=20

On Nov 26, 2010, at 8:29 AM, Olin Lathrop wrote:

> John Gardner wrote:
>>> Perhaps if you're an organization whose billion-dollar losses are
>>> covered by
>>> taxpayers, you can afford to drive half-empty trucks? :)
>>=20
>> Perhaps :)  Might as well & get some use out of it...
>=20
> Yeah, look at it this way:  You're already paying for part of the service
> whether you use it or not.
>=20
> All the politics about how the post office or should be run aside, I like
> priority mail a lot too.  It's how we ship our stuff within the US.  Sell=
ing
> physical stuff is a sideline for us, so we keep the price low and minimiz=
e
> our process at this end.  We don't offer a shiping choice to customers.  =
If
> we offered a alternative ship method, someone would select it, and then w=
e'd
> have to handle different sets of packages differently.  Not worth it for =
the
> relatively low margins we charge.
>=20
>=20
> ********************************************************************
> Embed Inc, Littleton Massachusetts, http://www.embedinc.com/products
> (978) 742-9014.  Gold level PIC consultants since 2000.
> --=20
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>=20

Chris Smolinski
Black Cat Systems
http://www.blackcatsystems.com




--=20
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