When I was a kid, FedEx ran commercials with the tag line, “When It Absolutely Positively Has To Get There Overnight”. Given their dominance in the overnight shipping industry, I think the message (and their outstanding track record and customer service) worked.
Today, I don’t receive much via FedEx. Most of my shipments come via Amazon Delivery service. The remainder from third parties tend to use UPS, the USPS and occasionally a small third party shipper like Lasership.
My least favorite is USPS.
The USPS shipment tracker is rarely correct. It will sit on a status for multiple days displaying a message like “awaiting package from shipper” or “pending acceptance at facility” when I know the package has already been moved to the next location.
Their estimated delivery days are rarely accurate. The best it gets is once it’s loaded on the truck for final delivery, I have about a 75% I’ll receive it that day unless…
- There’s any type of inclement weather
- The postal worker decides not to deliver it
- The status is incorrect
Several times, I’ve had packages not delivered but the status was changed to “attempted delivery but recipient did not answer the door” even though I was home the entire time and my dogs would have alerted me to any delivery.
USPS package delivery is annoying enough that I will deliberately shop elsewhere if I can get the same product at the same price but delivered another way.
Overall, I think USPS is a bargain for mail. In my lifetime, I’ve probably received my letters and packages 95% of the time. I’ve gotten to know some of my local delivery mailmen and liked them.
In the past 10 years, I’d estimate that 95% of my mail is bulk junk mail addressed to “recipient” that I immediately throw away without opening. 2% is from government agencies like the DMV, IRS and property tax authorities. The remainder is for former residents.
With e-bills and email and the ubiquity of online services, my need for USPS is almost zero.
I’d suspect it’s the same for my people my age and younger.
I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to see it be privatized or eliminated entirely within my lifetime.