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A comment on Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service. Parent comment

Re:Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Pos... by mindslight on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @01:07PM (#19983180)
What is this better service that delivers letters for around the current clearing price (< $1) and prevents/polices spam? AFAIK Fedex is around $30, which is the overwhelming reason spammers don't use them.
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Re:Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Pos... by Consultant32452 on Wednesday May 22, 2019 @03:44PM (#19984739)
FedEx letter is $7-10.

http://www.costhowmuch.com/ps/fedex-letter.htm

Of course, that comes with a guaranteed delivery date, insurance, tracking, etc. I'm sure the private carriers would charge more than the USPS if they were servicing the lowest end mail, but currently the USPS is monopolizing that.

Also important to note that the USPS is subsidized by the spam they deliver which primarily winds up in the landfill. If the USPS wasn't filling everyone's garbage bin with bulk rubbish every day, their clearing price would be closer to private shippers. To put a scale on that, I have one trash can in my house that is at my desk and only winds up getting garbage mail tossed in it. Every two weeks I have a 13 gallon garbage bag full of mail garbage. What is the time-cost of every household in my city dealing with that much extra junk? What is the environmental cost?

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