Postal Zip Codes, affordable P.O. boxes, and the list of official unincorporated area addresses (for the census and local community services) and delivery to/mail drop locations for remote homesteads and business sites. Rural Postal offices often double as local regional seats for unincorporated settlements - groups of ranches, farms, and remote long-term research or government sites or facilities.
You aren't going to get any shipping or "mail" business to service remote areas, nor will those businesses willingly take on those critical address maintenance and "last mile" deliveries without the impetus of some serious tasty profits from taxpayers and rural residents who need those services.
While only perhaps 10% of the overall population of the US lives in or has businesses in remote rural areas, they still need general services, especially since the majority of those residents are not wealthy and regular trips to the nearest town or major city to pick up deliveries and drop off critical mail is usually out of the question in terms of either time or effort.
And pure capitalism isn't going to just "give that service" to them for the cost of a twice yearly purchase of book of "forever" stamps for Holiday and special occasion cards, if that is all they can afford to send out.
Who would be willing to spend $5.00 to send a card for birthdays or holidays, the cost on average to actually send letter using most commercial courier services or UPS/FED-EX pickup.
If you go to UPS/FED-Ex with your card or letter, they'll run the USPS process for whatever you want (adding certified, return receipt, or insurance to the letter), add a small handling fee, and just put it aside for USPS pickup anyway. Or if you aren't doing any of the above, they'll point you to the USPS drop box. They don't handle the common stuff.
Haele
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