General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: A Letter From A Former Letter Carrier [View all]mikekohr
(2,312 posts)in curbside mailboxes.
You are right however about private sector companies not wanting rural business. They do not. UPS for example charges a "residential" surcharge per box of up to $4.85 per box. UPS also charges an additional surcharge for boxes addressed to "rural" zip codes. UPS now offers a service in which they "drop" off boxes they have picked up to destination Post Offices for those Postal Wokers to deliver because UPS does not want to incur the cost of delivery to these mostly residential and rural destinations.
The only all points delivery in the United States IS the Post Office. Many destination deliveries to extreme rural points has always been completed by the Post Office, for UPS, Fed Ex and many other carriers. EX. the Havasupi Reservation at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. If UPS has a box for this point they deliver it to the Post Office at the head of the trail descending into the reservation and contract with the Post Office for final delivery. Similar arrangements occur in many remote parts of this nation.