7/30/17
Business
I am self employed, working from home on the internet. Because I sell online I ship my items to the buyers. I will tell you that from my experience, I could see the death of the United Parcel Service from 100 miles away. I don't even need to know about their 58% loss in this years second quarter to know that the UPS is struggling to compete with FedEx, DHL or USPS.
According to DailyFinance.com
"The big Atlanta-based shipping company said it will spend $175 million on improvements that include beefed-up operations on the day after Thanksgiving, more sorting facilities and sped-up deployment of software designed to help drivers find the quickest route to a destination."
Wait, UPS will spend $175 million to put GPS units in their drivers hands and to hire more people to speed up operations? That sounds like a very stupid way to spend $175 million.
I'm no economics expert but I know enough to see what the problem is.
In the digital age (God I hate saying that) Brick and Mortar establishments are being replaced with internet retailers and what I call E-Services. The Postal Services biggest foe is Email and text messaging while UPS has an enemy called consumer choice. Naturally, businesses want to save money and when you sell exclusively on the web, you really need to count your nickels when it comes to how you ship your products. I have personally shipped over 500 items using the USPS and to my knowledge nothing went wrong at all. If the tracking data says "delivery date of 07/07/14," that package will likely be there on 07/06/14. Most Americans don't throw away money which is why, as a business I ship with USPS 100% of the time.
The problem is that UPS can't compete with the United States Postal Service. Sure, the USPS is billions in debt thanks to the federal government but I have not had any problems with the USPS for as long as I can remember. The Mail Man never failed and every day, you could almost predict when he would come down the street. My Mail Man arrives around 11:00AM 6 days a week. Although driving the same route 250+ days a year probably would drive most humans insane, the men and women of the USPS do it and rarely make mistakes or have delays. Once big web retailers stop having exclusive shipping contracts with FedEx, DHL or UPS, all these companies will see their stock prices plummet. I know several web stores that ship using only UPS. This means I need to pay $20.00 for UPS instead of $16.00 for USPS.
UPS, FedEx and other couriers should envy the USPS because what the Post Office has, is everything other couriers need in order to stay in business.
-The USPS has a well established logistical system that makes sure that packages and paper mail arrive on time and intact.
-Getting a job with the USPS is not easy but the pay is amazing. (I know this because I wanted to work for the USPS when I was 19 and I got all the way up to the interview process before life happened and changed my career objectives). According to Glassdoor.com, a City Mail Carrier's avg salary is $54,852. UPS pays their drivers an average salary of $74,326 according to Glassdoor.com. I assume that is full time pay.
- Go onto Google Maps and search for "UPS Drop Off Locations Near Me." When I did it, the nearest drop off location was 10 miles from me in Torrington CT and there are less than 8 UPS locations in a 30 mile area of me. There are just as few FedEx locations in the same area.
To contrast, the USPS has 9 Post offices within 10 miles of me and 14 of the blue collection boxes within 5 miles of me. Also, I can always hand my packages to my Mail Man when he delivers my mail.
-UPS and FedEx are both more expensive than the USPS. To ship a package that weighs 10lbs in a "Large" box using a 2 day service, it would cost $66.41 for FedEx 2-Day, $70.72 for UPS 2nd Day Air, and just $17.45 for USPS Priority Mail 2nd Day. Even UPS Ground is more expensive at $20.51.
-FedEx and UPS both are unreliable and I know this from personal experience. When my fiancé and I moved to Florida, FedEx was who was shipping some of our newly ordered furniture. There were issues 2 different times where FedEx sent our furniture to two different states and locations. It took over 20 days before we could stop sleeping on an air mattress. UPS once sent a package from its pick up location in NYC to Orlando FL, then to some place in Puerto Rico and then to Massachusetts and then, after 3 weeks, I finally got my item. I could have driven to the shippers business, got my item and been home in less than 15 hours. The only issue with the USPS I've had is when ordering something from Alaska. It was supposed to arrive in 5 days but it took 14 days.
-My family filed a complaint against the UPS after one of their drivers threw a gallon of paint at our door because he was to lazy to walk 15' from his truck to the doorstep. The paint leaked and caused $1,700+ worth of damage that the UPS had to pay for. More than once UPS has delivered a package that was dented, ripped and even partially destroyed.
-Both the UPS and FedEx have customer service that is worse than the Cable company. If I have any problems with the USPS, I can call their toll free number or walk into my local post office and speak with a supervisor. When someone robbed my mailbox earlier this month, I went to file a claim with the Postmaster at my local post office. The clerk immediately got a supervisor for me and he had the paperwork filled out and everything in less than 10 minutes.
Of course the USPS has its share of problems. They are B-R-O-K-E. Well, the USPS is too big to fail anyway and Job security is pretty much a standard benefit of any government job. The USPS has a supply and a demand that will always be around. People and businesses need to mail things and people and business need to have things mailed to them. The federal government will continue to drive the USPS into a financial black hole but I guess money doesn't really mean anything when you have actually cornered the market.
Thanks for reading.
No comments:
Post a Comment