[phdp]

No one else does what the USPS does. No one else does daily rural mail delivery. The USPS is also not tax subsidized.

[WalterBright]

The USPS has legally enforced monopolies on various forms of mail delivery:

https://www.cato.org/publications/tax-budget-bulletin/privat...

[curiousgeorgio]

> No one else does what the USPS does

They certainly could if it weren't for laws preventing them from delivering to people's mailboxes.

[SolaceQuantum]

What are the laws preventing UPS from delivering to extremely rural areas?

[chrisseaton]

> What are the laws preventing UPS from delivering to extremely rural areas?

Apparently it's literally illegal for anyone but USPS to put something in your mailbox https://blog.oup.com/2017/07/mailboxes-us-mail/.

[SolaceQuantum]

That’s not what I asked but okay. Also the reference is what looks to be on some persons blog post.

[chrisseaton]

> That’s not what I asked but okay.

You asked what laws stopped them delivering mail to rural locations. You can't deliver mail anywhere, rural or otherwise, if you can't use the mailbox when you get there. That's the law you were asking about.

> Also the reference is what looks to be on some persons blog post.

Yes the blog explains the context around the law. Is this one better if you want to appeal to authority https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0...?

[toomuchtodo]

Economics.

[cjsawyer]

We still need someone to do it.

[toomuchtodo]

Most definitely, which is why we mandate USPS to do it, even if at a loss. They are not a business, they are a transportation utility.

[curiousgeorgio]

The same laws I described, along with pricing. While the laws don't directly prohibit private delivery to those areas, they greatly reduce the economic incentive to do so by (1) prohibiting delivery to regular mailboxes and, (2) allowing USPS to charge such low rates so as to lose money on every delivery (no one can compete with that).

[jimbob45]

It’s a critical service. No one should be allowed to profit off of critical services.

Is there an argument to be made that a privatized version could run better? Not unless it gets to leverage people’s need of their mail next to its own greedy need for profit.