People will prefer the post office because they effectively get subsidized by everyone else. Although now that might not be as much the case. I haven't really researched it.
Not sure how viable mail order business would be without it either.
Although I wonder if UPS and Fedex wouldn't be significantly better without the way they are regulated. For example I seem to remember for some reason Fedex is regulated under some old legislation meant for airlines, and UPS is regulated by some old legislation meant for railroads. It is rather hilarious. It has something to do with the percentage of their shipments that either go by air or land. They've even been known to propose harsher regulations for each other since they are not regulated in the same way.
That said the USPS probably already has the infrastructure for a lot of stuff Fedex and UPS might not have. Especially for the last mile delivery, which makes it significantly more expensive for them than it should be for USPS. That and well the USPS runs at a loss most of the time I believe.
Not sure how viable mail order business would be without it either.
Although I wonder if UPS and Fedex wouldn't be significantly better without the way they are regulated. For example I seem to remember for some reason Fedex is regulated under some old legislation meant for airlines, and UPS is regulated by some old legislation meant for railroads. It is rather hilarious. It has something to do with the percentage of their shipments that either go by air or land. They've even been known to propose harsher regulations for each other since they are not regulated in the same way.
That said the USPS probably already has the infrastructure for a lot of stuff Fedex and UPS might not have. Especially for the last mile delivery, which makes it significantly more expensive for them than it should be for USPS. That and well the USPS runs at a loss most of the time I believe.