4 ms·

I get that the post office as a whole is useful, but on an organizational level it probably would make more sense for everyone to have to go to the post office

by rtpg 9y ago

I get that the post office as a whole is useful, but on an organizational level it probably would make more sense for everyone to have to go to the post office to pick up their deliveries in this day and age. Personal deliveries to your doorstep is a pretty luxurious service, if you think about it in abstract. Plus it seems inefficient for these delivery people to go to a bunch of people's houses and drop things off (when people are mostly not home) when we could all just change our daily commutes slightly when we need to.

dilemma 9y ago
>we could all just change our daily commutes Sounds inefficient.
- rtpg 9y ago
  I guess this is a bet on how often we actually get deliveries. Personally, I get "useful" mail about once a week. I'm never home when deliveries happen (though I have a delivery box in my apartment entrance, I used to always have to pick it up later). So almost every package I would get delivered would _always_ go from the delivery center to my home, then back again.
Thriptic 9y ago
There isn't a post office near me and I don't have a car. I come home at 9-10 PM every day and the post office closes before then. Do I now have to leave work to get my packages? Do I have to use Uber when I receive a large package? This is not a viable solution for a lot of people.
- rtpg 9y ago
  In this universe I would imagine 24 hour pickup windows being a thing. Or even just more no-human-needed deposit lockers like Amazon hub. I definitely understand how this works less well in the current reality. Though you can do local reorganization of this (for example you have deposit lockers for an entire neighborhood in a specific part that is easy to access for everyone, and now the mail delivery takes only 30 minutes or so instead of 6 hours).
- remir 9y ago
  Can you have your stuff delivered at your work place? I did this a couple of times.
stordoff 9y ago
This raises the question of is it actually inefficient? I'm not so sure that trade-off of delivery worker taking parcels from the PO to a bunch of addresses in _broadly_ the same area versus ad-hoc journeys to the PO by individuals is as clear as you make it. Not to mention you'd get huge push back from retailers (more hassle -> less orders) and users (how do I collect large items / I don't commute / PO is closed / PO is not in a convenient place etc.).
- rtpg 9y ago
  I remember seeing a thing about how the primary cost for selling t-shirts online made in India (for example) was the last mile delivery. At least in Japan, there's extreme turnover among these delivery people at the last mile that would go away. I agree that it's not clear-cut, but to me it feels wasteful, at least in densely urban areas where 24 hour pickup windows at the PO/ "pickup-only" places are reasonable. And for people at the margins (for example, people who have difficulty moving), you could imagine having the "direct to home" delivery service still existing, but no longer being the default. Not sure how you would know you have something though....
AnssiH 9y ago
FWIW, in Finland having to pickup your domestic packages at the post office or other pickup point has always been the standard, unless you pay extra for home delivery. Regulations say 82%+ of Finnish population needs to be within 3 km (1.9 mi) and 97%+ within 10 km (6.2 mi) of a postal outlet.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

by rtpg 9y ago

dilemma 9y ago

>we could all just change our daily commutes Sounds inefficient.

rtpg 9y ago
I guess this is a bet on how often we actually get deliveries. Personally, I get "useful" mail about once a week. I'm never home when deliveries happen (though I have a delivery box in my apartment entrance, I used to always have to pick it up later). So almost every package I would get delivered would _always_ go from the delivery center to my home, then back again.

Thriptic 9y ago

There isn't a post office near me and I don't have a car. I come home at 9-10 PM every day and the post office closes before then. Do I now have to leave work to get my packages? Do I have to use Uber when I receive a large package? This is not a viable solution for a lot of people.

rtpg 9y ago
In this universe I would imagine 24 hour pickup windows being a thing. Or even just more no-human-needed deposit lockers like Amazon hub. I definitely understand how this works less well in the current reality. Though you can do local reorganization of this (for example you have deposit lockers for an entire neighborhood in a specific part that is easy to access for everyone, and now the mail delivery takes only 30 minutes or so instead of 6 hours).
remir 9y ago
Can you have your stuff delivered at your work place? I did this a couple of times.

stordoff 9y ago

This raises the question of is it actually inefficient? I'm not so sure that trade-off of delivery worker taking parcels from the PO to a bunch of addresses in _broadly_ the same area versus ad-hoc journeys to the PO by individuals is as clear as you make it. Not to mention you'd get huge push back from retailers (more hassle -> less orders) and users (how do I collect large items / I don't commute / PO is closed / PO is not in a convenient place etc.).

rtpg 9y ago
I remember seeing a thing about how the primary cost for selling t-shirts online made in India (for example) was the last mile delivery. At least in Japan, there's extreme turnover among these delivery people at the last mile that would go away. I agree that it's not clear-cut, but to me it feels wasteful, at least in densely urban areas where 24 hour pickup windows at the PO/ "pickup-only" places are reasonable. And for people at the margins (for example, people who have difficulty moving), you could imagine having the "direct to home" delivery service still existing, but no longer being the default. Not sure how you would know you have something though....

AnssiH 9y ago

FWIW, in Finland having to pickup your domestic packages at the post office or other pickup point has always been the standard, unless you pay extra for home delivery. Regulations say 82%+ of Finnish population needs to be within 3 km (1.9 mi) and 97%+ within 10 km (6.2 mi) of a postal outlet.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]