4 ms·
Excuse my ignorance, but what legal monopoly does USPS have? I was under the impression that any company is allowed to carry mail in the US.
by avianlyric 6y ago
Excuse my ignorance, but what legal monopoly does USPS have? I was under the impression that any company is allowed to carry mail in the US.
- amanaplanacanal 6y agoOnly usps can carry first class mail, or “letters”.
- eru 6y agoGoogle or Bing help a lot. See eg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#Criticism_of_the_universal_service_requirement_and_the_postal_monopoly https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service#C...
- nkurz 6y agoSurprising though it may seem, with some limited exceptions, it's illegal for a private party to deliver a letter to another private party without paying the US Postal Service. The term to search for is "Private Express Statutes": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Private_Express_Statutes. This article (titled "Universal Service and the Postal Monopoly: A Brief History") goes into more depth: https://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/universal-service-and-postal-monopoly-history.pdf https://about.usps.com/universal-postal-service/universal-se...
- realityking 6y agoBesides the monopoly on letters that others have explained the USPS also has a legal monopoly on the use of your mailbox.