Amtrak not easy

[dave1949]

Originally Posted by weldingisfun

Any company that does not have to worry about being profitable will never be concerned about customer service, convenience or effiency. AMTRAK and the USPS are perfect examples.

So what do you think it would cost to mail a letter if FedEx or UPS was visiting every mailbox on every house and business in the country 6 days a week? You are not comparing even remotely similar business models to USPS. FedEx and UPS have basically skimmed off the more profitable segments of the delivery business.

I will say it again - to the best of my knowledge, there are no major passenger rail systems in the world that operate subsidy free. Some of those do provide excellent service and are efficient. If other countries can do this, we can too if the will is there.

Also, now that we are coming to the crunch time of figuring out how we can afford to maintain the interstate highway system, it should put a whole different take on what is really profitable - or not.
Dave.

[turbo36]

Originally Posted by tallyho8

I have always had much better service from USPS than from UPS or Fed Ex and I have heard that it is one of the top mail delivery systems in the world. It could be that I am wrong.

You are correct, USPS is much more efficient the either UPS or Fed Ex, consumers reports has done comparisons to prove this. Fed EX actually sends a lot of their packages thought the USPS for final delivery. They will ship to a major hub like Chicago and then put it in the mail for the door stop delivery.