USPS has drastically different approach to mail deliver and pickup than most countries. Including as mentioned street-level mailboxes for both pickup and delivery, and general idea that really rural mail gets delivered direct still.
In comparison, polish postal system although it's pretty much standard european approach:
- postal trucks deliver mail between post offices
- in cities and more built-up rural areas, on-foot postman delivers mail from post office
- in very sparse rural areas or for households far from village center, mailboxes are placed in centralized location and you have to go to pick up them on your own.
Mail pickup is done from dedicated sending boxes usually on outside of post offices, sometimes one might be placed further away in rural areas. No curb-side pickup.
Such differences mean that normal cargo vehicles can be easily used between post offices, and even for rural areas you arrive, park once, handle unloading, and drive again, instead of constantly starting and stopping to access road-side mailboxes.
> instead of constantly starting and stopping to access road-side mailboxes
Q: What's the (average) distance between deliveries to road-side mailboxes?
I'm thinking of the average driving time between them, compared with the time to get out of a vehicle, put mail in a mailbox, and get back in the a vehicle...
I know "mounted delivery routes" sound and feel more efficient, but just how much more efficient are they actually?
We should note that USPS letter volumes are falling (just like everywhere else in the world) and somehow parcel/packet delivery services do not need to have "mounted routes", the delivery crew appear to be able to just get out of their vehicles(?)
USPS normal letter volumes are falling, but due to various stupid crap they are forced to deliver a lot of junk mail at low price. Political issue rather than technical.
The difference for parcel services is that, statistically, they do not deliver a parcel to everyone every time, making it way easier to do "p2p" because you're not canvassing a whole street.
I don't know how it is done in the rest of the US, but in my state rural mail services are 95% of the time delivered using the mail carrier's personal vehicle, not the custom mail trucks. I usually only see them inside towns or moving between post offices.
In comparison, polish postal system although it's pretty much standard european approach:
- postal trucks deliver mail between post offices
- in cities and more built-up rural areas, on-foot postman delivers mail from post office
- in very sparse rural areas or for households far from village center, mailboxes are placed in centralized location and you have to go to pick up them on your own.
Mail pickup is done from dedicated sending boxes usually on outside of post offices, sometimes one might be placed further away in rural areas. No curb-side pickup.
Such differences mean that normal cargo vehicles can be easily used between post offices, and even for rural areas you arrive, park once, handle unloading, and drive again, instead of constantly starting and stopping to access road-side mailboxes.