Why is it impossible to create a competing Post Office?

As the holiday season rapidly approaches, many of us are gearing up for the inevitable long waits at the post office when sending out cards and presents. While stuck in the endless line, I often find myself thinking, 'Why hasn’t anyone started a private postal service to rival this one?'

The simple answer: A private company would be prohibited from handling regular letters. However, let's dive deeper into this question.

What are the Private Express Statutes?

In essence, the Private Express Statutes are a series of laws, some of which date back to 1792, that grant the USPS exclusive rights to deliver letters in exchange for compensation. From the USPS's perspective, these laws are crucial to prevent private couriers from siphoning off business from the most lucrative routes, leaving the government to handle the less profitable ones, which often run at a loss.

Are there any ways to bypass these regulations?

Yes. The USPS clearly states that they have no issue with you using a private courier to deliver your mail, as long as you affix the appropriate USPS postage and cancel it with ink. In other words, they’ll gladly sell you a stamp and let you cancel it, without actually using it for postage.

There are also other, more practical exceptions. For instance, you can send a letter through a private courier like FedEx if it's considered 'extremely urgent,' or if you pay at least six times the cost of regular USPS first-class postage. Additionally, you can personally deliver (or have an employee deliver) your own letters without violating any laws under the Postmaster General.

How do bike messengers comply with the law?

While the USPS aims to protect its monopoly, it does acknowledge some reasonable exceptions. The Private Express Statutes include a provision that permits businesses to send '25 or fewer letters via special messenger on an occasional, irregular basis for the sender or recipient.' In other words, bike messengers are in the clear.

So it’s against the law to send certain types of letters through private couriers. But these regulations must not be strictly enforced, right?

Think again! The USPS does indeed enforce these rules from time to time. For instance, in 1993, Equifax faced a wake-up call. USPS inspectors raided the company's Atlanta headquarters to check whether the letters being sent via FedEx met the 'extremely urgent' criteria set by the Private Express Statutes. The letters failed, and Equifax had to pay a $30,000 fine.

Are there any other postal laws we might be violating?

Yes, if you’ve ever dropped an unstamped flyer or pamphlet into a mailbox. Title 18 of the United States Code forbids placing any unstamped 'mailable matter' into an authorized mailbox, regardless of whether or not the mailbox owner minds.

In the 1981 case USPS v. Council of Greenburgh Civic Assns., the Supreme Court upheld the legality of this system, ruling that customers have no control over what gets placed in their mailbox, even if they were eager to receive that menu from the new Chinese restaurant. The ruling states, 'In effect, the postal customer, although he pays for the physical components of the 'authorized depository,' agrees to abide by the Postal Service's regulations in exchange for the Postal Service agreeing to deliver and pick up his mail.'

Has anyone ever attempted to start a rival USPS?

Indeed, they have. Political activist and reformer Lysander Spooner took action in 1844 by founding the American Letter Mail Company. Spooner believed that the postal monopoly was unconstitutional, arguing that the Constitution only granted Congress 'the power to establish post offices and post roads' without any mention of exclusivity. He also thought he could outperform the USPS by offering lower prices, aiming to reduce the cost of a stamp from 12 cents to just a nickel.

Although Spooner was primarily motivated by a desire to make a political statement against the government’s monopolistic practices, the American Letter Mail Company achieved significant early success. He opened offices in major East Coast cities and used ships and railroads to ensure fast and affordable mail delivery. Customers loved the lower prices and quicker delivery, making Spooner a formidable competitor to the USPS.

Naturally, the government didn’t make it easy for him. It attempted to penalize railroad owners who transported Spooner’s couriers, and Spooner even faced the threat of jail time for defying the government’s monopoly. Nevertheless, he continued delivering mail, forcing the USPS to lower its own prices to stay competitive. The price of a stamp dropped to just a nickel.

However, Spooner wasn’t done yet. He further reduced his rates and continued mailing letters. By 1851, Congress had to step in with new laws to safeguard the postal monopoly, including another rate reduction, this time to three cents per stamp. While these actions eventually forced Spooner out of business, his entrepreneurial efforts helped reduce the price of stamps by 75%. In the process, other private carriers quietly turned profits while Spooner had drawn the government’s attention away from them.