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Trump targets Amazon in call for postal service to hike prices
U.S. President Donald Trump targeted Amazon on Friday in a call for the country's postal service to raise prices of shipments in order to recoup costs, picking another fight with the online retail giant he has criticized in the past. "Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!" Trump wrote on Twitter.
The U.S. Postal Service, which runs at a big loss, is an independent agency within the federal government and does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses, according to its website. The organization makes up a significant portion of the $1.4 trillion U.S. delivery industry. Other players include United Parcel Service Inc and Fedex Corp.
[...] Amazon has shown interest in the past in shifting into its own delivery service. In 2015, the company spent $11.5 billion on shipping, 46 percent of its total operating expenses that year. In October, Bloomberg reported that Amazon was testing its own delivery service to move products more quickly out of its overcrowded warehouses and make more of them available for free two-day delivery. However, Amazon said at the time that it was using the same carrier partners to offer the program as it has used for years, including the U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30 2017, @12:30PM (3 children)
Except post service would be broke if it wasn't for Amazon. Here, let me give you a car analogy.
1. You sell cars, but you can't sell a car in years.
2. Fortunately the smaller business of towing cars is good, it keeps you busy and putting food on the table.
3. You are still losing money on your car business
4. Trump suggests "WTF!! CHARGE MORE FOR TOWING!!"
5. You agree.
See a problem?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30 2017, @02:31PM (2 children)
If you can charge more without having your customers going elsewhere, then no, I don't see the problem. More food on the table. Don't know if that would be the case here though. You are not towing out of the goodness of your heart. If you made a bad deal with a large customer to tow for almost nothing, you might want to get out of that deal. That is how capitalism works.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Saturday December 30 2017, @02:53PM
"IF". A conditional which isn't necessarily true, means a predicate which isn't necessarily true.
Another "IF". What makes you think the USPS's deal with Amazon is bad?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 30 2017, @04:37PM
"If you can charge more without having your customers going elsewhere, then no, I don't see the problem."
And guess what? There's enough privately owned international transport and courier services these days that can let the business go elsewhere. You don't think the post office is giving these low rates out of the kindness of their hearts do you?
In the towing example, if you charge more then someone else is going to see they can do it cheaper while still putting food on the table, buy a pickup themselves, and bam! you got competition stealing the food off your table.