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Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

reuters.com

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Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#11

Post by kevin_b_er »

noer wrote: post #7

>TuSimple and the USPS declined to disclose the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used and the agency relies on revenue from sales of postage and other products. Really? This is exactly the kind of thing we should be spending tax dollars on. I have no idea why people think the USPS is this giant wasteful pit of money in the federal budget but they provide a lot of valuable services in addition to…

Its a common misconception, and it is driven by political interests that want to dismantle public services and replace them with more expensive services that have a profit margin for themselves attached.

Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#12

Post by Spooky23 »

ru999gol wrote: post #3

I always wondered why it seems we've get automated trucks pretty soon everywhere, but there is almost no one talking about self driving trains?

Trains are super efficient. My uncle is a locomotive engineer. He has one or two conductors with a train that is a couple of miles long. They pay a premium to keep staffing at a minimum -- he can be called with 30 minutes notice to come in and drive a train for a 24 hour period.

You'd probably be able to run more smaller trains with automation, but competing with trucks is tough, because the efficiency gains associated with getting rid of people and adding automation are blown away by the need to cross-dock and do the last mile via local truck.

Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#13

Post by zaroth »

noer wrote: post #7

>TuSimple and the USPS declined to disclose the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used and the agency relies on revenue from sales of postage and other products. Really? This is exactly the kind of thing we should be spending tax dollars on. I have no idea why people think the USPS is this giant wasteful pit of money in the federal budget but they provide a lot of valuable services in addition to…

A valuable service which they charge money for, and should generate revenue to cover their costs.

Pension funding politics aside, I want to pay USPS postage fees which cover the cost of the service they provide. There’s no reason to be paying below cost postage to USPS. I find that their rates are extremely competitive, particularly priority mail flat rate compared to UPS or FedEx.

I think the post office could be doing a lot more digital services in 2020 and I’d love to see a lot less junk mail, it would be nice if they could centralize the opt-outs.

Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#14

Post by javagram »

ru999gol wrote: post #3

I always wondered why it seems we've get automated trucks pretty soon everywhere, but there is almost no one talking about self driving trains?

Self driving trains already exist, or at least remote controlled trains which is pretty close https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_control

The cost savings from getting rid of a train driver aren’t nearly as great either since the driver:passenger ratio is different between car and train.

Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#17

Post by joshgachnang »

zaroth wrote: post #13
noer wrote: post #7

>TuSimple and the USPS declined to disclose the cost of the program, but Frum said no tax dollars were used and the agency relies on revenue from sales of postage and other products. Really? This is exactly the kind of thing we should be spending tax dollars on. I have no idea why people think the USPS is this giant wasteful pit of money in the federal budget but they provide a lot of valuable services in addition to…

A valuable service which they charge money for, and should generate revenue to cover their costs. Pension funding politics aside, I want to pay USPS postage fees which cover the cost of the service they provide. There’s no reason to be paying below cost postage to USPS. I find that their rates are extremely competitive, particularly priority mail flat rate compared to UPS or FedEx. I think the post office could be do…

But isn't the junk mail where they make a ton of their money?

Re: Self-driving trucks begin mail delivery test for U.S. Postal Service

#19

Post by pbhjpbhj »

linsomniac wrote: post #6

Back in 1987, at my first job at Hewlett-Packard, they had a little robot that would deliver mail. This was their plant in Loveland, CO, I believe it was the first non-California site HP opened. Along the main hallways there was some sort of retroreflective tape laid down, and the robot, which looked like and equipment cart, would follow that tape. At every stop it would sound a chime and the secretary for that secti…

IIRC the movie Space Camp (80s?) features a mail-robot, perhaps the kid hides in it?
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