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Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Besides all that, it also becomes another threat to freedom, serving as a case for a broader political push toward EVs.
Even though the larger retail chains are not actually taking over the mom and pop shops in my country, nowadays many small businesses are basically forced to join the e-commerce platforms of some larger chain in order to stay competitive.
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I have no problem with small shops joining the e commerce, but what is terrible is they can't compete. USPS has special, secret, deals with Amazon where even a 40 pound bag of dog food in a 24x20x20" box ships for around $2. The mom and pop can't send a one pound 4x2x1" box across town for less than $4. The dog food would cost them probably $40. Now Amazon try's to claim "they do most of the work" and the post office just does the "last mile". Now what's more difficult putting 10,000 packages in a semi truck and driving them 200 miles to post office. Or unloading 10,000 packages, sorting them into 100 different routes, then loading 100 small trucks and distributing them over a 40 mile radius to a random 10,000 houses? Yeah, that's worth $20,000. It doesn't cover the hourly wages of the 10 sorting clerks, 100 carriers, and 5 supervisors. Well it does if you assume those 100 carriers were "going there anyway". So Amazon gets a free ride on grandma's cards or mom and pop shop sending $4-$100 packages. They also don't cover the cost of the now needed larger delivery vehicles, the increased injuries to workers, the future retirements, etc. Now the post office jumps through their hoops only to be ridden hard and put away wet. As soon as they figure it out and balance the rates, Amazon will just start their own delivery service not only hauling their own packages but give better rates to the mom and pops the PO screwed helping Amazon establish in the first place. Then the PO will have a shiny fleet of new EVs and no packages to fill them.