Supply Chain Innovators: USPS Same Day Service SF pilot worth the expense?

USPS service delivery truck in a residential area of San Francisco, California (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to Storefrontbacktalk, The U.S. Postal Service's same-day delivery trial for retailers is scheduled to begin on December 12 in San Francisco, but the service will launch with major limitations, according to the regulatory filings that allow the USPS to do this at all. The most significant limit: Each retailer will be allowed to send only 200 packages per day.

The mail agency also won't be allowed to do more than $50 million in business in the trial or expand it without more regulators' approvals, which rules out a rapid ramp-up to other cities. The last thing same-day needs is a regulatory straitjacket—but that's exactly what the USPS' service and the chains that use it will be saddled with.

My cynical side says that this pilot is maybe 5 years too late, as numerous big city same day delivery startups are already underway. My less cycnical side says that the USPS already possess the infrastructure to do this