Package delivery

Package delivery or parcel delivery is the delivery of shipping containers, parcels, or high value mail as single shipments. The service is provided by most postal systems, express mail, private package delivery services, and less than truckload shipping carriers.

Package delivery in the United States

In the United States, private parcel services arose in part over discontent with the United States Post Office whose rates were frequently inflated due to the monopoly it held over regular mail and the appointment of postmasters as political patronage jobs. In 1852 Wells Fargo, then just one of many such services, was formed to provide both banking and express services. These went hand-in-hand, as the handling of California gold and other financial matters required a secure method for transporting them across the country. This put Wells Fargo securely in the stagecoach business and prompted them to participate in the Pony Express venture. They were preceded, among others, by the Butterfield Overland Stage, but the failure of the latter put the business in Wells Fargo's hands and led to a monopoly on overland traffic that lasted until 1869, when the transcontinental rail line was completed. During this period they carried regular mail in addition to the package business, defying the post office monopoly; eventually a compromise was worked out wherein Wells Fargo charged its own fee on top of federal postage, in recognition of the limitations of the post office reaching all areas easily.