Improved Mileage Blog

The concept of retail has at its basis the presentation of goods or services to a consumer base in the effort to entice the customers to make a purchase. In all the time that capitalism has been in effect, despite its many forms and regulations this basic tenet has not changed. What has made a significant change is the cost related to this shipping of products to retail facilities.

In the not too very distant past, the cost of getting things to the marketplace was one of the least worrisome parts of engaging in business. As recently as 1970 the cost of gasoline was a mere 35 cents per gallon and that was a ten cent per gallon increase over the previous decade. Farm fuel oil was exempt from taxes and so cost as little as 11 cents per gallon. These costs have obviously skyrocketed, even when the prices are adjusted for inflation.

But it is not just the cost of petroleum that has made it more expensive to move product from place to place. The cost of packaging, much of it made from petroleum has also increased. We can seen the increase in our supermarkets, the cost of paper bags had always been more than for plastic bags, but that is no longer the case.

From the beginning of the nation the notion of delivering packages and mail was an especially important process. The postal service was a mammoth enterprise with a truly nation building impact. Benjamin Franklin became our first postmaster general in 1775, earlier than the signing of the declaration of independence. Unfortunately, mail delivery was not equally available to all Americans.

Cities began receiving free mail delivery in 1828, but those living in rural areas had to either make the long trip into town or pay to have their mail delivered by a private carrier. The oldest agricultural organization in the nation pushed to introduce free delivery to farmers. It took 33 years to come to fruition, but it was established as an official service under President Grover Cleveland in 1891.

The notion of rural free delivery was far from universally accepted. The companies that were providing postal service for price felt they were being unfairly persecuted and would lose their business. The shops and stores in towns feared the rural patronage would dwindle and cost them dearly. In the end everyone survived and farm communities had the same access that city folk had.

The fairness of the practice belied the cost of delivering the service. Eventually the idea of prepaying for postal service was made compulsory to deal with the expense of making the deliveries. This cost would be amplified as the effort to extend service to the west all the way to California was attacked in earnest. The pony express was probably one of the nations more notable and romantic efforts in the continued work to assure total international package delivery.

In the modern world, anyone thinking about starting up as an entrepreneur had better do their research and cost analysis before they begin. Those that underestimate the expense related to getting whatever their product or service is to the consuming public does so at their peril. Shipping will remain an integral and significant cost to business until we find an alternative to fossil fuels.

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