01-31-2009, 10:43 PM
USPS ships first and third class mail by air, but parcels still go by rail unless the shipper pays the extra price to send it by air. The parcels are sent on road railers coupled to the back of AmTrak trains. UPS, Fedex, DHL, etc. also ship parcels by piggy back except when the shipper pays extra for next day air or two day air. It is not surprising that mail pays better for the airlines than passengers, mail paid better for the railroads than passengers and the railroads abandoned passenger service and pressed for the creation of AmTrak when the post office pulled the mail contracts.