You needed to ship a package out yesterday and you finally have everything boxed, signed and sealed. Now comes the question: Whom best to deliver it?

Your most likely options are UPS, FedEx and the good ‘ole United States Postal Service (USPS). You’re tempted to use one of the private carriers and expedite your shipping, but are the extra cost really worth it? Not so much, according to a recent study by Consumer Reports.

From the results of the study the USPS came out ahead overall. Surprised? Read on...

The Study

The Money Team at Consumer Reports evaluated the three delivery services based on performance and/or costs in a variety of categories.

The Breakdown: Convenience, Reliability, Delivery, Cost

Convenience

For a surcharge, USPS will deliver Priority Mail every day of the week including weekends and holidays. UPS and FedEx will make Saturday deliveries for an extra charge; they will also make delivery on Sundays but at a very unaffordable rate.

The winner: USPS

Reliability

Both UPS and FedEx had to call in extra team members during the 2013 Christmas season to catch up on delayed package deliveries due to bad storms and procrastinating customers. They pledged better service for the 2014 holidays but declined to share their delivery tracking record for the study. By comparison, USPS delivered 87.5 percent of their packages by the promised times.

The winner: USPS

Scope of Delivery

There are approximately 193 million residential addresses in the United States; UPS, FedEx and USPS make deliveries to all of them. In addition, all three services make deliveries to the majority of the more than 262 countries and territories that are recognized by our country.

The winner: ALL (each of the three services received the same score)

Cost

The Money Team examined delivery prices from select cities coast to coast as well as mailings to Alaska and Hawaii. The delivery prices ranged from ground to next-day delivery. Next and second-day deliveries were cheapest with USPS. FedEx was cheapest for third-day and ground deliveries. UPS was consistently the most expensive way to deliver packages.

The winner: USPS

Conclusion

The evaluation was made using a 1-to-5 scale, with 5 representing the highest possible score and 1 representing the lowest. The overall score was determined by averaging the individual scores for the categories noted above. USPS was the winner, with a total score of 3.8. FedEx garnered second place with a score of 3.1. UPS came in last, with an overall score of 2.6.