Is the postal slowdown affecting you?

[Jstpssng]

Not so long ago it was UPS. I got so that I told vendors that I would cancel my order if they shipped via that service, as it would take me up to a week to track it down after "delivery".

 

[lilranch2001]

I have heard there is this fancy new service lately..........

Contact Tracers!

 

[lman]

USPS has not slowed here. I'm still getting junk mail.

 

[lilranch2001]

Personally I think it was worse 10-15 years ago than it is now, but things have changed for me, I gave up my road post box, and got a PO Box, seems better to me now

 

[MossRoad]

Roger-Wilco on that.... Fud-Ex is just as bad. Bought a new Android Galaxy. Shipped from Indy, Fed-Ex Express Saver. Landed in Chicago. Shipped to Boston, Mass, then to Columbus, Ohio, back to Indy (where it started from) then to Maumee Ohio and then to Saline, Michigan and then to me. Fud-Ex didn't make squat on that delivery and if that was chicks, they would have croaked too. Took 12 days from Indy to me via 1/2 the country. Totally amazing. Glad I didn't need it asap. least it arrived intact. I've had Fud-ex shipments that looked like they played basketball with them.

Your location to Indy is what, a 4 hour drive? Yikes. They did lose money.

 

[MarkF48]

USPS is great for fast delivery compared to.....

Occasionally I don't pay good attention on Amazon when ordering an item and come to realize afterwards the seller is in China. I ordered the item on July 27th and the expected deliver date according to Amazon is Sept 22 to Oct 14. As of now the item was handed over to the airline on July 31 and no further tracking information. Fortunately I'm in no hurry for item.

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^^
I did that this spring when looking for Dewalt Batteries. I didn't realize that it was a Chinese based company until their name on my PayPal order confirmation showed all Chinese letters. Funny thing, that was the only actual correspondence which I received although my batteries did show up a few weeks later.

They also never debited my PayPal account, so the batteries were free.

 

[JethroB]

USPS is great for fast delivery compared to.....

Occasionally I don't pay good attention on Amazon when ordering an item and come to realize afterwards the seller is in China. I ordered the item on July 27th and the expected deliver date according to Amazon is Sept 22 to Oct 14. As of now the item was handed over to the airline on July 31 and no further tracking information. Fortunately I'm in no hurry for item.

Same here..I ordered a $3 item from Amazon that was direct shipped from China via China Post. Final delivery by USPS six weeks later. I assumed it was placed in a container for the month long sea voyage. Could not have been a lot of profit in it.

 

[rekees4300]

House passes $25B bill to boost Postal Service

House passes $25B bill to boost Postal Service | TheHill

 

[Ford850]

Here's an update on my shipments from the big 3 (USPS, UPS, FedEx):
USPS package shipped from NC - label created 8/14 and it is at my local P.O. as of 6:24 a.m. this morning so it should be delivered today 8/17. Pretty impressive service by the USPS.
UPS package shipped from NY - label created 8/14 and is schedule for delivery on 8/25. That is terrible service, but I'll bet that date gets changed to something sooner.
FedEx package shipped from CA - label created 8/13 and is scheduled for delivery on 8/19. That will be good service if it arrives on time.

Of the big three in my comparison, the USPS has come out in first place. I got my package quick and on time. UPS did shorten their estimated delivery date, and handing it off to the USPS for delivery which I received the following day. Fed Ex, wow. Estimated delivery 8/19 and they said I need to sign for the package so I made sure I was here all day. Never came and they changed delivery to 8/20 and they never showed again and bumped the ETA to 8/21. 8/21 came and went and now they changed the ETA to 8/24. So once again I'll be sure to stay around the house all day waiting for FedEx.

 

[Jstpssng]

Here is the USPS' response [FONT=Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif]https://www.wabi.tv/2020/08/21/us-postal-service-launches-new-election-mail-website/[/FONT]




to concerns about mail-in votes this fall.

 

[two_bit_score]

My :2cents: on USPS. It is a service that once upon a time could only be run by the government. Now that there is far more interstate commerce at the consumer level and several competing companies to transport 'light' packages, along with email, e-billing, and other more efficient 'mail' methods... the USPS has become a burdensome dinosaur.

I understand that for many, the USPS is still a life line for them. It's not for me. I bank online, I electronically correspond 99.9% of the time vs. traditional mail. If the USPS ceased, I am not sure it would be much of an inconvenience for me.

Mailing a letter at $0.55 is a bargain too good to be true. Expecting a human to come to your private mail box to pick up deliver a 1oz package anywhere in the USA for that price is ridiculous in my opinion. And that is not to mention the huge pension burden the USPS has to service.

I'm pretty sure the current competing companies such as UPS, FEDEX, DHL, Amazon, or others would emerge to take up the slack if the USPS went away. The free market would then dictate cost/price model. More of a pay per use model than everybody subsidizing a government service where some folks (including large corporations) can take advantage.

Time for USPS to go IMHO.

Not long ago I would have agreed 100%. But looking into it and talking to people I know it seems to be very factual that all these private delivery services use USPS service or infrastructure some how in almost every delivery they make. The USPS is limited legally on what they can charge the private carriers. Any other real private business would be charging them more.

All those Free Prime deliveries are subsidized by the post office.

 

[KennyG]

Not long ago I would have agreed 100%. But looking into it and talking to people I know it seems to be very factual that all these private delivery services use USPS service or infrastructure some how in almost every delivery they make. The USPS is limited legally on what they can charge the private carriers. Any other real private business would be charging them more.

All those Free Prime deliveries are subsidized by the post office.

This is another issue that's way more complicated. USPS has negotiated contracts with each of the shippers it services and these are confidential. They are not prescribed by law. The rate that USPS charges for packages shipped completely through the mail is set by the USPS Board of Governers (not law). Whether or not shipping is subsidized depends on how you allocate costs. The USPS already has (and must maintain) an infrastructure that services all addresses. The additional cost to deliver more packages is small if you don't count the cost of that infrastructure, but much larger if you do count it. Which way is correct? That argument could go on forever.

 

[dragoneggs]

Not long ago I would have agreed 100%. But looking into it and talking to people I know it seems to be very factual that all these private delivery services use USPS service or infrastructure some how in almost every delivery they make. The USPS is limited legally on what they can charge the private carriers. Any other real private business would be charging them more.

All those Free Prime deliveries are subsidized by the post office.

Exactly to my point. The USPS is being taken advantage by corporations.

 

[Pixguy]

But why would the board of Governors agree to losing money?

I'd gladly pay an $25 for Prime if I knew it would go to the PO.

 

[Diggin It]

I haven't had many packages coming by any carrier lately, so I can't really compare. Regular letter and junk mail has been arriving normally. Got one package by FedEx Saturday, right on time as per their tracking, and two days after ordering. Have more coming this week, two from FedEx scheduled Tuesday and one from UPS scheduled for Thursday, so I guess we'll see.

 

[KennyG]

But why would the board of Governors agree to losing money?

I'd gladly pay an $25 for Prime if I knew it would go to the PO.

Clearly, they wouldn't. But that's a business decision. If they didn't deliver for Amazon, they would lose a lot of income, but would still have to deliver to all addresses. Yes, there would be some savings in not delivering as many packages, but would it offset the income loss? I'm sure they analyze the impact when they negotiate contracts.

To provide an example to think about. Let's say you have a customer and you agree to deliver 1/2 truckload of something to him, 100 miles away for a set price. Now, you get a call and another customer wants 1/2 load, if you give him a good price and he is on the way. Do you insist on your full normal rate and lose the sale, or give him a discount?

 

[two_bit_score]

Clearly, they wouldn't. But that's a business decision. If they didn't deliver for Amazon, they would lose a lot of income, but would still have to deliver to all addresses. Yes, there would be some savings in not delivering as many packages, but would it offset the income loss? I'm sure they analyze the impact when they negotiate contracts.

To provide an example to think about. Let's say you have a customer and you agree to deliver 1/2 truckload of something to him, 100 miles away for a set price. Now, you get a call and another customer wants 1/2 load, if you give him a good price and he is on the way. Do you insist on your full normal rate and lose the sale, or give him a discount?

I think a lot of the argument is that many of these contracts are sweetheart deals not in the best financial interests of the USPS.

 

[Mat4644]

Nothing complicated or corrupt about it. USPS must do the "final mile" deliveries less cost than any private shipper can do it or they don't get the business. Amazon, UPS, FedX would just simply do it themselves. There are always economy of scale. The more you do the less cost per unit. They are trying to get enough business to make it profitable. The Post Office is desperately trying to modernize but politicians and internal bureaucrats resist.

 

[tallyho8]

This morning I had 12 orders that I put out in my mailbox to be picked up. This is a normal procedure for me. The mailman came about 3PM and had one box that would not fit in my mailbox and he put it on my front porch. He had another smaller package that he was able to squeeze into my mailbox. He did not pick up the mail I had in there. I pride myself in giving super fast service to my customers but how can I when I have to deal with idiots like that?