The "efficiency" of the USPS is staggering.

[prsman23]

Not the first time mind you.... and they wonder why they are failing.

To get a package 18 miles from Edwardsville to my house in Belleville.
They took it 254 miles to Lenexa Kansas.
From Lenexa to St. Louis (262 miles)
And St Louis to my home 17.5 miles.
For a grand total of 533.5 miles.




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[XDROB]

They are all the same. FedEx shipment from Groton Ct to Windsor Ct.
Total of about 60 miles. Went to their hub in Kentucky then to the Windsor address.

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[TexasGrunt]

Not the first time mind you.... and they wonder why they are failing.

To get a package 18 miles from Edwardsville to my house in Belleville.
They took it 254 miles to Lenexa Kansas.
From Lenexa to St. Louis (262 miles)
And St Louis to my home 17.5 miles.
For a grand total of 533.5 miles.




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Blame the bean counters and consolidation. It used to be that clerks sorted mail at the local level. Now it all goes to consolidated distribution centers.

[RogerDat]

USPS is actually run well under budget and its volume of deliveries is greater in a month than the next largest delivery service in a year.
For less than 1/2 the price of a cup of coffee I can send several pages anywhere in the country. For $7 I can send 25# of lead anyplace in the country and they do it under budget and at a profit. Yes the hub and spoke method has costs in terms of transport but the efficiencies gained by NOT hand sorting and only buying the expensive sorting equipment at the hubs is one thing that helps keep them operating in the black.

Well documented that Congress is milking and bilking the profits to help shore up the budget. Stopping it would require them to cut spending so they won't do it. Simply put Congress ordered the USPS to way over fund their pension, at a set amount that exceeds their profits, then further orders that they borrow the money to make up the difference from Treasury AND invest the pension in T-Bills (a loan to the government). So Treasury loans post office money that the post office gives back to the Treasury along with all their profits and Congress counts it ALL as annual revenue in the budget. So they don't fail so much as Congress embezzles their profits and then some. Which also hampers the USPS ability to improve equipment and services.

At one point USPS wanted to get into long term storage of documents and data, made sense, they have all these large storage and shipping facilities. Congress ordered them not to do it. Wonder who got what contribution from which industry group (hint: commercial document storage companies don't want competition from USPS with massive fleet + storage infrastructure).

[lightman]

I guess there is a method to the madness! Overall, I have had good service from the USPS. Airlines are the same way. Very seldom do you get a direct flight from point A to point B without going someplace else first.

[lefty o]

im not super impressed. at least twice a week i get mail that shouldnt have been delivered here. sometimes its a neighbors, sometimes it should be 8 blocks away , and once in a while its not even the right city! guess thats part of the reason mailing keeps getting more expensive, they have to redeliver the same piece multiple times.

[Alstep]

Last year I sent a check to a man in Florida, took 6 weeks to get there from NY. Guy thought I cut out on the deal, couldn't blame him.
Sent a priority flat rate box to a man in the midwest, (can't remember where right now), checked the tracking # and they lost it for a few days. Took almost 2 weeks to get there and then wouldn't deliver it because it was too heavy, it was less than 70#. My, My, so overworked and over stressed!

[prsman23]

Yeah. The odd thing is I've had them go from Edwardsville to belleville with no in between before. Next day delivery with the same postage rate.



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[prsman23]

im not super impressed. at least twice a week i get mail that shouldnt have been delivered here. sometimes its a neighbors, sometimes it should be 8 blocks away , and once in a while its not even the right city! guess thats part of the reason mailing keeps getting more expensive, they have to redeliver the same piece multiple times.

Don't get me started on this one lol. Almost every week. Sometimes (read: most times) two or three times a week they deliver packages to my house (N) from S and vice versa. The streets are separated by Main Street. And our names are nowhere close.
Maddening.
I highlight S on the package, envelope, magazine, etc and shove it back in the mailbox. Think they'd get it after 4 years???? Nope.


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[OS OK]

The USPS is a great institution . . . :bigsmyl2: . . . to test your best packaging skills...they can destroy your best efforts...effortlessly! :bigsmyl2:

[Geezer in NH]

Maybe they should hire Uber drivers for situations like yours and then charge what it costs to YOU. [sarcasm/off]

[prsman23]

Maybe you should re-read all my posts[sarcasm off]
I never said they needed to drive right to my house.
I said that going to Kansas seems silly.
Especially when I have had packages go from the Edwardsville post office to the Belleville post office previously.
Also that i have had other packages go to the big sorting center in St Louis before as well.



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[DerekP Houston]

I've had a few packages get 'lost' and delayed for weeks on end but almost everything turned up eventually. I can't honestly say UPS or FEDEX are really any much better and they cost considerably more. I do wish their tracking was more accurate though.

[TexasGrunt]

If you're having a misdelivery problem then there is something you can do about it.

1. Document! Take pictures with your phone, keep count. If your neighbors are having the same problem then get them involved too. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

2. Contact the stupidvisor at your delivery office. Show them the documentation.

3. Or call 1-800-ASK-USPS and complain. This path creates a paper trail that stupidvisors HATE.

4. If that fails go over the stupidvisor's head.



If you have a regular carrier and they've been on the route more than six months they should be delivering by name. Almost all the letter class mail is sorted by machine and not touched by human hands till your carrier delivers it. That doesn't excuse mistakes. The machines are around 97-98% accurate. It's up to the delivery person to catch that other 2-3%. When the advise I gave above is followed things will change. I've seen it happen several times. If you have a regular carrier and don't know their name then shame on you too.

If you don't have a regular carrier it becomes even more important to document and complain. It will cause things to change.

There's a file for every carrier that has every complaint and compliment they've ever received in it. I can tell you that those in the trenches hardly ever hear about the compliments but always hear about the complaints.

At my old station we had an auxiliary route for a while. That's a route that's too small to have a regular carrier, so it gets catch as catch can. Living on an AUX route can be true hell. But if enough people complain things will change.

[00buck]

Was it a 65lb flat rate box of lead? :D

[bubba.50]

on the other side of the coin, I traded guns a while back with a feller in Winchester Va. since we're both residents of Va. & could legally do so we shipped direct to each other. I used USPS Priority Mail he insisted on usin' a "real shipper" & went UPS.

the one I sent him went straight up I-81 and he got it the next day. the one he sent UPS went from Winchester to Hagerstown MD, to Charleston WV, to Chattanooga TN, to Charlotte NC, right by the house up I-81 to Roanoke VA then back to Dublin & then onto the truck to my house.

[BigMagShooter]

if you are having real trouble with the USPS, ask the Postmaster at your branch if they know what 'congressionals' are. Watch their ears perk up. :)

[ichthyo]

Privatize the USPS. They are a huge drain on the budget with crazy salaries and pensions.

[cptjack]

so I guess you we paid low wages v, with no pension ,jealous

[prsman23]

on the other side of the coin, I traded guns a while back with a feller in Winchester Va. since we're both residents of Va. & could legally do so we shipped direct to each other. I used USPS Priority Mail he insisted on usin' a "real shipper" & went UPS.

the one I sent him went straight up I-81 and he got it the next day. the one he sent UPS went from Winchester to Hagerstown MD, to Charleston WV, to Chattanooga TN, to Charlotte NC, right by the house up I-81 to Roanoke VA then back to Dublin & then onto the truck to my house.

HA! Too funny! I know none of them are perfect. Just perplexed sometimes!


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[prsman23]

Was it a 65lb flat rate box of lead? :D

Not this time! Hahaha


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[prsman23]

If you're having a misdelivery problem then there is something you can do about it.

1. Document! Take pictures with your phone, keep count. If your neighbors are having the same problem then get them involved too. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

2. Contact the stupidvisor at your delivery office. Show them the documentation.

3. Or call 1-800-ASK-USPS and complain. This path creates a paper trail that stupidvisors HATE.

4. If that fails go over the stupidvisor's head.



If you have a regular carrier and they've been on the route more than six months they should be delivering by name. Almost all the letter class mail is sorted by machine and not touched by human hands till your carrier delivers it. That doesn't excuse mistakes. The machines are around 97-98% accurate. It's up to the delivery person to catch that other 2-3%. When the advise I gave above is followed things will change. I've seen it happen several times. If you have a regular carrier and don't know their name then shame on you too.

If you don't have a regular carrier it becomes even more important to document and complain. It will cause things to change.

There's a file for every carrier that has every complaint and compliment they've ever received in it. I can tell you that those in the trenches hardly ever hear about the compliments but always hear about the complaints.

At my old station we had an auxiliary route for a while. That's a route that's too small to have a regular carrier, so it gets catch as catch can. Living on an AUX route can be true hell. But if enough people complain things will change.

Excellent!!!!! Thank you so much!
We had a regular carrier when I moved here. He was the same guy I had at my last house for a bunch of years. Loved him. Coolest guy also a caster.
Now for the last 4 years it's a bunch of younguns who have iPods shoved in their ears. Can't keep track of how many we have. I work from home so I see different people almost every day.
I live in the city too. Tons of houses. I wonder what gives with not having a regular.

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[NyFirefighter357]

What you guys don't realize is everything shipped has to go through a central routing facility so your mail/package can be scanned both sides and x-rayed thank the NSA, big brother is logging every piece of mail and checking contents of packages. There is no such thing as "local" mailing it all needs to go the where ever the scanning equipment is for your area.

[TexasGrunt]

Privatize the USPS. They are a huge drain on the budget with crazy salaries and pensions.

Please tell me about these crazy salaries and pensions. I'd like to hear more. Also tell me who they are draining.

RogerDat actually covered the situation with reality. But I'd like to hear your take on it.

[bedbugbilly]

First off, there are a lot of excellent employees who work for the post office and who, day in and day out, do their job to the best of their ability within the perimeters of the rules they have to work with - members of our communities just like each of us and they get very few "thanks" for the job they do. And let's not forget, since it's a "guvment agency", veterans get "veteran points" which allow them to be hired before those who did not serve.

I often get frustrated with the PO the same as anyone else . . . especially when something get's lost or arrives all battered to heck. But, what is the alternative? Privatization has been looked at and perhaps it would be better than guvment run, but for the "average Joe and Jane", I'm sure that if it was contracted out to the private sector, lower wages, poor benefits and poor retirement plans would come along with it.

Nope - it isn't always "efficient" but with them centralizing sorting centers, etc., it all has to go there to be sorted first. Sometimes it doesn't make sense but that's how it is. Our local PO has already outgrown the PO facility that was built a few years back. We've had some pretty lousy post masters and post mistresses as well who are there to fulfill their last few years before retirement. But the carriers and clerks work hard to do a good job - and for those who work for others, remember how it is when you have had to work for a "jerk" and then put yourselves in their places.

Can the PO improve? It sure can and nobody can argue with that. But, it's "guvment run" and they do things "their way" - the same as any other Federal Agency or branch of the service. Hopefully, the new Administration will address the PO the same as it has the VA and other agencies to do away with the "dead wood" and inefficiency and waste of the taxpayer's money. It's a slow process though and it doesn't help when the new Administration has to buck the "status quo".

Nope . . . it "ain't perfect" but it's a whole lot better than the postal services in other countries and I think of that overtime I email a letter for 49 cents that is going across the country - I sure as heck couldn't drive it there for that price.

[Land Owner]

Got screwed, blued, and tattooed only once. Sent 500 x 30-06 pulled bullets in a WELL packaged and WELL taped SFRB. It got shredded at the sorting facility and loose bullets must have gone everywhere. I bet that was "fun" for them.

I got $50.00 insurance reimbursed, which I had to send to the purchaser as it was no fault of his that delivery was never made. I got NOTHING back from the USPO. So, I was out the merchandise as well as the insurance payment. That still doesn't sit too well with me.

Lesson Learned? Not really. What could I have done "better"? Nothing that I can see. Never happend again though, but it could!

[white eagle]

Not the first time mind you.... and they wonder why they are failing.

To get a package 18 miles from Edwardsville to my house in Belleville.
They took it 254 miles to Lenexa Kansas.
From Lenexa to St. Louis (262 miles)
And St Louis to my home 17.5 miles.
For a grand total of 533.5 miles.




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You got your package did you not?
that is the main chore of the P.O so it seems to me
its just a matter of how long it took
the workers at the P.O are faced with cut backs and doing the work
that it took more hands to accomplish

[prsman23]

Sure did. Thankful for all they do.



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[jonp]

The USPS can't be all that bad. Amazon is using them to deliver packages on holidays and sundays.

[jonp]

You got your package did you not?
that is the main chore of the P.O so it seems to me
its just a matter of how long it took
the workers at the P.O are faced with cut backs and doing the work
that it took more hands to accomplish

My sweetheart went to get a job as a Rural Carrier. After the training, classes etc the P.O. she went to told her they wanted her to work 7 days a week and deliver Amazon packages till midnight on sunday. Turns out the Union will only allow their workers to do a certain amount of hours and the USPS was using "part time" workers and running them 7 days a week. She didn't do it. The union there is what is drowing the USPS.

Take this example: if a letter carrier has to do a clerks job if the clerk doesn't show up and another clerk files a grievance with the clerk's union even if no other clerk was there to do the job all of the clerks at that location get paid 8hrs for that position even the one that didn't show up in the first place.

[prsman23]

I know amazon has completely stressed the workers out. I do in fact feel bad for them. Most times they do not have the option to say no to such hours. So they can be worked fairly thin.


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[dragon813gt]

The USPS can't be all that bad. Amazon is using them to deliver packages on holidays and sundays.

Sure they can. I've called Amazon a few time when the USPS didn't deliver the package on Sunday like they were supposed to. There are times when I need the item for work on Monday. At least they can find my house unlike FedEx.

[MaryB]

I will take USPS over FedEx any day. Last week FedEx delivered to my house on Tuesday and the week before they delivered twice. Comes Thursday and they claim my address can't be found. Same driver. I had complained about the Tuesday package getting left in the rain running off my porch roof which ruined a tank top I had ordered and split open the big box underneath with 4 soda kegs(I use them for beer). I have left instructions with them for 3 months running to put all packages in my porch. The door is unlocked when I am expecting a delivery. I figured the driver was purposely being a pain so I filed another complaint. Driver refused to deliver it again on Friday claiming my street couldn't be found. At which point I went ballistic on them and flat out said my package will be here Saturday or I will see you in small claims for the losses I have incurred. Saturday the supervisor delivered it and told me the driver had been fired for pulling that stunt. Then the following week THE SAME DRIVER that was supposedly fired leaves a package in the rain again. Caught him in the act and chewed his butt on the spot because the package held delicate electronics that would have been ruined by rain. Got on the phone to FedEx AGAIN and really went after them, went through 3 levels of managers to get my disgust to someone who might actually act.

From here on I tell sellers that if they ship FedEx I won't get the package or it will arrive damaged so ship USPS or UPS. Both of them have no trouble locating my house. Had one say we only ship FEDEX, I told them to refund my money and went to a different supplier! USPS guy knows I have a bad back and if it is a heavy box he sets it in my living room for me! UPS knows my door is open and to set it in the protected porch and in 2 years they have not failed to do so.

[white eagle]

My sweetheart went to get a job as a Rural Carrier. After the training, classes etc the P.O. she went to told her they wanted her to work 7 days a week and deliver Amazon packages till midnight on sunday. Turns out the Union will only allow their workers to do a certain amount of hours and the USPS was using "part time" workers and running them 7 days a week. She didn't do it. The union there is what is drowing the USPS.

Take this example: if a letter carrier has to do a clerks job if the clerk doesn't show up and another clerk files a grievance with the clerk's union even if no other clerk was there to do the job all of the clerks at that location get paid 8hrs for that position even the one that didn't show up in the first place.

there called casuals
they get paid less and are hired on a limited term
bout a year I think
the regular postal employees have a good union if they didn't
management would have them working like the casuals
which do not get the best treatment from the regulars
my wife just retired from there after 30 years of work
back then you had to test to get in and it took her over 2 years to be
considered and she had a score of 95%

[jonp]

They are perminent hires down this way. The PO is not hiring any full time employees due to budget constraints and has not for several years. It may be different in your area.

[458mag]

Maybe you should re-read all my posts[sarcasm off]
I never said they needed to drive right to my house.
I said that going to Kansas seems silly.
Especially when I have had packages go from the Edwardsville post office to the Belleville post office previously.
Also that i have had other packages go to the big sorting center in St Louis before as well.



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Some folks still think the gooberment does a better job.

[jonp]

Please tell me about these crazy salaries and pensions. I'd like to hear more. Also tell me who they are draining.

RogerDat actually covered the situation with reality. But I'd like to hear your take on it.

After seeing the retirement package for career USPS Union employees i was not that impressed. Its not that great a deal and if you hire on just for that you will be disappointed.

[TexasGrunt]

After seeing the retirement package for career USPS Union employees i was not that impressed. Its not that great a deal and if you hire on just for that you will be disappointed.

I'm living part of that retirement package. I know about it. Back before '84 when it was Civil Service Retirement it wasn't bad. Now if you don't load up the TSP you're going to be eating beans and cat food. Thankfully I also have SSDI and the VA. It's just like a stool. You need three legs at a minimum. Civil Service people didn't pay into SS so unless they had gotten quarters somewhere else they don't get Social Security. FERS people pay into SS and can collect it.

My Postal Pension, after 20 years and taking a medical retirement, would leave me with about $10 a day if I were to still be paying for health insurance. Since I'm "lucky" enough to have the VA and pretty much forced into Medicare I was able to drop health insurance though the PO. My wife has ChampVA and Medicare.

[KenH]

Privatize the USPS. They are a huge drain on the budget with crazy salaries and pensions.

The problem with USPS is there are "sorta" private. They must operate as if they were a private, but under congress control. HARD to do.

Please allow me to put in a good word for USPS here - they are fantastic! low rates, fast efficient delivery.... especially compared to many other countries I've been in. 99.9% of mail gets where it should go, on time, and low rates. With that said, I did have a small package shipped from 3 states away that took 4 months to get here!

edit to add: I see post #25 already said what I wanted to say, but much more eloquently -

[PtMD989]

At my work we do a lot of bulk mailing. It's cheaper for us to mail out of Flint PO (45 mins away) than to mail out of our local PO (5min away). Reason being if we mailed everything out of Lapeer (local PO) they would have to send it to Flint PO anyway. The Flint postal workers are nicer to work with anyways.


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[PtMD989]

For quite a while now when my wife orders stuff like clothes and shoes and other small stuff. If it gets shipped UPS it gets sent to our PO and the mailman delivers it.
Not sure if FedEx does the same thing.

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[dragon813gt]

For quite a while now when my wife orders stuff like clothes and shoes and other small stuff. If it gets shipped UPS it gets sent to our PO and the mailman delivers it.
Not sure if FedEx does the same thing.

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That's called "USPS Final Delivery". I avoid it all costs. Tracking stops when UPS drops it off at the PO. And it adds a day or two extra minimum for it it be delivered. I still don't understand how a handoff to another company makes it cheaper.

[PtMD989]

I guess because UPS only has to make 1 delivery to PO instead of say making 15 stops down back roads. But they still have to deliver the big stuff. It does delay delivery a day sometimes 2. It sucks when you track it to the PO it gets there after the mailman has left the building and PO closes at 12:30 pm


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[am44mag]

UPS once sent an AR upper I ordered on a 2 week trip though California. I live in Texas, the part I ordered came from Michigan.

UPS refused to ship a small box of ammo despite me conforming to their rules exactly.

FedEx "lost" that box of ammo halfway through it's trip. They paid me back 2-3 weeks later.

The worst USPS has done is deliver a package to the wrong address ONCE. They had the issue fixed the next day. Say what you will, USPS seems to screw up a lot less in my personal experience.

[mold maker]

A 65# MFRB of lead was lost at a regional sorting depot for 5.5 weeks. It was finally delivered looking like they had rolled it all the way, and after I had to reship. Ins claim was denighed and not even a sorry for my troubles.
The second package made it in four days and was delivered before the first shipment.
Just today I again got my neighbor's mail mixed with mine. I usually just finish their job and take it to the intended recipient but sometimes it's across town.
At my age I have better things to do with my time.
No one has ever brought me mail that got misdelivered.
BTW, they never fail to stuff my box with all the worthless sales fliers, especially on Tuesday, sometimes several copies.

[jcwit]

BTW, they never fail to stuff my box with all the worthless sales fliers, especially on Tuesday, sometimes several copies.

Don't blame the posst office, blame those sending the trash.

BTW, you got something against ACE Hardware or th AARP? LOL

[woodbutcher]

:twisted:AARP.Yep.Very anti 2nd amendment.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[RED BEAR]

Well at least you got your mail. Mine comes when they feel like it. Just last night had to chase them down to get my mail (9:15 pm).part of it was delivered to my neighbor . I know they dount even come down my street becouse neighbor has security camera and will fast forward to check. And you want to try something that is quite frustating see if you cam actually formaly complain. The postmaster has said everything from i will take care of it to they were probaly tired or running late. All talks with local postmaster might as well be talking to wall.

[jcwit]

:twisted:AARP.Yep.Very anti 2nd amendment.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

LOL I already realize this! Old news!

[jcwit]

I'm one lucky pup, I guess.

Mail is delivered between 10 AM and 11 AM, many times I greet the deliverly person at the mail box and we chat for a few minutes, nothing like having a happy postal deliverly person. Her husband is a member of our American Legion and we are best of friends.

Post master has even opened the Post Office an hour early when I had mailings catalogs of 100 to 1,000 packages, she is also a very caring person for our community.

Frankly for the number of letters and packages they handle on a daily basis I think they do an amazing job, I seriously doubt there is anyone here on this board that could even approach doing a job half as good as they do!

[mold maker]

Well at least you got your mail. Mine comes when they feel like it. Just last night had to chase them down to get my mail (9:15 pm).part of it was delivered to my neighbor . I know they don't even come down my street because neighbor has security camera and will fast forward to check. And you want to try something that is quite frustating see if you cam actually formaly complain. The postmaster has said everything from i will take care of it to they were probaly tired or running late. All talks with local postmaster might as well be talking to wall.

What makes you think I got all of it?
Do you think all the mistakes wound up in my box?
Maybe others don't care enough to re-post or deliver it to me.
When I contacted the PM about the lost MFRB of lead that was lost at the hub, he said to wait a couple more weeks and come back. Since the lost package was finally delivered the claim was denyed.
I had paid over $24. in S&H, and was 130 lbs of lead into the deal, and only got paid $65. The buyer was under no obligation to return the second shipmemt or pay for it.
The USPS made out like a bandit and I got shafted.
If I were a business I'd be broke in a hurry.
BTW: I can see the local PO from my front door.

[jcwit]

Remind me to never move to Piedmont, NC.

BTW. I get all my lead from the back stop at our range, looking at 10 5 gal. buckets to smelt one of these days, already have over 1,000 lbs smelted.

Wheel weights are also free to me from my local mechanic who does all my work, he does get a gift certifacate for the restaurant he eat lunch at. Have no idea how many hundred lbs I have.

[rr2241tx]

Give people your 9 digit zip code. They can mangle every aspect of your address but that zip code and it will still get to you on the first try. Just for grins I mailed a flat rate box full of lead slag from my office to my house with my friend's name and address and my 9 digit zip code. The box went to the sorting facilities in Austin then San Antonio then to my front door the next day.

[TexasGrunt]

The 9 digit ZIP doesn't get it to your house alone. It just gets it to the PO. After that it's up to the clerks throwing the mail.

[woodbutcher]

:twisted: Hi jcwit.Yeah,I have known about AARP for at least 25 years if not longer.Bad mouth them every chance that I get.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

[jcwit]

:twisted: Hi jcwit.Yeah,I have known about AARP for at least 25 years if not longer.Bad mouth them every chance that I get.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

I just tossed it in to see the reaction I would get,I got it! LOL