To add to our horrible USPS service at work recently (Annapolis), I sent out 4 Priority Mail envelopes Monday. All four going to PO boxes in Baltimore, 2 to the same zip and 2 to different zips (3 total Post Offices). Our carrier picks up at our office every afternoon.

Three were delivered yesterday. One to the first zip, and both to the different zips.

The fourth, which is going to the same zip as the first, was scanned in Frostburg at 1:46 pm yesterday. Nothing since. This is Priority Mail.

wtf are they doing?

I have had a car part I have been waiting on for 16 days now and it was ordered from a parts store just across my state. My package has seen more of the state of Florida than I have. I had to call a couple post offices in Fl. to try and track it down.

I believe there are some labor issues and this is a pure work slowdown, They are really shitting the bed. Priority mail labeled 2-day delivery is taking up to a week, why are we paying for premium services, for poor delivery?
I have heard they are NOT trump supporters from several Postal employees.

quote:

Originally posted by downtownv:
I believe there are some labor issues and this is a pure work slowdown, They are really shitting the bed. Priority mail labeled 2-day delivery is taking up to a week, why are we paying for premium services, for poor delivery?
I have heard they are NOT trump supporters from several Postal employees.

Having worked there for 26 years I would call that one hell of an understatement

The USPS union needs to be busted.

I just read that the USPS are demanding hazard pay for having to do their jobs like the rest of us that don't get anything extra for having to show up for work.

I am willing to bet the farm that they are actively delaying movement of mail, stealing or "losing" as extortion to get their ransom demand met.

Affirmative action, in action. Regards 18DAI

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
The USPS union needs to be busted.

Yep. As a taxpayer, I'm tired of subsidizing the junk mail business. If they are to survive they need to do it on their own. The only way to do that is to eliminate the federal benefits which make labor costs way too high to compete.

Several years ago I was discussing the problems with even Priority mail being sent on side trips before eventually arriving at the destination, Example: fifteen days for a small priority box to reach upstate N.Y. from Covington, LA.

He said that he have worked at the New Orleans distribution center for several years before transferring across the lake to my city. His answer was simple and directly to the point.

The USPS had been trying to relocate the distribution center from New Orleans for several years, however they were blocked each time by the Congressional Black Caucus. The cacus claim being that the transfer would have a huge negative impact on the City of New Orleans.

Which is congressional speak that the 90% black workforce of the center must retain their jobs regardless of their incompetence and piss-poor work.

So our mail is taking diversified side trips.

PS: A few years ago, a study showed that a comparable piece of mail traveled from the start to finish of the Pony Express run in less time and for less cost than one sent by the current USPS.

.

Talking to my pal in Nepéan/Ottawa earlier this evening. He was sent a check from Florda on June 30th that has yet to arrive....

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
The USPS union needs to be busted.

Yep. As a taxpayer, I'm tired of subsidizing the junk mail business. If they are to survive they need to do it on their own. The only way to do that is to eliminate the federal benefits which make labor costs way too high to compete.

Neither of you have a clue what you're talking about. Union employees are the only reason anything is moving. The Postmaster General is purposely delaying mail. Even managers are defying orders so things don't get delayed.

Finally got my part yesterday...

Postal employees need to make far more money as well as have a better retirement package.

Maybe that would help.

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:
Finally got my part yesterday...

My part was last "logged in" about 2 weeks ago, the inquiry is about a week old, seems they don't know where it is.

quote:

Originally posted by FN in MT:
Postal employees need to make far more money as well as have a better retirement package.

Maybe that would help.

What would you suggest as a fair salary and benefits package?

I hear conspiracy theories being thrown around without evidence.

The fact is that a lot of the mail travels by air; it's been this way for a century. Up until Covid, there were a LOT of flights moving, going all over the country, and on many of those flights, mail traveled on a space available basis. If the bag didn't get on this flight, there was another one coming, or a aonnection. It might get sent somewhere unexpected, but it was going to get there.

The question of why it went that direction or why it seemed to disappear isn't quite the tasty conspiracy some want; the airlines never had the responsibility to track it or advise of a delay, and the USPS doesn't work at the airlines.

Fast forward to now, and any delays or long routing is compounded by orders of magnitude as far fewer flights move, the ones that do move may have additional priorities, far fewer connections exist, numerous cancellations occur, and considerably more traffic is moving on smaller aircraft (eg, regionals), which carry much less mail.

One of the aspects of the rapidly shrinking airline industry at the moment, and a sidebar to the oft heard comments about don't-bail-them-out, let-them-fail. Good news is that those who wanted it got it; the industry is in shambles and won't recover for a long, long time as entire fleets are being permanently parked. Many of the effects haven't been felt yet, but mail delays are one of them.

Carry on with the wild conspiracy theories, instead. It's more...what? Fun?

Yes, a lot travels by truck. A lot more...didn't. The infrastructure wasn't there to support the loss. Airline service, from the beginning, was airmail. In fact, passenger service came about as a way to supplement mail flights, with one or two passengers being carried, on mail runs. Today, there's a lot of people move, and most are entirely unaware of the volume of mail that still moves by air. Or did...until Covid-19.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Or did...until Covid-19.

Yet UPS/FedEx and the likes are having no such issues........and they aren't demanding hazard pay just for showing up to work.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
Or did...until Covid-19.

Yet UPS/FedEx and the likes are having no such issues........and they aren't demanding hazard pay just for showing up to work.

FedEx and UPS have their own airlines. UPS is a trucking company that owns an airline. FedEx is an airline that owns a trucking company. Their own dedicated trucks, and aircraft, and a global network. Both are primaries on military contracting teams, and both have considerable guarantees with various vendors: guaranteed work and income.

Both are companies, whereas the USPS is an independent agency of the US government. Really no comparison. UPS and FedEx focus on packages and time-critical delivery, and both have guaranteed space on their own massive network of trucks, and aircraft. Each operates a sizeable fleet of aircraft, ranging from single engine airplanes at FedEx to large widebody heavy 747, MD11, A300, and other platforms which work on a scheduled basis, with redundancy.

Really no comparison, whatsoever, and are irrelevant.

They also pay a hell of a lot more than the USPS.

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
I hear conspiracy theories being thrown around without evidence.

Carry on with the wild conspiracy theories, instead. It's more...what? Fun?

quote:

Originally posted by sns3guppy:
FedEx and UPS have their own airlines.
Really no comparison, whatsoever, and are irrelevant.

They also pay a hell of a lot more than the USPS.

So, because the USPS isn't smart enough to do what UPS and FedEx has, we shouldn't compare them? They are all in the same industry, mail and parcel delivery, so why not compare?

As far as the USPS goes, they lose billions and nobody in Congress bats an eye. A private business would cut the less profitable crap out, but not USPS. Everyone says without the junk mail that they deliver, there would be no way for them to survive. I look at it another way. Mass mailings to every address makes it necessary for each carrier to stop at each mailbox, thus taking up time. Limit mail to legitimate mailings. Quit offering bulk mailer pricing to the shitheels that send junk mail ever single day. Do this, you'd be able to pare down how much crap I have to fill my landfill with and the carriers would be able to get done quicker (or at least focus on what needs to be delivered). Win/win.

Next, let's talk about that Union. My uncle is a union rep for USPS. His job is to help thieves within the USPS keep their jobs. Several times a week, employees throughout Virginia are caught on camera (or by a resident with security cameras) doing illegal shit. They open packages and steal the contents. Birthday cards & graduation cards are opened to see if there is cash inside. Several workers are caught smoking pot and sleeping on the job... He goes and finds some loophole in the contract and explains why they cannot fire these shitbags. Oh well. Keep thinking the USPS has our best interest at heart. I wouldn't feel bad if the USPS disappeared today. There are so many private businesses that would be created to fill the void, it would be mind boggling.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
The USPS union needs to be busted.

Sorry, but the real solution is to shut down USPS and privatize the mail system. I am completely sick of USPS. Over the last 20 plus years no carrier can do the most basic aspect of their job, to get the mail to the correct address. Every carrier I have ever had gives my mail to my neighbor and their mail to me. This includes packages and on a few occasions they were firearms. I even filed a report on the handgun being delivered to my neighbor with no signature when one was required (it was dropped on their porch) and nothing came of it.

I sold a revolver to a forum member, dropped it off inside the P.O. It was Priority Mail and went 5 days without showing up in tracking, I thought it was lost. On the fifth day it finally got scanned in another state. Informed Delivery showed i was getting 2 bills on Monday. They finally showed up today. I had two packages that were supposed to be delivered Wednesday and they showed delivered around 6 pm. As it turns out the carrier delivered them around 8:30 pm (per the history on my cameras). I was supposed to have a package arrive yesterday Priority Mail and yesterday it showed delivered at 4pm. So far I have nothing so either the carrier lied to show it was delivered or they gave it to my neighbor.

USPS is the most incompetent, inefficient, uneconomic waste of taxpayer dollars and it should be done away with. My local Post Office is always busy with only one clerk working at a time (I know there are 4 of them at my PO that work the counter). The PO is old and needs repair (or at least a decent cleaning). I know there are forum members that work for the PO but it is a typical government waste of money and I am sure it is the system that is the problem and not every employee.


Edited to add: I have had zero problems with UPS or FedEx - all my stuff from them has been on time and delivery times have not changed.
Also, shipping costs have gone way up, it is costing me $50-$60 to ship and insure handguns now, I can recall it being $20-$25. So now I pay more for poor service.