Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
Results 31 to 43 of 43

Thread: Usps

  1. #31
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,312
    Blog Entries
    1
    A lot of post deserving of reply. Please note some of the [QUOTED] text may have been edited for brevity:

    Quote Originally Posted by Tim Nguyen View Post
    Cheers Jim!! That is a wonderful attitude and maybe one day I will have the maturity for the same. I do agree, public institutes have a tough time leaving money alone. Seems the USPS is getting shafted with the pension requirement and the government taking the money.
    Thanks Tim. All too often if politicians can wiggle their fingers into funds gathered for future payments they will.

    Sadly to get into this discussion deeper would require delving into subjects prohibited by SMC Terms Of Service.

    THREE GROUPED TOGETHER

    Quote Originally Posted by Chris Schoenthal View Post
    A frustration that I have had recently in tracking is that I've placed an order, the company gives me a USPS tracking number and it shows still waiting for pickup for the last 6 days.
    I had this happen a couple of weeks ago and it was delivered while still showing as "pre-shipment".
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Tymchak View Post
    I currently have an order from Rockler that is shipping via UPS Innovations, which is some partnership with the USPS. UPS initiates the ship, then hands to USPS to finish the delivery. I got a UPS tracking number which tells me that the shipment is "In Transit" and handed to USPS for delivery. That was 4 days ago. No further tracking info available. Just a target delivery date that has come and gone. So, this "Innovation" service has definitely been done at the expense of the customer experience.
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Rockler used UPS Surepost instead of UPS Mail Innovations for my last order about a month ago. I live maybe 40 miles from the Rockler warehouse. Rockler shipped it on Friday and the Post Office delivered it on Sunday. I was shocked it was delivered on Sunday, but i checked and UPS signed a contract with USPS for Sunday delivery of Surepost.

    I got a free part from Moen a few weeks ago that used UPS Mail Innovations and the part arrived reasonably quickly. The hand off from Smartpost or Surepost used to take several days, but over the past year or two the hand off seems to take a day at most. Fedex has gotten smart with Smartpost and now has Fedex Ground deliver the package if a Fedex Ground driver is going down that street already. It probably saves a day if Fedex delivers it instead of USPS.
    Every system will have its failings. Some of this gets cleared up with USPS "Informed Delivery." Their system often tells me on Monday, something should be delivered on Saturday. Usually on Tuesday there is an update telling me it will be delivered on Wednesday.

    Informed delivery often sends me a notification when one of the other carriers has a package coming my way:

    Informed.png

    For some reason the handoff seems to be the glitch in the system. One of my Amazon shipments 'disappeared' in transit. There was no indication that it ever got to the USPS.

    My understanding is my pension and 401k equivalents disqualify me from ever collecting Social Security.
    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Weber View Post

    Really? Can someone explain?
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Some government pensions replace Social Security. The employer and the employee don't pay into Social Security and instead there is a pension that replaces Social Security. I would think that if someone held another job and paid into Social Security for at least ten years that one would get Social Security based on the other employment.
    Earnings from some pre-defined sources are subtracted from SSI payments. Example, if my outside income was $600 a month and my SSI payment would be $1500, the $600 would be subtracted from my benefit and my monthly SSI payment would be $900. In my case outside income from an estate and my pension are greater than my accrued SSI benefit. Thankfully they do not require me to pay them the negative generated when doing the math.

    Please note this is just a generalization. There is a certain amount of earned income that would be excluded before the income is subtracted from the benefit.

    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    What Congress required the USPS to pre-fund for 75 years is employee retirement health benefits. The USPS has to set money aside to pay workers who haven't even been born yet! Their pension fund is $120 billion underfunded at this point according to what I found online.
    Remember, the $120 billion underfunding is generated by the math forecasting out to the year 2095. If someone wanted to be cynical about this they could say this requirement was designed by someone who wanted to bankrupt the USPS.


    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Rockler used UPS Surepost instead of UPS Mail Innovations for my last order about a month ago. I live maybe 40 miles from the Rockler warehouse. Rockler shipped it on Friday and the Post Office delivered it on Sunday. I was shocked it was delivered on Sunday, but i checked and UPS signed a contract with USPS for Sunday delivery of Surepost.

    I got a free part from Moen a few weeks ago that used UPS Mail Innovations and the part arrived reasonably quickly. The hand off from Smartpost or Surepost used to take several days, but over the past year or two the hand off seems to take a day at most. Fedex has gotten smart with Smartpost and now has Fedex Ground deliver the package if a Fedex Ground driver is going down that street already. It probably saves a day if Fedex delivers it instead of USPS.
    UPS and FedEx have worked with the USPS to deliver in areas where "the last mile" is unprofitable for them. During my years as a shipping clerk there were times when FedEx didn't offer overnight delivery to some parts of the country because of local control of "landing rights" at some airports.

    Amazon made a deal with USPS for Sunday deliveries. If USPS can get a few more to sign on, it may be a great revenue source. What surprised me one Sunday was when a piece of outgoing mail in my mailbox was picked up on a Sunday. A long time ago, like in the 1950s, during the week before Christmas we actually had scheduled deliveries on Sunday. Back then there were a lot more first class letters and packages.

    Many years ago, to prevent thefts, federal tax refund checks were delivered on Saturdays. Back then, most banks were also closed on Saturdays. A lot of people cashed their checks in bars, liquor stores and grocery markets.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 05-28-2020 at 2:18 PM.
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  2. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    The government doesn't run the Post Office.

    jtk
    I always thought it was a government agency, whether direct or indirect.
    But now you have me wondering. If the government doesn't run it, then who does?

  3. #33
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    E TN, near Knoxville
    Posts
    12,298
    Quote Originally Posted by Brian Elfert View Post
    Some government pensions replace Social Security. The employer and the employee don't pay into Social Security and instead there is a pension that replaces Social Security. I would think that if someone held another job and paid into Social Security for at least ten years that one would get Social Security based on the other employment.
    Hmmm.... My wife collects a government pension and SS. I don't know why. Seems she had an option many years ago to pick one program or another. Maybe she picked the right one.

    JKJ

  4. #34
    I seem to recall that 36 quarters of participation was required to qualify for SS. You could work the rest of your time at a federal or local govt. and participate in their pension plan.

    I am a big fan of the USPS and UPS; not so much FedEx.
    Mike Null

    St. Louis Laser, Inc.

    Trotec Speedy 300, 80 watt
    Gravograph IS400
    Woodworking shop CLTT and Laser Sublimation
    Dye Sublimation
    CorelDraw X5, X7

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,312
    Blog Entries
    1
    I am a big fan of the USPS and UPS; not so much FedEx.
    In my old location my feelings were the same. The FedEx Ground drivers were terrible. Often my packages would be sent back to vendors saying it was a nonexistent address. My memory doesn't recall the local company they bought for ground delivery when they expanded at a time UPS was having contract negotiations. One significant package from Lee Valley was delivered to parts unknown. After that, all my orders at Lee Valley included the instructions to not ship via FedEx.

    (After posting my memory spit up Roadway systems. Even after taking them maps with my court highlighted they still had problems. I would have to drive about 30 miles at night to get my packages when they messed up.)

    Now the local FedEx route owner lives two doors down. My FedEx is always delivered at the end of the day, but at least the driver knows my address is real.

    The UPS drivers are also great. If it is a new driver and there is snow, they will actually walk my long driveway to deliver. Most of the time they are shown my pile of pea gravel and told it is okay to go in the greenhouse to borrow a shovel. Sometimes a bucket full of gravel is left where they would turn around, just in case.

    jtk
    Last edited by Jim Koepke; 05-29-2020 at 2:53 AM. Reason: clean up
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Location
    SE PA - Central Bucks County
    Posts
    65,638
    Quote Originally Posted by Edwin Santos View Post
    I always thought it was a government agency, whether direct or indirect.
    But now you have me wondering. If the government doesn't run it, then who does?
    The organization isn't "government" but is pretty much under the government's purview from a regulator perspective. That's probably one reason that the USPS URL is a dot com and not dot gov...
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Minneapolis, MN
    Posts
    5,406
    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    Hmmm.... My wife collects a government pension and SS. I don't know why. Seems she had an option many years ago to pick one program or another. Maybe she picked the right one.
    Some government pensions replace SS. Many government pensions you collect both your pension and SS.

    I recall when I got my first job in 1988 at 16 years old it was a summer seasonal job and I didn't have to pay into Social Security or Medicare for some reason. I got to keep my entire pay with zero deduction as I claimed exempt on my W4 form since I never owed any income taxes on my meager income. I worked there for seven summers and after a few years they started deducting SS and Medicare taxes.

  8. #38
    A few note about USPS. First the bad. Packages arrive by air into Raleigh (my distribution center,) only to be forwarded to Greensboro (70 miles away,) and then resent to Raleigh, before being sent to Apex. To extra days time and unknown amount of handling. Next, i have a package that came from China to Raleigh in six days. Handed over to USPS on Feb 28th, not to be heard from again. Still waiting, but not holding my breath. Now the good, starting with our letter carrier. With packages, she brings them to the house. If we aren't home she places packages on covered back porch. Monday this week, UPS left a package on front stoop, despite a 100% chance of rain. I mail my blades to Dynamic in Buffalo, using flat rate box. Second day after mailing, they are delivered to Dynamic. UPS takes a week to bring them back from Buffalo. I get packages from Oregon in two days, but it now takes a letter two days to come from Raleigh to house (25 miles.) Sunday, stopped at post office for wife to mail a payment. Noticed that only the "reserve" trucks were at post office. Rest were out delivering priority mail and Amazon Prime. Forty some trucks, along with drivers out on Sunday morning. Didn't see a single UPS, or FedEx truck though. Under both FedEx, UPS, and DHL, post office does a lot of "last mile deliveries." Unfortunately for letter carriers, if these companies don't arrive before they start their route, carriers have to return to post office and pick up packages

  9. #39
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Michigan, USA
    Posts
    548
    Quote Originally Posted by Michael Weber View Post
    My understanding is my pension and 401k equivalents disqualify me from ever collecting Social Security.”
    Really? Can someone explain?
    It's complicated - what a surprise! Here's an article from Money magazine that attempts to explain:

    https://money.com/social-security-benefit-wep-cut/

  10. #40
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post


    Many years ago, to prevent thefts, federal tax refund checks were delivered on Saturdays. Back then, most banks were also closed on Saturdays. A lot of people cashed their checks in bars, liquor stores

    jtk
    You say that like it's a bad thing!

  11. #41
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Longview WA
    Posts
    27,312
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Citerone View Post
    You say that like it's a bad thing!
    No, it is not a bad thing. Most of the time waiting until Monday was okay with me. At one time while living in a small isolated part of town one of the grocery store owners was known as "the bank of Bob." He would cash checks for his regular customers. During this period, my checks would be cashed on Saturdays. He was a good man and was missed by the community on his passing. This was a few years after my moving from the area.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  12. #42
    Had a package arrive at Raleigh distribution center early Wednesday AM. Thursday early AM, it was in Greensboro, and back to Raleigh late Thursday PM. Why didn't they just keep it in Raleigh the first time it was there. This morning, tracking showed package at Raleigh distribution center at 10:00 AM. Today, about 10:30 AM mail carrier drives up to back steps, not only with that package, but with second that tracking shows is still in New Hampshire
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 05-29-2020 at 9:59 PM.

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    SE Michigan
    Posts
    3,222
    Thought it only fair to report the package arrived yesterday, in pretty good shape I might add. Roughly 4 weeks.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •