More POST OFFICE woes

[Jim Becker]

I must have some sort of charm because my Post Office packages show up on time or ahead of schedule without taking trips around the world.

Heck, I ordered something that shipped on Monday via DHL Ecommerce and the Post Office delivered it on Thursday.

My experience is similar. I think that a lot of this misrouting is because of damaged or incorrect bar codes or difficult to read zip codes on hand addressed items. This stuff is all sorted and routed via machinery. Human touch is generally last-mile.

[Curt Harms]

My experience is similar. I think that a lot of this misrouting is because of damaged or incorrect bar codes or difficult to read zip codes on hand addressed items. This stuff is all sorted and routed via machinery. Human touch is generally last-mile.

I print labels on anything being shipped but then my handwriting would probably qualify as low level cryptopgraphy. Make sure the ZIP code is correct and make sure I use the 9 digit ZIP if I have it. I've had some packages take the scenic route even though they're correctly addressed but maybe 20 miles out of the way, not hundreds. It does seem like USPS is geared more toward small packages than larger packages.

[George Bokros]

I sent my Ohio State income tax return Certified Mail at my local post office on June 29. It was supposed to arrive on July 3. I have not received the Proof of Delivery as of today. I kind of forgot about the tax return since it was mailed. I traced the certified mail number this morning, which I did not know you could do. and it finally arrived at the post office in Columbus Ohio yesterday, eight days after it was supposed to be in the states PO box.

I guess the PO carrier pigeons had COVID-19.

[Brian Elfert]

I found out from a postal employee that when a package is delivered by another carrier such as DHL, UPS, FedEx, to the PO, it is not considered a priority and may sit in a warehouse somewhere for several days to even weeks until they have the time to move it. I ended up calling my PO directly to track a package and she found it sitting on a pallet with 49 other Sure Post packages that that had been there for over two weeks. My package was pulled immediately and moved forward. PO doesn't make much if any money on those type of deliveries. You wonder why they do it. Most of these type shipments are from places that offer free shipping and wind up being dropped off at the PO.

The USPS is supposed to set rates for each category of mail such that each category of mail breaks even. They shouldn't be losing money doing final mile delivery for anyone. The USPS even came out and said they make a slight profit delivering for Amazon after the President claimed the USPS was losing money doing Amazon deliveries. UPS Surepost is pretty good for me. UPS even pays the USPS to deliver Surepost on Sundays.

It used to be that Smartpost, Surepost, etc meant a several day delay on the handoff from the other carrier to USPS. That delay seems to have disappeared at some point in the past two years. Delivery is often the day after the other carrier hands the mail off to the USPS.

[Brian Elfert]

I can only remember two major issues with delivery over the years. One was someone stole the contents of a USPS padded envelope that was insured. (Envelope was obviously cut open and taped back shut.) I filed a claim on the USPS website with pictures and had a money order in my hands in less than ten days.

The second was a Fedex Ground package that hit the local Fedex depot in St. Paul, MN and then just disappeared. The package turned up three days later in Phoenix. The package took almost an extra week to arrive. It both got loaded into the wrong truck and was never scanned when loaded onto the truck. I don't know if the scanner would have alerted to the package going on the wrong truck or not.

[Bruce Wrenn]

Currently, I have a package in Greensboro NC. Yesterday, it arrived at Raleigh from Philly, but today it's in Greensboro, and tomorrow will be back in Raleigh. DUH!! Several years back, ordered a 30# cylinder of R-22 thru O'Reily's Auto parts. Came from Texas, via O'Reilys truck. Shipping shows it left Greensboro, coming to local store, but when truck got there, cylinder wasn't on the truck. Somebody, who couldn't purchase R-22 lifted it off the truck.