This is getting ridiculous (USPS delivery time) and a postage question

[YoshiFan1]

Is anyone else noticing that it is taking the USPS longer than ever to deliver items. I sent out something that was only 1 state away and took 8 days to be delivered (First Class). Another item was sent across the country and was just delivered today when tomorrow, it will be 2 weeks since I mailed the item (again First Class).

I know once in a while they mess up with a delivery (like the time it took 3 weeks for someone to receive an item because they misrouted it) but I can't believe how long it is taking?

Also, today at the Post Office, I saw someone bring in a bunch of pre-paid postage envelopes (from a machine, not printed from online) with yesterday's date on them and the clerk refused to accept them saying they have to have today's date on them. Does online postage like through Paypal have the date printed on it as well? I'm probably going to switch over to online postage this summer and hate the idea of having to print out the postage the day I mail the item if it does print out the date on that as well.

[wbc1228]

It is not just you either. I mailed a package 2 weeks ago. It took 9 days after I made shipment before the delivery confirmation became trackable. That was a little scary. I almost thought they lost my package.

The online postage on paypal does have a date on it. Don't know if it is a problem if I mailed it out a day or two later since I usually just drop my stuff off at one of those blue usps box.

[wubb]

Wow that is slow. Last time I mailed stuff was about a month ago and it seemed to be normal delivery times then. (2-3 days for 1st class.)

I can understand them refusing to take a package back dated. Many places use the postage date to determine if it should be eligible for a rebate or any number of other things. Plus it sets the USPS up to look even slower. But I would bet that most clerks would let it slide. I would be really surprised if they'd return to sender over that if you just dropped it in a collection box, but I guess it could happen. I don't know why they don't set those labels up to be good for a week (or whatever) time frame and just postmark them like they do most other pieces of mail, but I guess it's a little more efficient to skip that step.

As wbc said PayPal labels do have a date on it. You can set it to today or today+1, etc.

[YoshiFan1]

That's good if you can set it for the next day then since I usually package stuff the night before I go to the Post Office.

I think that was part of the reason the clerk didn't want to accept it (how it makes them look slow). He is strict though (has no tolerance for anyone who doesn't know what they are doing), but I like when he is working because he is very fast (almost twice as fast as other clerks) and doesn't have a problem with me because I have everything all ready to go right when I walk into the post office.

[gaelan]

i mailed out a prima guide via media mail usps...took 22 days to arrive. the buyer gave me positive but wasn't happy with the shipping time. he knew upfront about the media mail option but 22 days is pretty damn long.

[iazybandit]

i mailed out a prima guide via media mail usps...took 22 days to arrive. the buyer gave me positive but wasn't happy with the shipping time. he knew upfront about the media mail option but 22 days is pretty damn long.
Media Mail is known to take long. If you go to Half.com, it says that packages sent via Media Mail can take as long as 30 days.

[addicted2games]

I just sent some guides with media mail and they only took 8 days. So everything is all wacky. I have had priority mail take over 3 weeks one time. These instances are rare but do happen.

[m0dem]

I hate assholes at the post office who think they are tough shit saying that you cant mail that because its 1 day after you paid for it? Who the fuck cares you still paid for it

[puternerd]

A guy I know works for the PO driving the semi between the DC and the airport. He said that when the gas prices jump up they hold the mail back a bit to get a full load on the trucks and planes. Don't know if this is true for sure but seems plausible.

[Warner1281]

About the whole printing the labels the night before thing...

I was doing that and then I got a letter from the district Post Office in our area. Said they noticed I had dropped off a package that had the date of one day prior and since they were nice they would deliver it this time, but if they catch it again, it will be returned to sender. Guess things have to be printed the day of or somehow set to print the next days date (I don't know how to do this on Paypal... anyone care to inform me?)

[iazybandit]

About the whole printing the labels the night before thing...

I was doing that and then I got a letter from the district Post Office in our area. Said they noticed I had dropped off a package that had the date of one day prior and since they were nice they would deliver it this time, but if they catch it again, it will be returned to sender. Guess things have to be printed the day of or somehow set to print the next days date (I don't know how to do this on Paypal... anyone care to inform me?)
Why not just print it out right before you go to the post office? It'll only take a couple minutes. Just package the box and then when its time to go to the PO, just print out the label and slap it on.

[GizmoGC]

Why not just print it out right before you go to the post office? It'll only take a couple minutes. Just package the box and then when its time to go to the PO, just print out the label and slap it on.

Some people dropoff packages on there lunch breaks (i.e. have jobs). Kinda tough to take up early and type/print out a handful of postage receipts,then stick them on, then get ready for work.

[TheBlueWizard]

It is not just you either. I mailed a package 2 weeks ago. It took 9 days after I made shipment before the delivery confirmation became trackable. That was a little scary. I almost thought they lost my package.


Delivery confirmation is just that, delivery confirmation. There is no tracking feature that shows where the package is at any point. That's why its called delivery confirmation. If you want tracking, use FedEx or UPS.

TBW

[wbc1228]

Delivery confirmation is just that, delivery confirmation. There is no tracking feature that shows where the package is at any point. That's why its called delivery confirmation. If you want tracking, use FedEx or UPS.

TBW

I know but I didn't expect usps first class to take 9 days to go across 2 states.

[Kayden]

I can top this. My wallet was mailed to me using my address off my ID. It got stuck in the mail for THREE WEEKS because they 'couldn't find my address'. The can give me every fucking bill under the sun and half a forest worth of junk mail from credit card companies, but the one fucking thing I actually want and they suddenly forget where I live.

[encendido5]

Yeah, I sent something out on the 4th of this month from NY to CA and it took 15 days to get there! Most of my other stuff is taking about a week. It used to take around 3 days or so but it seems they've gotten a lot slower.

[crowbb]

I am a postal clerk. Most likely it was mail printed from a postal meter. That stuff MUST be mailed on the same day. If not the clerk has every right to not only send it back but make them put new postage on it.

PVI labels (the printed ones you can do yourself or get from a post office) also must be mailed the same day.

This is done for revenue protection otherwise people would just reuse labels. I believe there are other reasons but I forget.

This stuff can sneak through from time to time, but if we catch someone more than once we can take their postal meter away. It IS postal property and bosses tend to be a bit unhappy when some employee gets their postal meter rescinded because they didn't want to take their lazy butt to the post office on the same day.

[crowbb]

As for the slowness I can't really say why that kind of stuff happens most of the time since I work in a regular PO not a distribution center. Once it gets to us it gets delivered the same day. We do get a LOT of stuff sent to the wrong town every day. We just ship it back out and hope it gets there the 2nd time. And if someone is lazy and doesn't cross out the barcodes our machines put on the mail it will keep coming back. Some clerks are very very lazy. There's also customer error sometimes. There is this one guy who is always sending official looking mail to a college in Maine. He puts some kind of barcode on his return address. Apparently this barcode is read by our machines as the town I work in because we keep getting these and they often get delayed for a week or more by continually coming back to us.

[encendido5]

I am a postal clerk. Most likely it was mail printed from a postal meter. That stuff MUST be mailed on the same day. If not the clerk has every right to not only send it back but make them put new postage on it.

PVI labels (the printed ones you can do yourself or get from a post office) also must be mailed the same day.

Well I printed out the labels from Paypal, so they all had a delivery confirmation number on them. I threw them in a blue bin outside my office the same day.

[dastly75]

besides the absence of tracking, I loved usps, and now it's slow, damn it all

maybe they're searching and x-raying everything now so that we all aren't participating in "terrorist activity"

[YoshiFan1]

I actually had a talk with a different clerk today about this. She asked how me about how I thought things were with the postal service and I told her about the slow delivery times. She said specifically for Florida and California, delivery takes longer to those 2 states (she didn't know why this is). She even told me how something she sent 1st class to Florida took 8 days when it normally should take 2 - 3. Now that she mentioned that, it does seem that the majority of items that take longer to get delivered are going to those 2 states, especially California.

[akilshohen]

for some reason, some media mail that's going to a town 6 miles away from me is taking too long to go there. My buyer is being impaitent, but he can kick rocks because the USPS and ebay support told me media mail takes longer than usual. Plus we already left each other feedback.

[dastly75]

I actually had a talk with a different clerk today about this. She asked how me about how I thought things were with the postal service and I told her about the slow delivery times. She said specifically for Florida and California, delivery takes longer to those 2 states (she didn't know why this is). She even told me how something she sent 1st class to Florida took 8 days when it normally should take 2 - 3. Now that she mentioned that, it does seem that the majority of items that take longer to get delivered are going to those 2 states, especially California.

this sucks esp. when you're waiting to receive an item from california and you live in FL

[bluekeith75]

The usps is really getting absurd. I live in ohio and had a package delivered first class to california in 2 days and another to illinois take 9. It seems as if ever since they raised the prices the service got worse.

[wubb]

Guess things have to be printed the day of or somehow set to print the next days date (I don't know how to do this on Paypal... anyone care to inform me?)

There is a drop down box for the mail date. It defaults to the current date, but if you drop the box down you can choose between the next 3 or 4 days IIRC.

Here is PayPal's help page on this:

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_help&eloc=2727&loc=2714&unique_id=65061&source_page=_home&flow=

I tend to be on the anal side with this and will choose Monday's date even if I'm printing the label on a Sunday (for example.) (For some reason PayPal defaults to today's date even if today isn't a mailing day... :roll: )

[mtxbass1]

Has anyone else wondered why a company like UPS or Fedex hasn't made a bid to take over the USPS?

One thing I've noticed about those companies is this. If you pay for overnight service, it always gets delivered, no matter what, on time. If UPS/Fedex doesn't deliver, then they refund your money. They have some of the most efficient systems around for delivering packages (for the most part).

[wbc1228]

Has anyone else wondered why a company like UPS or Fedex hasn't made a bid to take over the USPS?

One thing I've noticed about those companies is this. If you pay for overnight service, it always gets delivered, no matter what, on time. If UPS/Fedex doesn't deliver, then they refund your money. They have some of the most efficient systems around for delivering packages (for the most part).

Take over the government?!?
That would be anarchy!
lol!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iazybandit]

Has anyone else wondered why a company like UPS or Fedex hasn't made a bid to take over the USPS?

One thing I've noticed about those companies is this. If you pay for overnight service, it always gets delivered, no matter what, on time. If UPS/Fedex doesn't deliver, then they refund your money. They have some of the most efficient systems around for delivering packages (for the most part).
USPS is run by the government. FedEx/UPS are independent companies. Thats like saying why dont one of us CAGers take over Microsoft. Its impossible.

[mtxbass1]

USPS is run by the government. FedEx/UPS are independent companies. Thats like saying why dont one of us CAGers take over Microsoft. Its impossible.

Correct. But why not establish something to make a run at the postal service?

[YoshiFan1]

They should, if their rates were more competitive I would switch to UPS or Fed Ex. It's too expensive now for most things especially with that delivery surcharge of around $1.50. It was $8.43 for me to ship a 1/2 pound package (box and Gameboy Game) through UPS when I could have mailed the same game for a little over $3 with insurance and DC 1st class through the Postal Service.

[wubb]

USPS charges $0.39 to deliver a letter anywhere in the US - PR, AK, HI, coast to coast, etc. An upstart might be able to compete for stuff just delivered to mass population areas (maybe) but anyone living outside of those zones would be royally fucked if the USPS went away.

I haven't had a single package lost (either sent to me or sent from me) to my knowledge in my entire mailing history. The USPS does a great job IMO.

[puternerd]

Wubb's right, Anytime there is a big media attention worthy problem with the post office there always come to the same conclusion, nobody but the government can do this because the USPS runs at a loss. Your taxes are the only thing keeping it open. As much as we all dread the PO, we do still need it and it is the cheapest method of shipping anything. And remember they handle as much as 10 times the amount of individual pieces every day that the other companies do.

[guinaevere]

I just sent some guides with media mail and they only took 8 days. So everything is all wacky.
Media Mail is stated to take between 2-9 business days. So eight days is within the scope of how long delivery should take.

As to the OP, a couple items (especially to Canada) have been taking what feels like forever. One item took (airmail) almost three weeks.


I'm glad to read that I'm not the only one with this issue, so I'll be able to forwarn to any bidders that lately, USPS is taking their sweet time with deliveries.

I hate assholes at the post office who think they are tough shit saying that you cant mail that because its 1 day after you paid for it? Who the fuck cares you still paid for it
You wanna try this complaint in English next time? You might wind up with someone understanding you... that generally will have a higher return rate on advice on how to deal with your problem.

[sirhc-]

... Your taxes are the only thing keeping it open. As much as we all dread the PO, we do still need it and it is the cheapest method of shipping anything. And remember they handle as much as 10 times the amount of individual pieces every day that the other companies do.

That is incorrect. The post office might have the government support and benefits of being a governmental agency but it does not use ANY taxes from the federal government. All expenses, operating costs, etc are paid from the revenue of postage and postage-related products/services.

http://www.usps.com/communications/organization/whoweare.htm - click on postal facts.

Things you can do to help out. Is write the to and from address neatly. If you don't it will have to get re-routed to where it can be inputed by hand I think.
It also must have a return address or it will get stopped and take surface mail even though you paid airmail.

Don't reuse any box with a hazmat sign or any kind of alchol beverage box. The post office will slap a sticker on the TO: address preventing it from going any further and it will be returned to you and you'll have to go through the trouble of getting a refund. Explanation of why should be on the sticker.

The post office has gotten a lot of bad rep, which they're trying to get rid of. You can buy stamps at wellsfargo atms, costco, automated machines. So, you don't need to wait in the dreadful lines. Which they know about and hope to correct.

Supposedly if there is more than 3 in a line with some kind of interval of wait, they will open a new window, and keep opening windows till all the windows are open or the line has gone down.

They'll be starting an add your face to a stamp or company logo. For a small fee of course. Great for wedding invites, or products, etc. Any form can be filled out online now, I believe. Change of address can now be done online, etc.

[Pookymeister]

Yea - im sure the post office makes a buttload of enough money with postage as it is, they wouldn't need tax money.

[Skaterpunk444]

I work for the USPS...and I will say that the overnight service is awesome...If the clerk marks it for a overnight at 12...if you get it at 12:01...you get your money back...I dont think any other company guarntees a time for overnights. Also the post office is always losing money as it cost more to run it, then the money coming in. The only way it is surviving is because it is funded by the goverment through bills and such...I got a starting rate of 22.50 an hour...and picture how much employees we have. Everytime gas goes up like a penny...it cost about 5 million dollars for the fuel of the trucks, planes, boats, everything...If you want a speedy service send it overnight or registered as those are the fastest ways to ship...If you have any questions...feel free to send me a message.


Also...USP and DHL and Fedex wouldnt be able to compete...as they wouldnt be able to use the mail boxes at all...so they would have to setup new boxes for everyone in the country, or drop it on the floor. Plus the USPS gives a huge discount on all the junk mail companies you guys hate, so they can send in mass volume for like half the price.

[Genocidal]

It's not just me then. I sent a letter from Cleveland to Stow (Akron) Tuesday evening and it didn't get there until Saturday. Not an extremely long amount of time, but we're also only talking a 45-60 minute truck ride between distribution centers.

[puternerd]

That is incorrect. The post office might have the government support and benefits of being a governmental agency but it does not use ANY taxes from the federal government. All expenses, operating costs, etc are paid from the revenue of postage and postage-related products/services.

http://www.usps.com/communications/organization/whoweare.htm - click on postal facts.

Things you can do to help out. Is write the to and from address neatly. If you don't it will have to get re-routed to where it can be inputed by hand I think.
It also must have a return address or it will get stopped and take surface mail even though you paid airmail.

Don't reuse any box with a hazmat sign or any kind of alchol beverage box. The post office will slap a sticker on the TO: address preventing it from going any further and it will be returned to you and you'll have to go through the trouble of getting a refund. Explanation of why should be on the sticker.

The post office has gotten a lot of bad rep, which they're trying to get rid of. You can buy stamps at wellsfargo atms, costco, automated machines. So, you don't need to wait in the dreadful lines. Which they know about and hope to correct.

Supposedly if there is more than 3 in a line with some kind of interval of wait, they will open a new window, and keep opening windows till all the windows are open or the line has gone down.

They'll be starting an add your face to a stamp or company logo. For a small fee of course. Great for wedding invites, or products, etc. Any form can be filled out online now, I believe. Change of address can now be done online, etc.


My mistake.

[crowbb]

They cannot do more than they already have. The government gives the USPS exclusive rights to deliver 1st and 3rd class mail. Parcels and overnight are somewhat exempt from this, though there are still some freaky rules regarding them.

The USPS actually can make quite a profit when run well. We had a gigantic debt 3 years ago (Something like 5 BILLION) and cleared it up already because when they run things properly the USPS is a cash cow. But we are also not allowed to run a profit. The USPS according to its charter is supposed to support itself but not run a profit so they do some crazy things with the spare money sometimes.

Has anyone else wondered why a company like UPS or Fedex hasn't made a bid to take over the USPS?

One thing I've noticed about those companies is this. If you pay for overnight service, it always gets delivered, no matter what, on time. If UPS/Fedex doesn't deliver, then they refund your money. They have some of the most efficient systems around for delivering packages (for the most part).

[crowbb]

It is true that we don't run on government money, but the government has subsidized the usps when needed. In the 80s they also borrowed a ton of money from us and still have yet to repay the "loan". We also have some freaky laws that apply to us, like the one preventing other companies from delivering 1st and 3rd class mail and guaranteeing the USPS all the gas they need, always. We don't get a gas discount but even if there is a shortage we are supposed to be guaranteed gas. The government has also used the USPS to bail out other companies like some of the American car manufacturers. Big car company in trouble? No problem! Suddenly the USPS will be buying hundreds of thousands of trucks from you. It's happened at least twice before.

The hazmat thing is correct and a recent thing since 9/11. We used to just force it to go surface if you did that. Now it gets sent back. This also happens if you send a package over a certain weight with just stamps without handing to a clerk to be hand stamped (Or have a computer label stuck on it). I believe the weight is 14 ounces, but it has been a while since I worked at the counter so I could be wrong.

We are trying to make lines easier, especially with the new APCs (Automated Postal Machines) that can do most of the stuff you can do at a window. They are only in select post offices right now but are supposed to be all over eventually. I am skeptical though since people seem afraid of our regular stamp vending machines and almost never use the things, so when they get an APC giving them 20 mailing options it is going to get worse.

The open another window thing sounds like a local office rule to me. We don't have that at my office and couldn't enforce it if we did. We generally have as many people as we have to spare at the window and if they took anyone else to put them at the window they would hurt the operations in the back (this is part of why I no longer work the window.) They are more worried about the back operations these days since for example in my medium sized office a delay of 1 minute getting the mail to the carriers means potentially 30 minutes of overtime as we have 30 routes.





QUOTE=sirhc-;1847783]That is incorrect. The post office might have the government support and benefits of being a governmental agency but it does not use ANY taxes from the federal government. All expenses, operating costs, etc are paid from the revenue of postage and postage-related products/services.

http://www.usps.com/communications/organization/whoweare.htm - click on postal facts.

Things you can do to help out. Is write the to and from address neatly. If you don't it will have to get re-routed to where it can be inputed by hand I think.
It also must have a return address or it will get stopped and take surface mail even though you paid airmail.

Don't reuse any box with a hazmat sign or any kind of alchol beverage box. The post office will slap a sticker on the TO: address preventing it from going any further and it will be returned to you and you'll have to go through the trouble of getting a refund. Explanation of why should be on the sticker.

The post office has gotten a lot of bad rep, which they're trying to get rid of. You can buy stamps at wellsfargo atms, costco, automated machines. So, you don't need to wait in the dreadful lines. Which they know about and hope to correct.

Supposedly if there is more than 3 in a line with some kind of interval of wait, they will open a new window, and keep opening windows till all the windows are open or the line has gone down.

They'll be starting an add your face to a stamp or company logo. For a small fee of course. Great for wedding invites, or products, etc. Any form can be filled out online now, I believe. Change of address can now be done online, etc.[/QUOTE]

[sp00ge]

In my experience, the USPS is kinda hit-or-miss.

Less than two weeks ago, I sent a package to California from Pennsylvania, parcel post. It took two days. A few days later I get my cable bill in the mail. It was postmarked seven days prior to me receiving it. The cable company's main office is 1/2 mile away. You figure it out.

[Kayden]

I love those things. In and out in a minute. Not only are they faster and easier to deal with than the clerks, but they generally have more personality as well. :lol:


We are trying to make lines easier, especially with the new APCs (Automated Postal Machines) that can do most of the stuff you can do at a window. They are only in select post offices right now but are supposed to be all over eventually. I am skeptical though since people seem afraid of our regular stamp vending machines and almost never use the things, so when they get an APC giving them 20 mailing options it is going to get worse.

[evo t rex]

I shipped a few items out three weeks ago that still haven't arrived. Media Mail can be slow but it doesn't usually take THAT long. It's a bunch of different items that went out on different days too. Very strange.

[Rig]

I've had multiple packages ship slowly, because of the Hazlewood, MO post office. In the last fifteen packages I've sent, three of them took a very long time to get to their buyers/traders. Each time I use the DC# to check on them, it says they've left that Hazlewood, MO office. :bomb: evergoo is waiting on the latest package I sent, and it got stuck/stopped/delayed at that place! I might have to give them a call and complain.

[schuerm26]

Im am right outside of St. Louis in Carlyle IL and i sent a package to Chesterfield MO, west side of St. Louis, which is about 80 miles. It took 8 days to get there. I am lately having major problems with first class mail. I have about 5 packages that shipped on April 18th that haven't showed up yet. It's ridiculous.

[MSI Magus]

Is anyone else noticing that it is taking the USPS longer than ever to deliver items. I sent out something that was only 1 state away and took 8 days to be delivered (First Class). Another item was sent across the country and was just delivered today when tomorrow, it will be 2 weeks since I mailed the item (again First Class).

I know once in a while they mess up with a delivery (like the time it took 3 weeks for someone to receive an item because they misrouted it) but I can't believe how long it is taking?

Also, today at the Post Office, I saw someone bring in a bunch of pre-paid postage envelopes (from a machine, not printed from online) with yesterday's date on them and the clerk refused to accept them saying they have to have today's date on them. Does online postage like through Paypal have the date printed on it as well? I'm probably going to switch over to online postage this summer and hate the idea of having to print out the postage the day I mail the item if it does print out the date on that as well.

Its been taking a week or longer for me to send or receive packages even if they are in the same state as me. We recently sent out Birthday invites for my little brother and it took a week for people the next city over to get the letter.

[sp00ge]

I'm now on day 10 of waiting for my games. The network adapter sent to the same guy made it in two days.

I've been tracking the package, and it over shot me by several hundred miles, and then came back and overshot us by at least a hundred miles. At this rate, I should get it by friday. :(

[Kayden]

4/22/06 6:33am Somewhere, CA - Departed
4/23/06 12:01am Denver, CO- Arrival Scan
4/29/06 4:05am Denver, CO- Departure Scan
4/10/06 ۞ O'clock Seattle, WA- Eaten by Temporal rift
4/11/06 -گڗڏ Seattle, WA- Abducted by aliens
Ω End of Days- Mistakenly forwarded to Jesus- Returned to sender
?/??/?? http://scidiv.bcc.ctc.edu/Math/Symbols/infty.gif Hell and Back- We give up

[thespillcanvas]

I live in Maryland. I ordered some manga, it shipped out on April 8th from North Carolina. Finally got it on Saturday. Ordered some more two days earlier from Kansas City, it still isn't here.. Slow shipping for me too. :(

[spamfree2]

I read somewhere that the Media Mail gets processed last and when they have time to do it. If you PO is a high volume , your Media Mail may sit at you PO unprocessed until they get to it. I read about this during X-mas so I'm sure it is true.

[crowbb]

That is true. Actually that is potentially true of all 3rd class mail which includes parcel post. First class is supposed to be processed every day though.

I read somewhere that the Media Mail gets processed last and when they have time to do it. If you PO is a high volume , your Media Mail may sit at you PO unprocessed until they get to it. I read about this during X-mas so I'm sure it is true.

[sp00ge]

I guess that's one benefit to living in a podunk town. Low volume at our PO.

[MSI Magus]

Wow soon as I stopped paying attention to this it got a ton of posts. Anyways, its an outrage how horrible the PO is. If it is running at a deficit its all the more reason someone finally steps in and looks at how innefficiant things are.

[SpikeSpiegel]

My new controller was shipped out on May 4th, via priority mail from CA, and it arrived today. I'm in NJ mind you, so that is pretty good time if you ask me.

[crowbb]

Well the post office runs a deficit...sometimes. Right now we are making a huge profit. We cleared a debt measured in billions in only a few years. Eventually we'll start wasting it and go back into debt again. It's a cycle in the post office.

The main problem with inefficiency is the unions and outdated equipment. The biggest cost for the post office is labor. It's over 80% of their total costs I believe. When I was basically a typist for the post office I was making 11.60 an hour....far more than I would have in the private sector. Now as a clerk I'm making over $20 an hour after doing the job less than 5 years. Clerk is another job that isn't really all that hard. If at the window I'm effectively a cashier. In the back I just sort mail.

Equipmentwise we are literally in some cases using 50+ year old equipment. When I started at my current office we had a letter stamping machine that was older than anyone who worked there. They finally got rid of it after it broke for about the 50th time. The technology is out there to run mail far more quickly and accurately than we do now but the post office either will not or can not upgrade.

There is a bill in congress now to restructure the post office but we have something like 800,000 employees and as a result powerful union lobbyists so I don't expect it will ever pass, or if it does all of the teeth will be removed.

But all that said the post office isn't as bad as everyone thinks. You hear all the bad stories, but for every letter we screw up and send to Madagascar for a little vacation thousands make it there intact. Often it is the customer's mistake too though we of course always get the blame.

Wow soon as I stopped paying attention to this it got a ton of posts. Anyways, its an outrage how horrible the PO is. If it is running at a deficit its all the more reason someone finally steps in and looks at how innefficiant things are.

[io]

The main problem with inefficiency is the unions and outdated equipment. The biggest cost for the post office is labor. It's over 80% of their total costs I believe. When I was basically a typist for the post office I was making 11.60 an hour....far more than I would have in the private sector. Now as a clerk I'm making over $20 an hour after doing the job less than 5 years. Clerk is another job that isn't really all that hard. If at the window I'm effectively a cashier. In the back I just sort mail.

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There is a bill in congress now to restructure the post office but we have something like 800,000 employees and as a result powerful union lobbyists so I don't expect it will ever pass, or if it does all of the teeth will be removed.

But all that said the post office isn't as bad as everyone thinks. You hear all the bad stories, but for every letter we screw up and send to Madagascar for a little vacation thousands make it there intact. Often it is the customer's mistake too though we of course always get the blame.

If it wasn't for that union you'd probably be making half that or less, with fewer benefits. Also, the postal service probably would have been privatized and it would cost twice as much for us to send letters and they would get there in twice the time. :rofl:

I figured the recent troulbes with mail delivery were a ploy to lay the groundwork for privitizatrion. Certain people running the government (who hate government) make it so incompetent that the service starts to suck and when they float a plan to privatize it everyong thinks it's a good idea. See FEMA for a prime example.

[crowbb]

I SHOULD make half or less. I am horribly overpaid for the skill required to do my job. Besides if I did make less I would get off my butt and try to get a better job with my 2 degrees. :) But since I make decent money I haven't exactly been rushing to look. If the post office were privatized it would be a hell of a lot cheaper and be more efficient. It's hard to be efficient with a system that runs on union created rules and 50 year old equipment. If they upgraded to decent OCR machines the post office could cut a big percentage of their labor. We are forced to do all sorts of crazy things because of bad contract rules. Like give free money to full-timers who aren't given the same amount of overtime as others.

The only reason the union hasn't killed the post office as unions killed the steel industry and are killing the big car makers (which by the way in the past the government has used the USPS to bail out not once but twice by forcing us to buy specific trucks) is the post office has exclusive rights to deliver first class mail.

If it wasn't for that union you'd probably be making half that or less, with fewer benefits. Also, the postal service probably would have been privatized and it would cost twice as much for us to send letters and they would get there in twice the time. :rofl:

I figured the recent troulbes with mail delivery were a ploy to lay the groundwork for privitizatrion. Certain people running the government (who hate government) make it so incompetent that the service starts to suck and when they float a plan to privatize it everyong thinks it's a good idea. See FEMA for a prime example.

[io]

I SHOULD make half or less. I am horribly overpaid for the skill required to do my job.

If you insist :rofl:.

I try not to say that about my own job (which, by the way, is for a government contractor in an industry that sucks down money from the govt to do jobs at twice the price in twice the time the govt could do it for itself :D).

[mtxbass1]

I heard the other day that the USPS actually wants to up rates again next year. Amazing.

[MSI Magus]

So I went today and complained in person. The guy told me that he personally knows my carrier and that she is reliable and a good person. He then asked if my neighbors are trust worthy and implied that I am probally stealing the packages.

[Pookymeister]

So I went today and complained in person. The guy told me that he personally knows my carrier and that she is reliable and a good person. He then asked if my neighbors are trust worthy and implied that I am probally stealing the packages.

You should've hypnotized him with your mohawk and FFX tattoo.

[crowbb]

Hey, I'm just being honest. When at the window I'm nothing more than a cashier. When in the back I'm little different than someone who stocks shelves, only the stuff I'm putting on shelves is much smaller (letter and flats). It's not rocket science. Of course if they told me they suddenly wanted to pay me more I wouldn't say no.

If you insist :rofl:.

I try not to say that about my own job (which, by the way, is for a government contractor in an industry that sucks down money from the govt to do jobs at twice the price in twice the time the govt could do it for itself :D).

[crowbb]

That's not right. Was this a window clerk or a supervisor? If it was a window clerk I'd complain again after asking for a supervisor. If it was a supervisor I'd write a letter to the postmaster. If it was the postmaster well you're probably screwed unless you know who the PM's boss in your area is.

So I went today and complained in person. The guy told me that he personally knows my carrier and that she is reliable and a good person. He then asked if my neighbors are trust worthy and implied that I am probally stealing the packages.

[MSI Magus]

That's not right. Was this a window clerk or a supervisor? If it was a window clerk I'd complain again after asking for a supervisor. If it was a supervisor I'd write a letter to the postmaster. If it was the postmaster well you're probably screwed unless you know who the PM's boss in your area is.

It was the supervisor. All the people that work up front at both of my post offices are extreamly nice. Really sucks, all the clerks are nice and the old post woman was nice....but now I am stuck with a crappy new deliveray woman and a superviser who likes her so he wont do his damned job.