Delayed First Class Mail Delivery

[bbodb1]

Just about all of the P.O. Shortcomings could be cleared up if they could actually raise prices to the public. I always find it hilarious how people, including myself, freely complain about their service but when confronted with higher taxes or price increases to support it, balk! Cost have went up. Fact of life. I’m not talking about salaries and pensions alone, but everything. I just find it suspect that any changes made immediately before an election where mail in voting is the talk of the town is quite questionable.

I've read this line of thinking before @Bucky but the problem with respect to raising prices is that (for many) the ship has sailed and we no longer use the Postal Service at all. I've recounted this previously but in a typical year, I may mail (at most) 2 or 3 items requiring a first class stamp as I am willing to do the overwhelming majority of my financial transactions electronically. As this usage pattern describes a growing number of people each year, raising the prices at the Postal Service would only serve to drive more people toward UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, etc.. I don't think raising prices is the answer, rather the USPS needs to evolve with respect to the functions it performs.

Along that line of thinking, @Brett is also spot on noting the many regulations making the job of reforming the USPS near impossible.

If we could go back in time, I think we could find a similar argument about the Bell System. Once considered an essential backbone item, phone service today looks nothing like it did a generation ago. It may be time for the US Postal Service to either adapt or die.

 

[Talent312]

...[T]his usage pattern describes a growing number of people each year, raising the prices at the Postal Service would only serve to drive more people toward UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, etc...

I wonder if the use of the USPS hasn't already hit it's nadir.
I don't foresee use of electronic mail/payments growing much more than it has.
If so, what's being mailed is that which must be mailed, even if the cost goes up.

 

[Country Roads]

Sadly, it may be time for congress to admit that ".inc" needs to be added to USPS.
Privatize, but don't eliminate.

 

[bobpark56]

Yesterday, (Monday) I put a letter in my mailbox for local delivery. Our mailman is always here by 10am. Until today. It is now 8pm and that letter is still in the box waiting to go out. I'll take it to the post office shortly.

Not a big conspiracy fan, but with the snafus on the news, it makes one wonder.

Jim

Perhaps covid-19 has depleted their available personnel. Have you asked?

 

[bobpark56]

Until recently, our mail was delivered by a very attractive you lady. That's not happening anymore (gripe, gripe).

 

[TheTimeTraveler]

Yesterday, (Monday) I put a letter in my mailbox for local delivery. Our mailman is always here by 10am. Until today. It is now 8pm and that letter is still in the box waiting to go out. I'll take it to the post office shortly.

Not a big conspiracy fan, but with the snafus on the news, it makes one wonder.

Jim

I do want to say that Mondays, and the days after a Holiday are the toughest days of the week for Postal Employees due to higher volumes. The same holds true for the delivery personnel....... Maybe the carrier was having a "bad day", or maybe a substitute carrier was covering that day and actually missed your mailbox?

In any event, I hope your letter finally reached its destination by now.



.

 

[Passepartout]

Perhaps covid-19 has depleted their available personnel. Have you asked?

I didn't ask. The mail resumed as usual the next day. I suspect there was a substitute carrier on the route and our box is in a slightly unusual place for the uninitiated.

 

[isisdave]

IMHO the problem with USPS prices is not 55 cents for an envelope across the continent -- that's a deal.

It's packages. Above 3.5 ounces, or if it's more than 1/4 inch thick, you graduate to "flats", and to "package" if it's over 3/4 inch, or less than that and "irregular thickness." Over 13 ounces and it's priority mail.

DW is a crafter and photographer. Mailing an 8x10 is typically $2 (the mailer weighs more than the photo). A "package" of 8 ounces is typically $3-4, and priority mail starts at $7.15 for a flat rate envelope sent by PayPal's Shipnow service. A lot of crafty stuff is light and not very expensive, but it's hard to sell a $6 item with $5 of shipping charges. Buying several items helps, as twice the weight doesn't cost twice the postage, but most sales are not multiple items.

The service has been OK. Priority items arrive cross-country in 2-4 days, and non-guaranteed but trackable ones in six or so. It was briefly worse during the early pandemic days.

This has changed recently; back in 2012 or so package costs weren't so high. And other vendors like UPS and FedEx ground are nearly as bad for small shipments.

And don't even THINK about international shipping!

 

[Ken555]

DW is a crafter and photographer. Mailing an 8x10 is typically $2 (the mailer weighs more than the photo). A "package" of 8 ounces is typically $3-4, and priority mail starts at $7.15 for a flat rate envelope sent by PayPal's Shipnow service. A lot of crafty stuff is light and not very expensive, but it's hard to sell a $6 item with $5 of shipping charges. Buying several items helps, as twice the weight doesn't cost twice the postage, but most sales are not multiple items.

The service has been OK. Priority items arrive cross-country in 2-4 days, and non-guaranteed but trackable ones in six or so. It was briefly worse during the early pandemic days.

Have you tried UPS Mail Innovations (https://www.upsmailinnovations.com/), FedEx SmartPost (https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/fedex-smartpost.html) or SurePost? These are less expensive for the types of mailings you are sending, but can take substantially longer right now for deliveries. I've had packages take two weeks to go from the mid-west to New York, for instance. UPSMI sends via UPS to the destination region and then transfers to USPS...and that mail is the lowest priority for USPS so it can sit for days (or even weeks) before it's delivered. Before the recent management changes at USPS these were much more reliable services. Many, many small businesses (likely in the many thousands if not more) are being impacted by these changes and it's going to hit their bottom line substantially since many are forced to either ship again (perhaps at a more reliable and timely ship option, such as UPS Ground) and lose the cost of the product and the shipping, or risk a very low review score by the customer (since they blame the merchant not the mail service). FWIW, high review scores on a variety of platforms (eBay, Etsy, etc) are treasured by small businesses as it's one of the prime factors a new customer will consider when purchasing.

As an example, I've assisted clients with this (and recently launched my own site with similar needs) and it's not uncommon for the pick, pack & ship cost to be ~$3-4 per item (and ~$1.50-3 per additional item) for UPS Mail Innovations and $10 for the first item and $0.75-$1.50 for add'l items with UPS Ground. When the profit on a sale can be as low as $5 the merchant can't afford to eat the difference, and as you so correctly state it's extremely difficult to pass on this higher cost to the customer (for example, who would purchase a ~$15 item and pay an additional $10 in shipping?).

 

[clifffaith]

The mail situation is tough on eBay sellers. I don't sell anything anyone is desperate for, and luckily have only had two issues so far. The one customer I finally told to open an Item Not Received case so I could refund her after a month of no movement being scanned. The item appeared to never have left Los Angeles, and even the PO had already marked it as a delivery exception before I looked due to her inquiry. Turned out she lived in Minneapolis and this was during the unrest, but she said all her other mail had been delivered every day. Of course three days after the refund it arrived, and luckily she contacted me to repay me. The item that is currently delayed has the notation "in transit arriving late" on it and hopefully this customer will be able to wait patiently for her $10 glass swan. I do not babysit tracking, so no news is generally good news. Our mail now generally arrives sometime after 6pm when I head upstairs from my office, compared to our old 3pm like clockwork time.

 

[hjtug]

Sadly, it may be time for congress to admit that ".inc" needs to be added to USPS.
Privatize, but don't eliminate.

Could we really use another private company in the business? Would all of the mail options still be available or only the profitable ones? Would Post Offices still be found in every town in the US? Some years ago I took a backpacking trip to an Indian Reservation in Arizona. When hiking to the reservation we noticed a Post Office employee on horseback leading a couple of burros loaded with mail sacks to the reservation post office. The only other route is in and out is by helicopter'

 

[Country Roads]

Could we really use another private company in the business? Would all of the mail options still be available or only the profitable ones? Would Post Offices still be found in every town in the US? Some years ago I took a backpacking trip to an Indian Reservation in Arizona. When hiking to the reservation we noticed a Post Office employee on horseback leading a couple of burros loaded with mail sacks to the reservation post office. The only other route is in and out is by helicopter'

All valid questions and points. The point being made was that the USPS simply should not continue in it's current state. Prices will continue to rise, which is to be expected however, customer service is for the most part, falling rapidly. I for one, don't believe that the current state of customer service would be tolerated in the private sector as it is now.

We do need the Postal Service but, we don't need what it's become.

 

[Ken555]

All valid questions and points. The point being made was that the USPS simply should not continue in it's current state. Prices will continue to rise, which is to be expected however, customer service is for the most part, falling rapidly. I for one, don't believe that the current state of customer service would be tolerated in the private sector as it is now.

We do need the Postal Service but, we don't need what it's become.

Absolutely we need improved customer service. However, at least for myself, I am 100% convinced that if we privatize the USPS we will have more of a reduction of services (at higher prices), not an enhancement of services.

I find it rather ironic (and surprised it’s even legal...though probably isn’t) that the guy (and his wife) in charge now of the USPS has many millions of investments in competing companies. You can’t convince me he has the best interests of the USPS in mind when he made the decision to slow down the mail and reorganize.


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[Country Roads]

Absolutely we need improved customer service. However, at least for myself, I am 100% convinced that if we privatize the USPS we will have more of a reduction of services (at higher prices), not an enhancement of services.

I find it rather ironic (and surprised it’s even legal...though probably isn’t) that the guy (and his wife) in charge now of the USPS has many millions of investments in competing companies. You can’t convince me he has the best interests of the USPS in mind when he made the decision to slow down the mail and reorganize.


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Article 1 Section 8 only grants Congress certain powers. It is up to Congress to choose how to exercise those powers. If Congress decided to abolish the USPS, then that would be their prerogative. It wouldn't require an amendment. There are plenty of powers in Article 1 Section 8 that Congress doesn't use (eg, Letters of Marque and Reprisal), and choosing not to use the postal powers would be no different.

Libertarians in general favor upholding the Constitution. But the Constitution can be amended. So a Constitutional amendment calling for the privatization of the postal service could be supported.

The right to an inexpensive, public postal system in the United States has roots that go back further than most amendments recorded in the Bill of Rights. Understand though, the Constitution does not "call for" a post office. It simply authorizes Congress to establish one if it chooses to do so. Congress (with the President's concurrence) can abolish the USPS whenever it wants.

As for the Postmaster, that's a political appointee and an area I'm not going to be led into.

 

[Ken555]

Article 1 Section 8 only grants Congress certain powers. It is up to Congress to choose how to exercise those powers. If Congress decided to abolish the USPS, then that would be their prerogative. It wouldn't require an amendment. There are plenty of powers in Article 1 Section 8 that Congress doesn't use (eg, Letters of Marque and Reprisal), and choosing not to use the postal powers would be no different.

Libertarians in general favor upholding the Constitution. But the Constitution can be amended. So a Constitutional amendment calling for the privatization of the postal service could be supported.

The right to an inexpensive, public postal system in the United States has roots that go back further than most amendments recorded in the Bill of Rights. Understand though, the Constitution does not "call for" a post office. It simply authorizes Congress to establish one if it chooses to do so. Congress (with the President's concurrence) can abolish the USPS whenever it wants.

As for the Postmaster, that's a political appointee and an area I'm not going to be led into.

Thanks for the history lesson. Sadly, it doesn’t further this conversation on decisions intending to increase mail delays and general dissatisfaction by those who use the service.


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[Country Roads]

Thanks for the history lesson. Sadly, it doesn’t further this conversation on decisions intending to increase mail delays and general dissatisfaction by those who use the service.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

You're quite welcome and sorry I couldn't be of more help.

I'm not happy with the service provided by the USPS and I'm willing to give the new Postmaster a chance of improving that service.

 

[Ken555]

I'm not happy with the service provided by the USPS and I'm willing to give the new Postmaster a chance of improving that service.

As am I. We have zero choice, so it doesn't matter what we think.

 

[isisdave]

What's going on with other countries' postal services? Especially ones with big (unprofitable) rural areas, like maybe Australia and some African states?

 

[Brett]

What's going on with other countries' postal services? Especially ones with big (unprofitable) rural areas, like maybe Australia and some African states?

good question. I'm thinking other developed countries are having the same problems with declining mail volume. - everyone is online for email and package deliveries

 

[bbodb1]

What's going on with other countries' postal services? Especially ones with big (unprofitable) rural areas, like maybe Australia and some African states?

IIRC, the postal service in other countries is very different from ours in the U.S.. Also, IIRC, Japan's postal service also has banking attributes as well. The point here is perhaps our postal service needs to be able to expand / change its functions as it sees fit - much like a private enterprise. Of course, that may eventually be at odds with service decreases to those areas of the country with very little postal traffic.

 

[DeniseM]

Does anyone have trouble with mail going to Chicago? For 18 months I had to mail checks to Chicage for my health insurance and time after time it disappeared, was super late, was delivered but never received - every dumb thing you can think of! We tried differnent mail services and none of them were any better. Fortunately, I have different insurance now!

 

[geist1223]

Does anyone have trouble with mail going to Chicago? For 18 months I had to mail checks to Chicage for my health insurance and time after time it disappeared, was super late, was delivered but never received - every dumb thing you can think of! We tried differnent mail services and none of them were any better. Fortunately, I have different insurance now!

I pay most of my Bills online through my regular Bank. Can you pay your health insurance in this way?

 

[Brett]

I pay most of my Bills online through my regular Bank. Can you pay your health insurance in this way?

it's my experience is that almost everything can be paid online .... except my mother's tax payments

 

[DeniseM]

The Health Insurance could not be paid online - they insisted on a check. But fortunately, I have different Health Insurance now.

 

[Talent312]

The Health Insurance could not be paid online - they insisted on a check. But fortunately, I have different Health Insurance now.

I suspect the problem had more to do with the company, than the whole of Chicago.

Our insurance checks are auto-drafted from our checking account each monthly.
So is my utility bill (which is the same each month due to an averaging feature).
.