dweenk

I have magazines and first class mail arrive 3 or 4 days late. My April pension check hasn't arrived yet, but the May and June checks were on-time. Packages have been arriving 1 or 2 days ahead of schedule. So it seems that Mr. DeJoys' office can ship you crap that you really don't need while delaying or losing the important stuff.

JohnDThompson 

FWIW, I've had good luck with USPS, with only limited problems. And those problems were only when my daughter was living in Ypsilanti (just outside of Detroit, for those who don't know). Packages would take weeks to get from Wisconsin to Ypsilanti, with routing all over creation, as you document above. One package travelled around the United States for weeks before being returned to us as "undeliverable," and postage due, no less! Fortunately, our carrier personally intervened on our behalf, got the "postage due" dropped and managed to get the package re-delivered promptly.

So, maybe it's a local Detroit area problem?

WGB 

It maybe a Detroit thing. Or cross border issues?

I loved USPS prior to Covid. Super fast and super cheap. Unfortunately Trudeau refuses to even consider opening the border so can't drive over to the mailbox.
If a corporation uses a courier there's no extra fees to cross the border but couriers"kindly" prepay duty owed and then charge a $30 fee for private shipping so I've had $30 in fees added to a $30 order.

madpogue 

^^^^^^ I think it's cross-border. I purchased something from the UK recently. Went from its source in the UK to London, then to Chicago, then into a void for several weeks, then to Los Angeles, then to Milwaukee, and finally to Madison. So maybe LA is some sort of import/export processing point.

WGB 

How do you complain to USPS?

The 1-800 number is just prompts.

The lost package format has been down all day.

Backstory I purchased a Bicycle Research Freewheel vise from a nice lady in Bethlehem PA. When she mailed it, online tracking said delivery by "Thursday, May 20th, 2022 before 9pm"

Here is the tracking info now:

May 19, 2022, 11:10 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
DURHAM, NC 27707
Your item arrived at our USPS facility in DURHAM, NC 27707 on May 19, 2022 at 11:10 am. The item is currently in transit to the destination.May 18, 2022
In Transit to Next FacilityMay 16, 2022, 5:18 pm
Departed Post Office
BETHLEHEM, PA 18017 May 16, 2022, 3:08 pm
USPS picked up item
BETHLEHEM, PA 18017 May 16, 2022, 1:33 pm
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
BETHLEHEM, PA 18017

I may only have a (Manitoba) Grade 12, but I know that Durham NC is in pretty much the exact wrong direction it should be going! Google maps says it's 451 miles from Bethlehem to Durham (Bethlehem to Niagara Falls is 360 miles). I called the automated line and was told it was "on time for delivery on May 24th, 2002 before 9pm".

I keep trying to complete the lost package forms but each time I get the message that the service is "unavailable at this time".

The automated telephone service simply tells me that my delivery is "on time for delivery on May 24th, 2002 before 9pm" but no option to speak with a human.

I should say I live in Canada and can't just pop in to the local USPS.

Does anybody know what I can do???

Ps. I hope it starts mailing me postcards of it's travels

52telecaster

I have had a few things take a week or so but sometimes they come quicker than expected and my experience isn't much different with usps-ups-fedex. Ymmv.

ManekiNico

I wouldn't make anything of that. I'm betting that Durham is the regional USPS hub and everything goes through there regardless of geographic orientation. In much the same way, when I mail something westward from Ottawa, Canada Post will route it through Montreal first.

Speaking of which, have you tried entering your tracking number on Canada Post's website/app? You may get more info. Or not.

bamboobike4

This.

I loaded freight at night. We hurried. The Teamsters in my shop taught me the ropes and how to work smart and error-free (relatively.)

They made me a supervisor, and other than the pay cut due to much longer hours, I loved it. However, I did send a truckload of forklifts to Houston instead of Puerto Rico. Also a hazmat load, by rail, to Memphis instead of Brooklyn. It happens.

Average time until quitting on Yellow Freight docks here, now, is two weeks. Time and work ethic has changed. So has management. Unhealthy collision.

cheffyjay

I shipped this bike to Arizona using BikeFlights and UPS. A somewhat rare Pinarello cyclocross bike. It vanished after tracking reporting it bouncing between a warehouse and a post office about 30 miles from it's destination. The bike i shipped before that arrived with heavy damage. It's not just USPS.

repechage

a first class letter takes 5-7 working days now to go cross town. DeJoy is no joy

52telecaster

I agree with that last statement but I think the rank and file are doing their best.

madpogue 

+1; my nephew is a carrier, and they're throwing hella overtime at him. On the bright side, he's likely to retire in his 50s.

As for routing, I often get mail from just blocks away, within 1-2 days, despite the fact that's it's postmarked Milwaukee.

repechage

The "bid" for carrier routes is just weird. Our long time carrier was outbid at one point, the replacement has had a devil of a time. I do not know who sorts a carrier's trays, but we are constantly receiving mail now from streets near but not ours.
I have dug through the usps site to now only send with optical scan friendly font and format, location.
variable help.

zandoval 

In most of our rural areas both at the main site and the delivery service they use Sub-Contractors. The full time employees are littered with Disgruntled Union workers who for the most part take out thier job dissatisfaction on thier Subs... Ha

It's just another example of outright incompetence. If ya wanna run a good business then don't put the government in charge of it.

But in many ways, other then being a consumer, I have no right to complain because I can't think of a solution. I certainly don't want the USPS privatized.

WGB 

Update: I finally was able to submit a lost package form. I doubt the form affected the outcome as it was corrected insanely fast.

Magically the package was shipped from Durham to Buffalo and onto Niagara Falls, arriving at the local PO this morning!. They must have flown from Durham.

It can't be that it would have gone to Durham as normal routing because I purchased the tool from seller in Annville PA and the next day some tubulars from a seller in Pottsville PA. The tubulars went to the local clearing house and arrived within 3 days.

My favorite was some tires I bought from a seller outside of Detroit. Tires travelled in a roundabout route to LA then flew to Toronto.

Bill in VA

When I was a letter carrier in the mid-1970's, sorting was a trainee level job - you did that first. That as for non-standard mail (Greeting Cards, odd shaped, anything that could not fit through the cancelling and sorting machines). The sorting machines were huge and fast, but a letter carrier would still check the sort so it would fit the walking path they took. For instance all the odds ascending and all the evens descending, and in different groups so you could walk up one side of a street and down the other.


Actually, back then USPS had an employment entry test and it had a lot of numerical questions like progressions, (for addresses on a street), matching numbers, etc. But at that time folks needed to count change as most registers did not tell them what the change was. I have no idea what they do now.


Bidding on jobs was a seniority issue as was the shift. Dings for bad performance, however did count against you.


The problems now are a direct result of both the flawed implementation of the changes AND the "Amazonification" of the consumer who values speed of receipt over everything else.

repechage

Just received a postcard at work - USPS Connect Local... uspsconnect.com/deliverlocal same day! next day, or even Sunday delivery... (extra fee)
Hmmm... I wonder how large a range "local" is?