Now that the election is over in the United States, and the apparently sabotaged United States Postal Service is still operating, it’s time not to let up and continue to try to figure out what’s wrong with the postal service and what we can do to fix it.
I have been outspoken and critical of the postal service in this blog for a good ten years now. Just type USPS into the search box at the top of the screen and Search. You’ll find a number of relevant posts.
I believe we need a functioning postal service in this country, and I don’t think privatizing it will work for the people, but rather for the private companies.
During the last several months our company has noticed that checks to pay bills posted with the USPS would either get lost entirely, or, as in one recent case, take over 4 weeks to arrive. When one vendor payment of over $20,000 didn’t arrive, we had to cancel the check, put out a stop payment order, and then send a replacement via FedEx. A month later, the original check arrived at its destination. Where did it spend its time?
A few months ago I shipped painting rolled up in a tube to Australia. It cost $69.00 in postage. Here is the USPS tracking information:
Notice how the shipment lingered in San Diego, and Los Angeles, and finally in San Francisco for weeks before finally making it onto a plane to Australia. What was it doing for two weeks in Los Angeles? This is the age where you can place an Amazon order in the morning on a Sunday and get delivery by Sunday afternoon!
Today I saw a Facebook post by a friend who ordered socks online, and here is her tracking information – which I recommend you read bottom up. As of this posting, she hasn’t receive the socks yet. She lives in Lakewood, NY, so you can see the socks got pretty close on Nov 12 at 8:48am, but then again departed via Randolph and back to Buffalo to make another detour:
November 13, 2020, 1:56 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
BUFFALO NY DISTRIBUTION CENTER
Your item arrived at our BUFFALO NY DISTRIBUTION CENTER destination facility on November 13, 2020 at 1:56 am.
The item is currently in transit to the destination.November 12, 2020, 9:03 am
Arrived at USPS Facility
RANDOLPH, NY 14772November 12, 2020, 8:48 am
Out for Delivery
LAKEWOOD, NY 14750November 12, 2020, 8:37 am
Arrived at Post Office
RANDOLPH, NY 14772November 11, 2020, 10:54 pm
Departed USPS Regional Destination Facility
BUFFALO NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 11, 2020, 9:39 pm
Accepted at USPS Regional Destination Facility
BUFFALO NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 11, 2020
In Transit to Next FacilityNovember 10, 2020, 1:22 pm
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
BUFFALO NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 10, 2020, 9:36 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
NORTHWEST ROCHESTER NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 10, 2020, 9:16 am
Departed USPS Regional Facility
ROCHESTER NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 10, 2020, 8:31 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
ROCHESTER NY DISTRIBUTION CENTERNovember 10, 2020, 2:47 am
Departed USPS Facility
LANCASTER, PA 17601November 9, 2020, 11:03 pm
USPS in possession of item
LANCASTER, PA 17601November 9, 2020, 7:57 pm
Departed Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
YORK, PA 17402
Shipping Partner: OSM WORLDWIDENovember 9, 2020, 5:09 pm
Arrived Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
YORK, PA 17402
Shipping Partner: OSM WORLDWIDENovember 7, 2020, 2:28 pm
Departed Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV 89032
Shipping Partner: OSM WORLDWIDENovember 6, 2020, 9:15 pm
Arrived Shipping Partner Facility, USPS Awaiting Item
NORTH LAS VEGAS, NV 89032
Shipping Partner: OSM WORLDWIDEOctober 30, 2020, 9:06 am
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
Obviously, it’s no wonder that the USPS is not profitable, when it carries a package of socks seemingly all over the country before delivering it. I don’t know what shipping of a package of socks costs, but it can’t be much. Just the tracking of this shipment far outweighs the postage.
I don’t think postmaster DeJoy went about fixing the postal service the right way, but good grief, fixing is sorely needed.
Good to know you got the painting to Australia and at a fair price.
This is why we switched from USPS to FedEx. It was cheaper but gave us the biggest headache and so many customer complaints. We didn’t really have any complaints once we switched to FedEx.