# USPS



## jbolt (Jan 26, 2022)

I just don't know what to think sometimes.

We live on an unimproved road 15 miles from town. Our mailbox is out on the main road a half mile away. Up until the the beginning of the year if USPS was delivering a package that would not fit in the mailbox they dropped it off at a small country store a few miles away. They would not drive up our road. If it was too large to be delivered by the carrier they left it at the main USPS warehouse in town which was a pita sometimes.

Now there is a post office five miles away in an unincorporated town but because their zip code is different than ours USPS would not send packages there. 

UPS and Fedex do deliver to our gate.

At the end of December, after 30 years in business, due to a lack of support from suppliers the small country store closed. (a whole different discussion). With the closing we were hoping USPS would at least drop packages at a private mail center in the incorporated town.

Nope, now for some miraculous reason USPS delivers up our road to the gate and on Sundays! That's great but why now and not before???

I'm also signed up for the "Informed Delivery" so we know what is coming in the mail. We only pickup mail once or twice a week unless something important is coming. Up until this morning I had never had a notification for a package so I was surprised to see it. Now I was not expecting anything until Friday so thinking maybe something was coming early I clicked on the link. "DELIVERED JANUARY 4th"


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## alloy (Jan 26, 2022)

In my small town usps is pretty good, although they cant ship internationally.Have to drive about 60 miles in 2 trips for that

Ups is great. The lady driver leaves a dog bisquit everytime shes here for my dog.

Fedx sucks. was 10 days late on a big shipment, and the box was trashed.

Just how it is living in a small town.


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## Boxster9 (Jan 26, 2022)

We live in a similar situation and pay for a P.O. Box to get items delivered to the Post Office in one community while mail to the house comes from a different Post Office.  "When there is a will, there is a way"


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## jbolt (Jan 26, 2022)

Fedex and UPS have been great for the most part. 

Fedex Ground delivered a large safe in a full size rig with a 40' trailer. I was shocked he even drove up our road. I don't know how the driver did it but he managed to turn around, back up through the gate and up the driveway to my garage. He unloaded, helped me uncrate and move it into the garage. It was awesome.

Our property is gated so where they leave packages is entertaining sometimes. Due to the way our property slopes my gates are recessed behind the fence line and open out. There is a sign saying so yet packages are always against the gates. I sometimes find packages tossed over the fence in odd places.

If the gate is open both Fedex and UPS will come to the house. USPS just drops by the gate regardless. 

I need to put an enclosure for packages to be placed through the fence and out of the rain.


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## woodchucker (Jan 26, 2022)

jbolt said:


> Fedex and UPS have been great for the most part.
> 
> Fedex Ground delivered a large safe in a full size rig with a 40' trailer. I was shocked he even drove up our road. I don't know how the driver did it but he managed to turn around, back up through the gate and up the driveway to my garage. He unloaded, helped me uncrate and move it into the garage. It was awesome.
> 
> ...


yep, that's not a bad idea. just something for them to put the packages in.
I would go to the post office and talk with them if you do not know your carrier.
Ask them how to handle it, tell them the gate opens.. ask if they will deliver to the enclosure, even ask if you can put a lock on it if you need one. They may have a universal lock, with a key for them on one side and a key for you on the other... I don't know, just thinking out loud.


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## matthewsx (Jan 26, 2022)

I ran a small business in a small town a while back. Our shop was on one side of the road which had an address from the next town over and was served by their post office. The other side of the road was our town (both sides were physically within our village limits but the post office wouldn't make my address actually in the town which I was in). I went all the way up to having our US Senate representative requesting this change but the USPS wouldn't do it. They have their ways and we all need to work with what they are.

BTW, Sunday delivery is driven by agreements USPS has with UPS (and maybe others) to perform the last mile. Many times these routes are done by "carrier associates" not your regular carrier. I think this is a profitable part of the business and it probably makes a lot of sense given the mandates congress has put on them. It also allows more folks to get started as letter carriers and eventually become "regular" with a pension and such. 

USPS actually has kinda an amazing mandate, going to every address every day (more or less). It's a service that allowed the US to grow and thrive as a democracy just as Ben Franklin envisioned so long ago. 

John


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## vtcnc (Jan 26, 2022)

Boxster9 said:


> We live in a similar situation and pay for a P.O. Box to get items delivered to the Post Office in one community while mail to the house comes from a different Post Office.  "When there is a will, there is a way"


Was going to suggest this. Beat me to it. This is the way of the wood dwellers in a civilized world.


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## matthewsx (Jan 26, 2022)

I've maintained a PO Box since I was in my 20's, the first time an important letter got misplaced by a housemate....

Small price to pay for the increased confidence.

John


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## MrWhoopee (Jan 26, 2022)

I also live on an unpaved road. Our (cluster) box is down on the pavement about 1/4 mile away. With only 2 parcel lockers, we frequently get pink slips saying the locker was full and we should pick up the package at the P.O., 12 miles away. In normal times, this is just inconvenient. Add the pandemic, and the fact that the Post Office employees are unmasked along with 90% of the patrons in a cubicle of a P.O., and it's downright dangerous. Fortunately our SIL works for OnTrac and, being a very small community, he regularly drops and picks up packages at the P.O. in an informal "last mile" relationship.

I am VERY impressed with one of our FedEx drivers. She has never let snow conditions keep her from delivering. Last year she walked a couple hundred yards with a large box up our lane and driveway when the lane was too slippery to get in with the truck. She has confirmed to me that our other driver will just save packages for her to deliver when conditions are bad. This year FedEx got her a 4wd truck.


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## jbolt (Jan 26, 2022)

It's interesting that the carrier who delivers the packages is not the regular mail carrier. They are always in an official USPS vehicle. The regular mail carrier appears to be a contractor and drives a Subaru. 

I agree though that rural living has its quirks. That being said it is WAY better than where we moved from.


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## jwmay (Jan 26, 2022)

Oh well I guess I do have a complaint. My wife and stepdaughter are being removed from my health insurance policy because the documents supposedly didn't arrive. Sent them in December. Then again, I'm not convinced one of the three companies I spoke with on the phone today didn't just drop the ball. They wanted proof I sent it. I asked what would be proof for an envelope I put in my mailbox?


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## MrWhoopee (Jan 26, 2022)

This guy might have a job in pro football.









						Video shows San Francisco FedEx driver perfectly launching package at front door from truck
					

Not exactly how you'd want a package delivered. Doorbell camera captured the moment when a FedEx driver chucked a package onto the front porch of a San Francisco home, landing it perfectly in front of the door.




					abc7news.com


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## Just for fun (Jan 26, 2022)

We have a box at the gate, and a sign on the gate to give me a call if you need access.  I had a large package delivered the other day by UPS the driver called me to till me he couldn't get it in the box.  I thought that was pretty cool sense it was snowing.

Tim


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## Winegrower (Jan 26, 2022)

Whenever I have had any issues with the postal service I have gone to meet with the Postmaster...it's always been resolved promptly.   I think that's probably faster than posting here.

Happily, we have excellent delivery folks for all three services.   I know their names and they have my cell number and frequently call if they need a signature and can't find me.   I have many steps up to the front door, and order heavy stuff...they ought to hate me, and maybe they do, but they are always very courteous and professional.

I suppose Amazon has to be added as a delivery service...they come at all hours, don't think it's ever been the same person twice.   But good!


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## jwmay (Jan 26, 2022)

Winegrower said:


> Whenever I have had any issues with the postal service I have gone to meet with the Postmaster...it's always been resolved promptly. I think that's probably faster than posting here.


You're right. I thought we were just venting...commiserating if you will. Lol


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## rock_breaker (Jan 29, 2022)

Our community has been served by USPS for over 100 years, never any RFD. The post office is 7 miles from my residence. The USPS is operating under some tough regulations referred to at a USPS sponsored meeting when they changed the operating hours of the local post office. The current distribution system is interesting in that our mail going out of the area is franked in Albuquerque NM,  270 miles away.
Have a good day
Rock breaker


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## Just for fun (Jan 29, 2022)

Yep,  it's odd how the USPS works these days.   I just found out that our mail even local goes close to 200 miles to get processed,  then back to our little town.   It's no wonder there losing money.


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## erikmannie (Jan 30, 2022)

alloy said:


> In my small town…
> 
> Ups is great. The lady driver leaves a dog bisquit everytime shes here for my dog.
> 
> ...



I work as a UPS driver in 2 small towns (Cazadero & Timber Cove, CA).

I *always* have peanut butter dog biscuits (Milk Bone Dipped). I know how many dogs are in each household, & I always leave that many dog biscuits on top of the label.

Sometimes I see the dogs, and I give them the biscuits.

Under these circumstances, you can imagine the reaction of the dogs when they hear me coming!

In my area, Fedex Ground & the private contractor USPS carrier are paid by the piece/mile/stop/signature, but UPS & FedEx Express are paid by the hour.

The FedEx Ground driver in my area drives extremely unsafely pretty much all the time; he is a safety hazard.

The privately contracted rural mail carrier told me that they won’t drive more than 1/2 mile off of the main road to deliver a parcel, and the less that they have to drive, the better.

I have customers that require a 15+ minute drive in to their house, plus a 15+ minute drive back out to the road. They are usually getting just one small UPS Ground package, so I have to think the company is losing money on those deliveries.


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## ddickey (Jan 30, 2022)

matthewsx said:


> USPS actually has kinda an amazing mandate, going to every address every day (more or less). It's a service that allowed the US to grow and thrive as a democracy just as Ben Franklin envisioned so long ago.
> 
> John


You mean a republic not democracy.


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## matthewsx (Jan 30, 2022)

ddickey said:


> You mean a republic not democracy.


Why yes sir. But that get us into politics….


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## jwmay (Jan 30, 2022)

I'm appreciative of the postal service. I don't understand much of how they operate. But I've never had a real problem with it. I do remember when they were always having to raise the price of stamps, and everyone seemed grouchy about that. I'd much rather pay them than pay sales tax for used merchandise on Ebay. I'm far more annoyed with that, than any shipping costs I've paid.


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## RJSakowski (Feb 3, 2022)

Another data point regarding USPS.  On Tuesday, Feb. 1st, I ordered a GPS for my vehicle from Amazon.  It shipped by USPS that evening according to Amazon Tracking.  This afternoon, our mailman delivered the package, in spite of our road being closed for tree felling. Two day service from Arizona to Wisconsin and free shipping to boot. Not bad service!


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## woodchucker (Feb 3, 2022)

Amazon announced today that they are upping PRIME by $20..
great, so they are charging $20 more, and still no return of the 2 day delivery. We average 5 days.


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## MyLilMule (Feb 3, 2022)

I sent something via USPS through eBay. Purchased the postage through eBay. eBay doesn’t add any additional insurance. USPS lost the package. Lost it in the sorting center. That was in December. So of course the buyer gets his money back. And I’m screwed. Same package I sent 10 other times with no problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## jbolt (Feb 9, 2022)

This was shoved in my mailbox yesterday. The condition of the package was exactly as I found it. We have a locking mailbox so there is only a 1.5" opening at the top for mail to go through. There was at one time a third item in the package that is missing. I'm not sure if that part would fit through the mailbox opening. All I can speculate is it was done by the carrier while out for delivery. In the past the post office has at least attempted to tape up damaged packages.


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## woodchucker (Feb 9, 2022)

well, talk to your carrier, and if not satisfied talk to the postmaster.
I have a locking box too, someone tried ordering a credit card in my name, and then signed up for notification. The post office sent us a card about notification, so we stopped the notification , we got a locking box, we found out about the card when we received the card, and that's why we got a locking box.  We notified the post office and state troopers (our local police) ... no one cared about catching them in the act. We're not important enough..  If we were a business, they would have done everything they could to get them.


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## Aaron_W (Feb 9, 2022)

jbolt said:


> This was shoved in my mailbox yesterday. The condition of the package was exactly as I found it. We have a locking mailbox so there is only a 1.5" opening at the top for mail to go through. There was at one time a third item in the package that is missing. I'm not sure if that part would fit through the mailbox opening. All I can speculate is it was done by the carrier while out for delivery. In the past the post office has at least attempted to tape up damaged packages.
> 
> View attachment 395704



I recently received a sealed empty box. It was a Christmas present for my wife. It looked like either the shipper put the packing slip in the box but forgot to put the item in, or the box came open during shipping and the USPS taped it up. Small box in very good condition, not smashed or torn so whose fault is a mystery. I bought it through Amazon, and the seller refunded my money.


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## woodchucker (Jul 15, 2022)

GRRRRRR. It's going to be here today, but it's funny, another item is stuck in Kearny..
This is a back and forth from USPS.
You see Phillipsburg is 10 miles west of me. Kearney is 60 miles east, and Lebanon 10 miles east.
so from Phillipsburg, it could have gone to my post office.. but it didn't. It could have gone to Lebanon along the way it didn't. It went all the way to Kearny, so it can come back to Lebanon, so it can come back to my post office. It past me ... waived and said F U.   I expected the other package to come at the same time, since they arrived together in Kearny based on the time... but now they are estimating Monday or Tuesday..
Not even Saturday...  Rant over... Stupid wins... I just get cranky...

*July 15, 2022, 7:42 am*
Out for Delivery, Expected Delivery Between 11:30am and 12:30pm
PITTSTOWN, NJ 08867
Your item is out for delivery on July 15, 2022 at 7:42 am in PITTSTOWN, NJ 08867.
*July 15, 2022, 7:31 am*
Arrived at Post Office
PITTSTOWN, NJ 08867
*July 15, 2022, 7:07 am*
Arrived at USPS Facility
PITTSTOWN, NJ 08867
*July 15, 2022, 5:06 am*
Arrived at USPS Facility
LEBANON, NJ 08833
*July 15, 2022, 4:11 am*
Departed USPS Regional Facility
KEARNY NJ DISTRIBUTION CENTER
*July 14, 2022, 8:24 am*
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility
KEARNY NJ DISTRIBUTION CENTER
*July 14, 2022, 6:55 am*
Departed USPS Facility
PHILLIPSBURG, NJ 08865
*July 14, 2022, 4:53 am*
Arrived at USPS Facility
PHILLIPSBURG, NJ 08865
*July 14, 2022, 4:20 am*
In Transit to Next Facility
*July 13, 2022, 8:08 pm*
In Transit to Next Facility
*July 13, 2022, 12:48 pm*
In Transit to Next Facility
*July 13, 2022, 5:28 am*
Departed USPS Regional Facility
YBOR CITY FL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
*July 12, 2022, 8:26 pm*
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
YBOR CITY FL DISTRIBUTION CENTER
*July 12, 2022, 7:11 pm*
Accepted at USPS Origin Facility
LUTZ, FL 33549
*July 12, 2022, 5:57 pm*
Shipment Received, Package Acceptance Pending
LUTZ, FL 33549
*July 12, 2022*
Pre-Shipment Info Sent to USPS, USPS Awaiting Item


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## vtcnc (Jul 15, 2022)

It's frustrating for sure. The way the system is setup is that everything MUST go through the dedicated Distribution Centers. You can see that label in the chain of custody. Kearny is where everything must get cleared through in your region.

It doesn't make any sense if you are on the wrong side of the distribution epicenter, which you are. 

But that is the tradeoff for setting up cost effective systems for everybody, there are some inefficiencies built in and would likely cost more (either in dollars or time lost) if there were solutions to remove them from the system. The good news is that they honored their 3-day delivery promise. So there is that if you can ignore the counterintuitive logistics.


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## MrWhoopee (Jul 15, 2022)

I'm experiencing something similar. It would be less frustrating if you couldn't watch the moves in real time. Not that long ago you placed your order and heard no more about it until it landed at your door.


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## woodchucker (Jul 15, 2022)

vtcnc said:


> It's frustrating for sure. The way the system is setup is that everything MUST go through the dedicated Distribution Centers. You can see that label in the chain of custody. Kearny is where everything must get cleared through in your region.
> 
> It doesn't make any sense if you are on the wrong side of the distribution epicenter, which you are.
> 
> But that is the tradeoff for setting up cost effective systems for everybody, there are some inefficiencies built in and would likely cost more (either in dollars or time lost) if there were solutions to remove them from the system. The good news is that they honored their 3-day delivery promise. So there is that if you can ignore the counterintuitive logistics.


Yea, I am aware, but when you realize that another package took the same route, at the same times, but got held back.. you have to wonder.. is it really that efficient.  And if it's landing in Pburg, why? Why not go right to Kearny? Why stop at a center that's not showing as a dist center? The Pburg PO is a small/medium post office. So it makes no sense that it went to them rather than to Kearny.


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## vtcnc (Jul 15, 2022)

woodchucker said:


> Yea, I am aware, but when you realize that another package took the same route, at the same times, but got held back.. you have to wonder.. is it really that efficient.  And if it's landing in Pburg, why? Why not go right to Kearny? Why stop at a center that's not showing as a dist center? The Pburg PO is a small/medium post office. So it makes no sense that it went to them rather than to Kearny.


After looking on the map that your packages took, I can see why it doesn't make sense. On the other hand, the stops were a larger city than Lebanon in NJ and then an even bigger one outside of New York City. Yeah, I can easily see why they did that. Pretty sure you don't want to stop in Lebanon with enough mail to choke NYC. You'll never get your package then.


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## Gaffer (Jul 15, 2022)

I was pleasantly surprised by USPS's service the other day. Dave mailed me 15 pieces of 1/2" aluminum stock in USPS's plastic bag. When I received it, the post office had sealed it in a clear plastic bag because the original pack had torn. It had an apology sticker on the bag, and nothing was missing. Score!


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## Gnpenning (Jul 15, 2022)




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