USPS already getting slow ???

[rphillips]

Ordered a record album from Addison, IL on Nov. 18, Left Lombard. IL Nov. 19, made it to Warrendale, PA on Nov. 24, made it to Memphis. TN on Dec. 1, & to my house Dec. 4., 16 days later. Ordered a cell phone from Raleigh NC on Dec. 7, USPS accepted it on Dec.8, Tonight it is still not been scanned anywhere else. Just saw on our 6 O'clock news they are having trouble with the Postal service in Nashville, packages getting delivered very late.

[Vmass]

It's been going on for months here. Letters are on time, packages freeze and don't move for days and even weeks. I had a rather rare and very expensive piece shipped 2 day priority to me, it arrived 21 days after being shipped. I had multiple phone calls and I was finally told it was sitting in a container that wasn't touched for 2 weeks.

[Cipher]

they all seem to be quarantining goods

[trent]

Their all on dope, incompetence at every level or at the least just not giving a care (to busy thinkin boot other personal stuff) the packages will get where they need to go sooner or later, and if not OH well.

In my areas, many of the USPS that go door to door Look like meth users, but hey with the "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds"

But hey ya can use all the boost ya can get.

I started noticing this 7-8 years ago, my old friendly , like clock work.... mail people retired. And replacements must be hard to find. My Neighbor had a "mobile Mechanic " come and do some work on his sons car (water pump or a starter?) while my neighbor and Mobile mechanic were in neighbors living room talking they noticed out the window a sub for regular mail person snatch a couple tools off the rear of mobile mechanic's van.

My neighbor was more P.Od about it than mech. was...neighbor claims mail man scratched his truck while squeezing between truck and bushes instead of taking a few more steps to go around.

Besides getting neighbors mail and not receiving some , I have not had any issues wit dem.

[robertbarr]

The last month or so has been particularly bad, with unexplainable delays. I've had tracking sequences that are just bizarre, like "Processing Exception" and numerous scans at the exact same location four or five days in a row. It really seems intentional to me.

[LAB3]

Somebody said the old boss got fired and the new one won't be starting until somewhere toward the end of January.

[Grimly]

It's obviously affecting their overseas deliveries, too.
A month waiting on a petcock that would normally have been here in ten days, at most.
The customs on this side are on a go-slow of their own, probably seasonal uptick in the sheer numbers and covid related regarding staffing levels.

[Brendan W]

Made the 5pm deadline with a large package on Tuesday and it was delivered in Belfast by 9am the following morning.
Postal services are hugely under rated organisations. They can make things happen when they want or need to and they have eyes on the whole country.
As with all things, look to the top to explain under performance. The concept of public service is not dead. Lions lead by sheep.
The head of an Post allowed himself a joke at the 150th anniversary of the first letter posted in Ireland.
The first letter was posted one hundred and fifty years ago today. We expect it will be delivered anytime now.

[Vmass]

Just checked on another package that I should have received on 12/5 based on 2 day priority shipping. It stalled on it's first day in their possession:

December 7, 2020
In Transit, Arriving Late
Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.

---

December 3, 2020, 5:04 pm
Departed Post Office
BIRMINGHAM, AL 35205

---

December 3, 2020, 10:54 am
USPS picked up item
BIRMINGHAM, AL 35205

---

December 2, 2020, 9:03 pm
Shipping Label Created, USPS Awaiting Item
BIRMINGHAM, AL 35226

[bwringer]

Holiday slowdowns are pretty normal, but we have a much higher volume than even a normal holiday season.

Also, not to get all vortexy, but some of you seem to have very, very short memories; it was only a few months ago in the USA that there were large-scale and often successful efforts to remove automation and funding to slow down mail because certain folks didn't want a certain type of mail from certain areas to get to certain places by certain dates.

And similar deliberate and too often successful efforts to sabotage USPS funding have been going on for many years.

Don't blame the mail carrier you see. It's partly management, but it's mostly the inevitable result of years of political interference.


FWIW, FedEx, UPS, DHL, and Amazon delivery are all quite a bit slower than usual right now. They were already struggling to deal with the increased volume and staffing issues from COVID-19, and the holidays have made things even worse.

[earlfor]

Ten days to two weeks seems to be average for my orders to arrive, regardless of carrier, and three isn't unusual.

[LAB3]

FWIW, FedEx, UPS, DHL, and Amazon delivery are all quite a bit slower than usual right now. They were already struggling to deal with the increased volume and staffing issues from COVID-19, and the holidays have made things even worse.

DHL uses the USPS as their "Last Mile" carrier, a double whammy! Last spring I waited three weeks for an o-ring to be delivered, it sat 100 miles away for a week. Right now I've got two packages I ordered last week coming via DHL, glad it's nothing essential.

[mriddle]

I live not far from Lexington KY in a smallish town and oddly see fairly reliable delivery from online (like Amazon).

Tracking scans can be misleading too. “Shipped” just means the shipping label has been generated (not necessarily printed and put on the parcel ).

Agree with Brian, among other things, the Covid surge to shipping/online commerce has created a rush hour several months long, that bumped into the holiday shopping season.

Perhaps in Feb/Mar 2021 we will see some recovery.

[storm 64]

We may have slowed down a bit, but we're still better than the Canadian Postal Service. Have you tried shipping to Canada lately? What a time consuming pain in the azz. I took about 6 weeks and multiple trips to the post office to get parts shipped to Ontario. I have shipped parts to France and it only took 10 days! I just received a package from Kingsport Tennessee, it took 4 days. I'm good with that.👍

[rphillips]

Update from 1st post. My package that shipped from NC. on the 8th, arrived on the 12th, way ahead of the package this thread was started about that took 16 days. Way better than expected, thanks USPS.