USPS - The Post Office

[rusticretreater]

Expect an uptick in service.  The newz says the Postal Service is cutting 10,000 people.  Folks will be running scared.
  
https://www.newsweek.com/how-usps-layoffs-could-impact-mail-deliveries-2044678

Democratic Representative Emanuel Cleaver said on X, formerly Twitter: "Any attempts to privatize the USPS would be a betrayal to the more than 640,000 postal employees who work tirelessly every day to ensure mail is delivered to every corner of the country."

President Donald Trump, regarding bringing the USPS into the Department of Commerce: "We want to have a post office that works well and doesn't lose massive amounts of money. And we're thinking about doing that."

[WV Sawmiller]

  My mail carrier is a contractor and does not work directly for the USPS. I am sure she does not get the same benefits and retirement and such a direct Federal employee gets. I do not know exactly how that works and whether she has to periodically re-bid on the route or if she works for a big company who bids on the various routes then they pay her.

    I know she has to be bonded and comply with all the regs and such. We used to meet her along the route when we'd be going to town and we'd stop beside her and she'd hand us our mail out the window but sometime last year evidently someone complained and she said she had to stop or risk getting fired. Whomever the cranky soul was probably had to stop an extra 30 seconds on his way to town while she passed somebody his mail out her window.

  When I think about and hear people, and especially politicians, complaining about cutting the federal work force I remember my last assignment in the USMC. I took over the section and we had 50 employees. Less than 2 years later I was down to 23 and we had more than doubled the support we provided cutting transportation costs for our field exercises by half. All that was just by getting back to basics so people can't tell me you can't cut costs and provide more service without increasing manpower.

[Larry]

Think its time to start playing real hardball.  Maybe a facebook group, would 60 Minutes be interested?  A letter writing campaign to my Senators and Representatives?  I'm *pithed!  Open to suggestions.

After starting this thread over four years ago I did decide to play hardball. Wrote emails to my US Representative, face to face meetings, and documented everything. With slow progress I suggested we have a open "Town hall meeting" and invite the press. Delivery immediately improved and I got my packages. I declared a truce.

Another issue has started and I really don't know what to think. NW Arkansas is going through a population explosion. Everybody wants to live here. I'm on the tail end of my route and used to get mail around 5 PM. As more folks move in the mail gets later and later. Normal delivery now is 7-9PM. I think some days it gets so late the carrier holds the mail and delivers next day.

I've seen the carrier on the route at 8am and guessing she probably started an hour or two sooner. I would think these kind of long hours everyday could be a safety issue. I can't imagine putting mail in mailboxes long after dark is any joy. I feel sorry for her now. I would think overtime pay is off the charts so maybe it's worth it for her.

And you say the Post Office is going to get rid of 10,000. That should really improve my service.

[Jim_Rogers]

My stepson is building a new house, not far from his old house.
But they decided to sell their old house now. So, they moved into an apartment building not too far from their old house.
Next, instead of changing all their stuff to the apartment address, they are changing to the new house address. This means all their mail will come to the new address. So, they had to install a new mailbox. Their new driveway is on a busy street. He told the story to us that he went to the post office an asked where should he put the new mailbox. He had selected a spot where the mail carrier could completely pull off the street and park next to their mailbox and not hold up any traffic.
This new site worked great for two weeks. The mail carrier was delivering mail to the new mailbox and all was well.
They got a notice to move the mailbox. So, he went to the post office and asked what the issue was? The man there told him he had to rotate the mailbox 90°. If he did that the mail carrier would have to park in the street side drainage ditch. He took more pictures and showed the post office man. He stated that the mailbox had to be moved to the opposite side of the driveway. He explained that this new position the mail carrier's vehicle will be in the street and blocking traffic. He said this did not matter. My stepson explained that now at the new location that he will have to park in his driveway and then get out of his vehicle so that he can walk over to this new mailbox location and get his mail. In the old location he could park next to his mailbox reach in and get his mail. The post office man said he did not care. He moved the mailbox. Not happy about this at all. It seems that their new location they changed mail carriers and the new one did not like the old mailbox post location for some unknown reason.

At my house across town we used to get our mail anytime after 5pm or so.
Recently our mail carrier got changed. They took my street off the old carrier's route and gave her another street. And we got a new carrier. This new carrier delivers out mail around 2 to 2:30pm. I know this as my incoming mail tracking numbers send me an email saying that the package has been delivered to my mailbox.

Jim Rogers

[rusticretreater]

What you got is the mailbox regulations snafu.  The regulations are written for all mail boxes and have no loopholes for situations such as yours.  By reporting the mailbox location, the postal person gets a brownie point on their record in the computer.

I had a situation back when I lived in a townhouse.  Around the mailbox area were tons of rubber bands from the mail delivery.  I also noted the local post office had lots of them in the restricted parking lot too.  I got miffed, so I picked up all of the rubber bands around the postal boxes and sent them to the local postmaster.  The problem stopped and I noticed the post office lot got cleaned up too.

I happened to talk to my postman awhile later and found he was a fella who was on my youth football team.  Of course he said "It wasn't me."  Later, on my baseball team I had a fella who worked for USPS and I told him the story.  He said "That was you?  We had a big meeting and got told about waste and appearance to the public."

I'm sure it was local as the folks didn't want the news to go higher up.  But who knows. I did move the needle though!

[SwampDonkey]

I ran into the moving mailbox thing. Every time a federal election came around the box needed moved. It moved to 3 places. You can see up the road 1/2 a mile and down the road a mile from any of the locations. They put it at the intersection, which really is not such. It's an old farm road with a stop sign on it to my uncle's and not even plowed past 500 yards in winter so there is zero traffic except the comings and goings of family. It was nothing but a pain in the but to me because the plow would come down there and shove all the snow into the mail box and my lower driveway until we got someone who knew how to plow. I use a community mailbox now, let them deal with it. 

[Ron Wenrich]

It seems that we have to train the carrier every time there is a new one.  We live next to a business that puts boxes on trucks.  Our mailbox is out along the highway.  The business doesn't have a box along the highway, but does have an address there.  Their mail is delivered to another entrance.

Seems like we had a substitute driver on a few days the past couple of weeks.  Our mailbox has the number on it and it has the number inside the mailbox door. 

The first week we had to retrieve some mail down at the business's other entrance.  The second week we had to take the business's mail back to the post office, since they put it in our box.  I suspect the postal service doesn't have an entrance exam for substitute carriers.

[rusticretreater]

I suspect the postal service doesn't have an entrance exam for substitute carriers.

What? They missed the opportunity to heap even more regulations and costs into the USPS budget?

[Menagerie-Manor]

We've gotten to the point here on the Oregon Coast where if it doesn't fit in the mailbox it doesn't deliver and they leave a salmon colored sorry we missed you ticket in the mailbox. 

[WV Sawmiller]

It seems that we have to train the carrier every time there is a new one.  We live next to a business that puts boxes on trucks.  Our mailbox is out along the highway.  The business doesn't have a box along the highway, but does have an address there.  Their mail is delivered to another entrance.

Seems like we had a substitute driver on a few days the past couple of weeks.  Our mailbox has the number on it and it has the number inside the mailbox door. 

The first week we had to retrieve some mail down at the business's other entrance.  The second week we had to take the business's mail back to the post office, since they put it in our box.  I suspect the postal service doesn't have an entrance exam for substitute carriers.

Ron,

   Try writing "Misdelivered to wrong address" on the outside of the misrouted mail you get and put it back in the box.

    Then when the recipient finally gets it they see why it is several days late and can see the correct address was there all along. That method really rattles the postal carrier as their boss sees it and gets the complaints. I have had several in the past tell me not write on it and just put it back in the box but I find writing on it stops recurrences. My current mail lady is real good and no problems in a long time.

[rusticretreater]

Then there was the time I found the package with my new lens for my camera sitting on top of the mailbox.  Only $150. Nothing to really worry about. 

[Ron Wenrich]

My wife took it to the post office.  She was going to give it to the neighbors, but I told her it didn't solve the problem.  You get to talk to actual people there. 

[Ianab]

If it's a one off mistake, just put it back in the box, and it gets fixed. If it's on-going, then write on it. We get all sorts of mail with strange names, old residents? Fake addresses? You get the idea. In that case, write "gone - no address", or "doesn't live here". After a few of those we get the idea and just send them back. But you deliver as addressed, because people move in to a house, with the original resident. New girlfriend / daughter's boyfriend / boarder etc. 

Other thing is to have an actual number on the box. It's not so bad for us that have driven the same route for years, we know the residents by first name.  A new or relief driver won't, and confusion ensues. 

[DbltreeBelgians]

Had my doc renew a script for me and send to my mail order script company. That was on March 6th. Got an email on the 9th that my script had shipped and had a tracking number through USPS. Stated 3-5 days shipping. After 10 days I called Express scripts. They said they shipped it and out of their hands. Checked tracking number and couldn't believe what I was seeing. Started out in Atlanta on the 9th , made it to 2 different USPS facilities in Chicago, made its way to some place back in Georgia where it sat for 4 days then back to Atlanta on the 19th of March where it sat for a few more days. At this point I'm pretty fired up so I call customer service at the USPS. The guy I talk to was great and he couldn't believe where all this package had been and still hadn't made it to Ohio. He said if you could see all the automation a package goes through you'd see how things get lost. So yesterday I check and it made its way to Columbus Ohio and I finally received it today, March 24th. Much to my surprise the plastic bag of an envelope was still intact. 15 days in the system. Hmmm?? I've been out of my meds since the 12th. Glad it wasn't a life or death medication. And ya wonder why a stamp cost so much nowadays.
Oh well, carry on!!

Brent 

[dgdrls]

L Dejoy USPS Post master general stepped down
https://apnews.com/article/postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-resigned-738d373d5f6cc1b24d2cd536359c9727

Not sure the service will improve with his departure. I can say, the
route driver we have actually cares about the service he provides
and is pleasant as the day is long,

D