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Your package went where?


ranma

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For the most part USPS does do a great job and sometimes even beats the expected delivery date (I've had a few that actually did that) But then some time's something goes wrong and the package or letter goes on a scenic tour of other states.

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Not "where my package went" but my experience with the post office this morning. I can't tell you the last time I had to send a package by mail, UPS or FedEx so I'm a little rusty.

Had to send back an item that was damaged so put it in the original box with a clear written address with a Sharpie. Going into the post office I realized I'd forgotten to put my return address on it but there wasn't a pen anywhere that I could find. Go up to the counter and told the guy I forgot to put my return address on there and he said in a disgusted gruff voice that I hadn't taped it closed either. I told him the company told me to put the shipping cost receipt in the box so they could reimburse me. We get done and he tosses the tape dispenser on the counter so I took that gesture meaning I should tape it myself. Luckily there was no one else in line so took care of it right there.

Guy rubbed me the wrong way and I suppose next time I'll go to FedEx since I pass it on my way to the post office. Just hope that's the end of my bad experience and the package makes it without a problem.

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Guy rubbed me the wrong way and I suppose next time I'll go to FedEx since I pass it on my way to the post office. Just hope that's the end of my bad experience and the package makes it without a problem.

Do a cost check on that!   UPS and FedEx are economical for large shippers and larger packages.  A short time ago someone was singing the praises of UPS so I thought I'd try it with two small packages.  One was a kit trade so I put the kit in the same box, packing etc.  It was going to one of the Carolinas from Pennsylvania.  UPS quoted me double the postage that was still showing on the box from USPS shipping it to me!  I took it to the post office, and sent it for the same price as I had received it for!

I asked the clerk at the UPS Store why it was so expensive and he said it was because it was to a residential address outside their normal delivery area.  I handed him the second box, this one going to Niagara Falls, NY and he quotes me another huge number.. same story.. outside their normal delivery area!    That's part of why USPS is bankrupt.  Both FedEx and UPS can pick and choose what and where they deliver.  USPS has a charter to deliver to every address in the USA for the same rates.

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  • 1 year later...

USPS at it again! I bought a nonbuilt '65 Dodge Coronet on Decmeber 6 th USPS has had it in their system since the 11th ! It was mailed from McLean Va, shipped to Greensbouro N.C. Made it to Cincinnati Ohio on the 12th . It sat in Cincinnati till the 15th , and they sent it to Chicago Ill . It sat in Chicago for one day then shipped to  Pittsburg Pa. Today it got back once again to CINCINNATI . wonder where it will go from there?

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Did a trade with Blackbeard for a semi truck kit here about a week and a half ago. His end made it here safe and sound AND on time, my end seemed to get bounced ALL over the eastern U.S. Before he FINALLY got his end of the trade today. Hopefully in one piece. I know it's there busy time, but the address label could not have been more clear, and they STILL screwed it up......:angry:

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On 4/3/2017 at 1:01 PM, Dave Van said:

I live in the most rural county East of the Mississippi. So I order and track LOTS of items. 

My favorite:

Package leaves Chicago, Ill, Columbus Ohio, Charleston WV. I figure my house next as I am close to Charleston.....NO....package goes to Greensboro NC, then Charlotte  NC. Where now??? Greensboro!!! It gets worse as back to Charleston WV........finally to me. If this was the only one.....a bad day for a postal worker.....but I see this ALL THE TIME!! When I complained on a forum I was told by a USPS person it was 'logistics'  working as designed....he knows as that's his job!!!! The Emperor has no clothes!!! 

And they wonder why the USPS is losing money every year?

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5 minutes ago, NYLIBUD said:

The USPS is run by a whole different breed of humans.No offense

What is so strange is I get a First class package from Riverside CA in 36 hours....yet it takes 4 days to get a birthday card to my grand daughter 100 miles away....FIGURE!!!!

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They've always confused me also, I mail something from my home in Dayton, Wa. To mom in Pasco,Wa. It leaves here goes to Pasco, Spokane from there then back. 

Pasco is 60 miles away and the post office it goes to is truly 3 blocks from her home.

I need carrier pigeons sometimes.

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9 hours ago, cowboy rich said:

They've always confused me also, I mail something from my home in Dayton, Wa. To mom in Pasco,Wa. It leaves here goes to Pasco, Spokane from there then back. 

Pasco is 60 miles away and the post office it goes to is truly 3 blocks from her home.

It appears wasteful to the average person, but it's actually quite efficient.  I've been a stamp collector as long as I've been a model builder and have studied USPS delivery, since I am a collector of local postmarks.  

Back in the 1970s the USPS started streamlining towards automated regional sorting centers. They eliminated the sorting and postmarking staff at local post offices since this was all manual work, saving headcounts.  So the local post office just collects the outgoing mail and it goes in big unsorted bags to the sorting center.  In my case, living in the suburbs of Philadelphia in PA, mine goes to either Trenton, NJ or Wilmington, Delaware sorting centers, which is decided by the volumes at either center.  The automation equipment detects volumes and directs additional workload to the center that has capacity to handle it.

In your case it is Spokane, WA.   All the mail from every post office in the region go there for automated sorting by computers. The only mail that sees actual human touch is the items the computerized system rejects.  This is all done overnight, and mail then gets sent out to the local post offices before opening time, to be delivered that same day.   I've tested that here, I put a card in the box at the post office early afternoon, and indeed it was delivered to my home in my 3pm delivery the next day, Wilmington postmark and all.  One pickup round, one delivery round per day. 

In New Jersey there are 650 local post offices. In the old days there would be a couple of sorting clerks at each office.  There would be a canceling machine with local postmark for them to run and maintain.  Now there are four sorting centers!  One in North Jersey (Daniels Center in Kearny), one in Central NJ (Kilmer in Edison), one for Western NJ (Trenton)  and one in Southern, NJ (Southern Station).   And those three centers do the work of a few thousand clerks that are no longer needed.

In your perfectly logical scenario, the mail would be postmark and sorted in Dayton and then sent over to the Pasco post office, only that's all manual work and there would be a small handful of items going between those two offices so that trip wouldn't be anywhere near as  efficient as the current practices.

Now that's a lot more info than you asked for, but since model guys are interested in the world around them I thought it might be of interest!

 

 

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Two of the odder USPS delivery experiences I've had in the last year, since moving to Ohio..

One Priority Mail package left Illinois, came to Cleveland, then spent 4 days shuffling back and forth between the Cleveland and Akron distribution centers, incl. side trips to a couple random towns and to my local post office, before eventually coming to my local post office and delivered to my home.  Nothing wrong w/ the address on the package. 

Another package left a vendor in Atlanta, went cross country to the Rancho Cucamonga CA distribution center, then back across country to Cleveland then to my local.  

Though when compared to Fed Ex and UPS, I find I have very few issues w/ the USPS besides those issues w/ my local post office...occasionally I get mail and packages delivered to a neighbor 2 streets over that has the same house number and a similar street name. 

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Noticed a bright LED light on my front walk this morning around 6 AM and realized it was attached to a human. I waited a couple minutes and opened the front door. I heard the unmistakable sound of a GM 2.5L grinding to life and saw the USPS truck it was attached to in the street. Looked down and there was a package from Barnes & Noble on the porch. 

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37 minutes ago, Rodent said:

Noticed a bright LED light on my front walk this morning around 6 AM and realized it was attached to a human. I waited a couple minutes and opened the front door. I heard the unmistakable sound of a GM 2.5L grinding to life and saw the USPS truck it was attached to in the street. Looked down and there was a package from Barnes & Noble on the porch. 

They've been doing early deliveries the last week or so I've noticed.  I was still in bed at 7:15 (still dark out) and saw my mailman dropping off a package on my Ring video door bell..

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6 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

It appears wasteful to the average person, but it's actually quite efficient.  I've been a stamp collector as long as I've been a model builder and have studied USPS delivery, since I am a collector of local postmarks.  

Now that's a lot more info than you asked for, but since model guys are interested in the world around them I thought it might be of interest!

 

 

Thanks for that Tom it was interesting, it just seems strange sometimes to send something on a 200 mile journey to travel walking distance!

 

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