Neither Rain Nor Snow.....The USPS and the 2020 Election

I know somebody that got a late letter in the mail and by the time he got it, the stamp was a valuable collectors item !!! 😃

The Postmaster General has ALWAYS, since the very beginning, been a political job. We've been using ballot by mail statewide here in WA for a number of years. They pay for the postage, too, so none of this "Its discriminatory because I have to pay 50 cents" stuff. Or you can drop it in a ballot box at places like public libraries. You can also check to see if your ballot has been received. Although frankly I miss the ritual of going to the polling place and casting a ballot, it seems to me that the system works fine. There are very few complaints.

originally posted by: Ksihkehe

originally posted by: PhilbertDezineck

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

And one-day first class mail for short distances in now two days....at least.

With all the people shopping online due to the pandemic, you'd think they would use this golden opportunity to ramp up efficiency, and create new customers, but nope.

This began immediately before the big online push.What use to take a few days to clear a distrabution center now takes a week, who ever is running things has their head up their butts, case in point if I order something from Texas and I live in Kansas they send it clear up to Kansas city I live closer to the Oklahoma border If it comes from the West they send it to St. Lewis rather than Wichita wich is closer.

My guess would be the cost of sorting centers is prohibitively expensive for an agency that doesn't make enough as is.

Amazon is convenient, but it's a burden on carriers.

When I was an Amazon seller they forced me to cover the difference between their shipping cost, which they reimbursed me for, and the cost I paid at the counter. Small to medium boxes had a massive difference, upwards to 40% different in some cases, that I ate the cost of.

Obviously Amazon has done quite well and the discounts aren't a make or break thing for them. They further capitalize on the low cost of shipping by offering Prime. When I pay for Prime I essentially am paying twice for a shipping discount. Once annually to Amazon and then again to cover USPS overhead.

I hear it said that Amazon helps keep the USPS afloat, but the USPS shouldn't be footing the bill through tax payers to give deep discounts to Bezos.

I was under the impression that Amazon was getting a cut rate even before the covid, your telling me the richest man in the world a leftist capitalist stuck it to you a lowly proletariat? How right wing of him.

Man y'all are tripping! USPS never lets me down. My only online shopping center is ebay. Thats it. Maybe possibly gun broker, but its been some time. I always choose USPS and they often beat the delivery date ebay gives me. Had to make some last minute bday purchases in the second week of July. Purchased on Monday, one from Cali one from the Midwest, I think missouri. Both were expected the following monday, bboth were delivered by Friday. It was free shipping for a t shirt and a small gizmo stuffed figure. Gizmo from gremlins.

I like the post office. I dont give beezos any of my cash if I cam help it. Have not made an amazon purchase in probably five years myself.

FedEx always delivers my ol ladies avon stuff though.

My thoughts on the matter are with recent voter turnout levels barely over 50%, even a 97% mail reception rate stands a good chance of increasing the total votes cast. Most times more voters is a good thing. I admit there is something to be said for not enabling uninformed voters, but usually more opinions is better than less.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Well Amazon was looking good there for a bit with the cloud service for the Pentagon. Then Microsoft snubbed them. Though I don't put much stock into the postal service making a simple delivery. Perhaps Amazon can get involved somehow.

Last night I ordered battery packs for my camera at 11:30pm Friday. At 9am this Saturday morning, I got my order. USPS could never compete with this.

The only time I use USPS anymore is for mailing in taxes and renewing my passport.

Kid you not about a year ago I was driving along and came accross a USPS van off the side of the road and I could visibly see the postal guy drinking those tiny airplane bottles of Fireball. He had a subway sandwich with bottles lined up on the dashboard. I was his next delivery, man did he reek. But he was functional.

Then the UPS guy and his IED temper. I usually meet him at the van without him hearing me. however I learn 4 and 11 words I'd like to try out at a truck stop. I tend to buy electronics at the brick and mortars. But if it comes by delivery, it's generally unbreakable items.

Point is, who can we trust with such sensitive parcels?

Do we trust our local law enforcement whom is sworn to protect the U.S. constitution?


Oath keepers?

Who watches over a person again, with precious parcels.?

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I don't buy from Amazon, mostly local or Ebay, I had a package hit OK city they never found it, had one hit locally and after sitting there for 2 weeks called and they miraculously found it and delivered it a week latter. Haven't tripped since the early 80's.

a reply to: Montana

Well.
That is certainly a positive take.
Thanks!!!!

a reply to: worldstarcountry

I don't dislike the post office!
I just think they've dropped the ball lately.

Our regular carrier is stellar.
But having packaged sit for days just doesn't cut it for me.
They need to take it up a notch....voting is a sacred duty, and they need to do right by the citizens who pay their salaries!!!!

a reply to: PhilbertDezineck

Depends on what's open that you're able to by local.

I had a similar situation back on ma 5th 2020. There Were no mask available anywhere. I ordered a mask online, the kicker was the company was based in New Mexico. But the masks were actually made in Hong Kong. Well I use PayPal, PayPal has a 180 day no questions ask refund policy. Well my mask was sent 2 month later to New York city. USPS at JFK airport ( sat there and sat there etc etc ). One week left before the refund was about to expire, I cancelled my order and got back my $165.00 USD. ( mask with 35 filters ) .
2 weeks later my mask arrived. I called them to give them the money owed, and they said keep it and give a review of the mask and Not the fact they used The USPS.

originally posted by: Sookiechacha
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Color me shocked!

Trump ally named next postmaster general
thehill.com...

Top Trump Donor Tapped As New Postmaster General www.huffpost.com...

Other than "sabotage" What else is there to say?

Big donors considering whether to work the phones raising money for President Obama’s reelection campaign might consider the fate of his 2008 bundlers. Many of them, it turns out, won plum jobs in his administration.Obama campaigned on what he called “the most sweeping ethics reform in history” and has frequently criticized the role of money in politics. That hasn’t stopped him from offering government jobs to some of his biggest bundlers, volunteer fundraisers who gather political contributions from other rich donors.More than half of Obama’s 47 biggest fundraisers, those who collected at least $500,000 for his campaign, have been given administration jobs. Nine more have been appointed to presidential boards and committees.

At least 24 Obama bundlers were given posts as foreign ambassadors, including in Finland, Australia, Portugal and Luxembourg. Among them s Don Beyer, a former Virginia lieutenant governor who serves as ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein. From the Washington Post before Bezos bough it.

Trouble At Portland Post Office & What It Means To You www.newsbreakapp.com...

Service now is lousy. we have packages left on the street, not brought to the door

originally posted by: DontTreadOnMe
a reply to: worldstarcountry

I don't dislike the post office!
I just think they've dropped the ball lately.

Our regular carrier is stellar.
But having packaged sit for days just doesn't cut it for me.
They need to take it up a notch....voting is a sacred duty, and they need to do right by the citizens who pay their salaries!!!!

Ha! My lady can't differentiate 65 1/2 ( large steel 65 1/2 on my box ) from the vacant house next door which is 65 painted right on the box. My packages tend to sit on my now deceased neighbors porch. I get the mail out of her box that has a RED TAG that is meant to say HEY POSTAL PERSON! SEND THE MAIL TO THE REDIRECT!. Recently she received her census and voter registration. So it looks as if she will be voting this year.

a reply to: Bigburgh

My carrier brings dog treats she has known my bull terrier since she was a pup, she will bring packages to the porch where others drop them over the fence. My dog is so friendly she would lick you to death beforeshe would bite someone she has never bit anyone.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

I work for the USPS as a carrier. So I'll set some things straight for y'all. We deliver everything we get every single day no matter what. If it doesnt make it to our office we can't deliver it obviously.

As far as ballots we deliver them as they supposed to be delivered, and when we pick them up they dont just go in outgoing they go to our supervisors to make sure they get into outgoing.

The new pmg post master general which is trump's man came in 2 weeks ago and changed literally EVERYTHING. We now have 30 minutes in office to case what we can, and pull everything down. What isn't up waits till the next day. This is called delaying mail, and it comes directly from the tippy top.

To add some fuel to the fire the pmg does a count of all first class left behind nation wide every September. It is supposed to be reported by managment every day. Well mail never got left behind EVER until he changed it 2 weeks ago. So now that we have no choice but to leave it behind it has to be reported. And when mail is left behind they're automatically gonna think ballots, because its first class. That is not possible though because letters go up first and the matority are in our pre sorted dps.

Quick edit all packaged must go out every day aswell. That is one exception.

That's all I have to say.

a reply to: Crumbles

I don't doubt that is the way it supposed to be.
And I hope that is the way it will be going forward.

So, the package that was at my zip code's post office for 5 days was......where??????
This package was delivered on Monday...finally.

The other mail delays I experienced were more than two weeks ago.

a reply to: Crumbles Ex Mail Handler here. On slow nights we would flap empty sacks, in case a letter was stuck, I never was found one. When I left there it was a month before I could blow my nose and not get dust on the hanky. Since no one has, I'll mention the pension issue. The lame duck GOP Congress of 2006 required the USPS a limited number of years to put 75 years worth of pension in the bank. NO business has ever had to do such. Another big budget issue is COVID reducing volume a lot. Add the new Postmaster who is from a competitor.

I line in WA where mail voting is normal, it works fine. I encourage anyone voting by mail to send it in at least a week early, and use a drop box if you have them to skip any USPS issues.

Lastly, re inefficient: all the competitors cherry pick, the USPS goes to every house in the USA, 6 days a week. Try pricing FedEx for your prescriptions to Pudunk.

I am a USPS mail carrier.
The USPS is the worlds last living dinosaur, they still operate like it is the 1960s.
It will take them another couple decades to get into the 21st century, if they last that long.
The first thing that needs to go is the seniority based pay/work system, The top 25 carriers in any large office in the country don’t pull their weight with the workload.
It’s too reliant on the CCAs that shoulder the brunt of the work, and them being brand new they can barely handle the work.
Time for a change.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Chances are it got dropped at another stop along the way, and when that happens in our office we run it to the correct office. I cant speak for other offices, but they might send it back to distribution, and it makes it's way back.

a reply to: RazorV66

Its inevitable once you turn regular and get your own route you make the route last your 8 hours. I got lucky and turned regular after 6 months in a small office. Large offices you're right they dont pull their weight.