What has happened to the U.S. Postal Service?

[Don Brown]

What on earth has happened to the U.S. Postal Service? Parcels that once took a week at the most to reach Toronto now take at least two to three weeks. I can order stuff (mostly CDs and DVDs) from the UK, Germany, Spain or France and receive them four to five days later. But I order something from California and it often takes a month to get here. Is the USPS service as bad within the U.S. as it is when ordering from outside the country?

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

Well, I think it's better going from here (UK) to there, than coming here from there. I sent a BFT disk off to Hot Ptah on Easter Saturday (Easter buggers up the post everywhere, of course) and he received it on 4 April.

I had ordered a bunch of Black Jazz CDs from an Amazon UK seller in the USA - CA? Is that California or Carolina? Notified of dispatch on 1 April; still not received.

Royal Mail put prices up big time, not long ago, like USPS.

MG

[John Tapscott]

Yes, Don, I've noticed the same thing, but I could the problem be on the Canadian side? Now that doesn't explain why the shipments are still on time from other nations, but I wonder if the sheer volume of packages coming into Canada from the U.S. causes backlogs within Canada Post?

BTW I've noticed that the U.S. postal rates have increased astronomically. I received a single CD in a small package from the U.S. the other day with a postage stamp of $7.35 on it. Used to be just over $2.

Edited April 10, 2013 by John Tapscott

[Noj]

There have been talks that the USPS may go under. They already plan to scrap Saturday to cut costs.

[Blue Train]

The problem with the postal service is that for some stupid reason Congress passed a bill in 2006 that gives postal workers something that no other Govt union/employee has....fully prefounded benefits for the next 75-years. They're even diverting $5 billion a year to prefund benefits for people who they haven't even hired yet. No matter how often they raise prices....they're constantly in the red as a result.

They're cutting hundreds of post offices and thousands of employees, which has effected how quickly things are delivered. You can't even get next day delivery anymore using first class postage. Before the most recent cuts....40% of first class mail was delivered the next day.

Noj:

They're backing off cutting Saturday because they need Congress to approve that....and they won't let them.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Blue Train

[Scott Dolan]

I realize with the likes of DHL/FedEx/UPS that competition is pretty stiff for the USPS, but it still astounds me to this day that they're not doing any better considering how much people stay home and order things on the internet instead of buying them at brick and mortar locations.

I realize the operation is a money sink, but my goodness...

[JETman]

I realize with the likes of DHL/FedEx/UPS that competition is pretty stiff for the USPS, but it still astounds me to this day that they're not doing any better considering how much people stay home and order things on the internet instead of buying them at brick and mortar locations.

I realize the operation is a money sink, but my goodness...

I'm guessing that such a gain is more than offset by email and the ability to pay bills via phone/internet.

Truth be told, the level of service provided by the USPS has been in steady decline for a few years. About 4 years ago, a package I ordered from Dusty Groove was routed to me in NY via California! I've had a few similar experiences since.

Wonder what would happen if, as a previous poster suggested, the USPS does go under.

[jlhoots]

In 2 words - it stinks.

[Blue Train]

As a result of the postal clause in the Constitution....one way or another Congress will have to provide a postal service.

[sidewinder]

Royal Mail put prices up big time, not long ago, like USPS.

And I hear that the price of first class domestic mail is earmarked for £1 soon. Absolute daylight robbery..

About the only thing of late where the mail has worked brilliantly from the US for me was that Miles Davis trumpet case box from PopMarket and that arrived within 4 days from somewhere in the deep South via Philly !

[Blue Train]

They just raised the prices on April 2nd.

Here are the new prices. http://www.royalmail.com/prices-2013

[JSngry]

I continue to receive excellent service here in Plano, Tx, both at-home and in-shop. Maybe we're just lucky here, but no complaints from me, specifically.

[GA Russell]

I'd be happy to complain, but my service is just fine.

[Blue Train]

Just like to point out that those complaining about the service live outside the country.

Edited April 10, 2013 by Blue Train

[erwbol]

CDs in a bubble mailer can be there pretty fast (4 to 7 days). At other times it can take up to 14 days. The same goes for the UK.

If I have a complaint about USPS it's the ridiculous new prices.

Edit: Mail from Asia (Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan) is typically faster to arrive.

Edited April 10, 2013 by erwbol

[Jim Alfredson]

It's called "Starving the beast". It's a method of allowing private entities to take over what should be public institutions. Blue Train hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately to go deeper into it would take us into politics and I'd have to move the thread but I urge everyone to do their own research.

[Scott Dolan]

Jim, I agree that Blue Train has this one dead to rights.

The only thing I'd add is that the USPS is a governmental service. So it's already political by design.

[PHILLYQ]

The problem with the postal service is that for some stupid reason Congress passed a bill in 2006 that gives postal workers something that no other Govt union/employee has....fully prefounded benefits for the next 75-years. They're even diverting $5 billion a year to prefund benefits for people who they haven't even hired yet. No matter how often they raise prices....they're constantly in the red as a result.

They're cutting hundreds of post offices and thousands of employees, which has effected how quickly things are delivered. You can't even get next day delivery anymore using first class postage. Before the most recent cuts....40% of first class mail was delivered the next day.

Noj:

They're backing off cutting Saturday because they need Congress to approve that....and they won't let them.

That's blown a giant hole in their budget, and there are a couple other things that are problematic financially. Everytime the price of gas goes up, the USPS takes a huge hit. They have over 400,000 vehicles! The other is that they are severely limited as to how much they can raise postage rates.

[Chuck Nessa]

but they still do a great job.

the new out of country rates have killed my ooc sales.

[Blue Train]

The problem with the postal service is that for some stupid reason Congress passed a bill in 2006 that gives postal workers something that no other Govt union/employee has....fully prefounded benefits for the next 75-years. They're even diverting $5 billion a year to prefund benefits for people who they haven't even hired yet. No matter how often they raise prices....they're constantly in the red as a result.

They're cutting hundreds of post offices and thousands of employees, which has effected how quickly things are delivered. You can't even get next day delivery anymore using first class postage. Before the most recent cuts....40% of first class mail was delivered the next day.

Noj:

They're backing off cutting Saturday because they need Congress to approve that....and they won't let them.

That's blown a giant hole in their budget, and there are a couple other things that are problematic financially. Everytime the price of gas goes up, the USPS takes a huge hit. They have over 400,000 vehicles! The other is that they are severely limited as to how much they can raise postage rates.Sorry, the gas thing isn't even an issue, really.

When you're not only prefudning people working, but but each year those you haven't even hired for 75-years....

Not a single private company....no matter how big could survive anything like that.

Can anyone even imagine how many would join the military if they could get what those not even born can get if they became a postal worker, and they wouldn't have to deal with the VA thing?

Edited April 11, 2013 by Blue Train

[jlhoots]

Just like to point out that those complaining about the service live outside the country.

I don't live out of the country - New Mexico is still a state last time I checked.

Our service is terrible. Mail delivered at night, mail in wrong box, etc., etc.

Maybe it's a local problem.

[JETman]

Just like to point out that those complaining about the service live outside the country.

I don't live out of the country - New Mexico is still a state last time I checked.

Our service is terrible. Mail delivered at night, mail in wrong box, etc., etc.

Maybe it's a local problem.

As in a problem to all localities? Maybe, because I experience the same problems. Fewer employees may be the cause. The internet really affected the USPS. Now, one can even send greeting cards directly to email inboxes for free.

[Scott Dolan]

The "gas thing" is one of the harshest back door inflations that any company fielding a fleet of vehicles could have to deal with. The USPS included. It may not be the primary culprit, but to dismiss it as no real issue is wrong.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

They just raised the prices on April 2nd.

Here are the new prices. http://www.royalmail.com/prices-2013

I just checked and, interestingly, Amazon UK haven't raised their delivery charges for either UK or foreign sellers. Yet.

MG

[alankin]

I don't have a problem with USPS delivery here.