Current postal service performance

I initially read the title as:

“Current postal service performance
Bad”

as opposed to:

“Current postal service performance
Batdad”

I guess the mind sees what it wants to

Contemplating granite posts with lights on top but honestly I like it open, easier to mow, less weed wackin around stuff. Still trying to decide

This is a complete tear out and install. My father's a contractor and we went out on a scouting mission to all the new builds that were recently paved. This company appeared to do the best job outa 8 or so companies. Online reviews confirmed as much and outa 4 quotes this was the only company that stood out with what they said they would perform. They weren't the cheapest but that's not always a way to gauge quality. Town code required X amount of base and this guy was the only one who suggested doing 1.5 times that amount which I felt was good indication he planned on doing a quality job.

With that said, my garage is 90 degrees to the driveway and I have to make a turn to get in. Been doing it for 8 months now with plenty of 90 plus degree days over the course of 2 summers. Zero issues with any asphalt (even a pebble) coming loose. Postman and Amazon both sat in one spot and turned their tires from one full turn of the wheel to the other (3 point turn) in 90 plus temps. A recipe for disaster on asphalt. The driveway seal really helped because the amazon van did zero damage. The seal also camouflage the postman's tracks since it dodnt sink in far and was just superficial.

I ship antiques worldwide (USPS) and have had zero problems or even delays since COVID, with the exception of one package returned from Qatar because a suspension of service between the two countries. I have not had any incoming packages so cannot speak to US customs delays, only outgoing pieces. This page shows the list of countries experiencing service interruptions and requests that you don't ship to those places: https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/international/welcome.htm

Locally, some residents have also been subjected to an experiment by the USPS called "consolidated casing" which is explained here: https://katu.com/news/local/north-portland-residents-say-mail-problems-related-to-usps-experiment

The relevant part of that article is:
"In the past, letter carriers said they would sort the mail for their route, then deliver. Consolidated casing, according to USPS spokesperson Ernie Swanson, shuffles those duties. Now, some carriers will sort all the mail for the office and do some street delivery. Other letter carriers will only be assigned to street delivery.

Swanson said consolidated casing should reduce the number of employees sorting mail, allowing them to repurpose floor space and potentially reduce real estate costs. He said they also anticipate "operational efficiencies and reduced costs."
Fortunately this seems to be a test only in certain zip codes but I would not be surprised if it makes it's way nationally if it saves them a few pennies."

They had one job... deliver the mail.

To be fair, that is 2 business days, right?

About a month ago a watch I shipped was stuck in their system for a month. No update on online tracking at all. Finally called to make an insurance claim and the package magically got delivered the next day. All ended well, but the experience was enough to convince me to use FedEx going forward. Worth the few extra bucks.

On the junk mail thing, here in the U.K. we have services that are supposed to stop you getting junk mail or cold calls. They aren't perfect, but they do cut it down. But one thing they don't stop is what Royal Mail calls "unaddressed items". You can theoretically opt out of this, but the issue is that very occasionally, stuff like local government information that you actually need is delivered this way. And so if you do that, you might miss out on something. So I just take any junk mail that Royal Mail delivers, and dump it back in a postbox, where I hope they enjoy processing it again. I feel like if everyone did this, it would stop very shortly. I'd rather pay more for postage and not deal with the clutter (not to mention the environmental impact of the clutter).

The story about the insurance claim magically precipitating the delivery of the package is interesting, and reminds me of another story. Years ago, my mother was seriously ill, and nearly died. Thankfully, she went on to make a very full recovery, and is still with us today. During that time, my father wrote me a letter, and called me to tell me he had written a letter. This was a big deal, because he isn't the letter writing type, and he'd already started to suffer from a tremor that made writing a letter an ordeal for him. Because it was a big deal, he sent it by Special Delivery, which is a tracked and signed for service. This showed that the letter had made it to the local sorting office, where it vanished. My Dad was upset, I was upset, and the guy I spoke to at the local sorting office was also upset, and called me back several times to say they'd continued to look for it over the next weeks without success. A considerable time later (I think 3-4 years later), that letter turned up, absolutely intact. I reckon what had happened was that it had fallen into a crack somewhere and had only been found again when, I don't know - maybe a vehicle was sold or repaired, maybe a desk was moved - who can say. It was a wonderful surprise, and I now have that letter for ever, perhaps even more precious because of the bizarre story that accompanied my Dad's initial sentiment and that the letter survived against the odds to reemerge.

Just received notice that a bag I sent to Switzerland for repair was completed and on it's way back via UPS Express (honestly the return shipping is probably half the cost of the repair, but that's for another time). Origin scan as 4:45pm Swiss local time, current estimate for delivery: Friday by 9pm outside of Baltimore. We'll see if that holds true.

The USPS is a mess because they're congressionally mandated to pre-pay their pension costs for some God forsaken reason. Without that obligation (and instead pay pension costs at the same rate as the rest of the federal government), they'd be breaking even or even making a profit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IoL8g0W9gAQ