Things not going well for USPS

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

8 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

for the first time in forever I had to mail a letter. borrowed an envelope and stamp from the neighbor (also flirted) and headed to the post office. the post box outside was so full, my envelope would have been hanging out. so i went inside. the inside slot was beyond full, yet i managed to shove my envelope a little further in. 

Had to mail some stuff a couple weeks ago. Put it in the mailbox with the flag up. The mail carrier put the flag down and crammed a bunch of junk mail on top of it.

[WhatTheBuck 28713]

I stopped by the post office to mail something twice in the past couple months. Two different post offices. There was no line either time. In and out, bing bang boom. It was awesome. 

[Biff Tannen 45499]

I had to go the other day to try and find a package that Amazon said had been delivered, but was nowhere to be found.  Went to the post office I always go to, which is .9 miles away.  Found out my post office is actually 2.1 miles further in the same direction.  Not sure why that makes any fucking sense.

I'd still like to be able to vote by mail in November if needed, so fund that thing!

 

Edit: and that John Oliver piece was quite educational.  Who knew you could have a savings acct at the post office?

Edited May 13, 2020 by Biff Tannen

[Celery Man 20886]

 

Edited August 8, 2020 by Celery Man

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

On 5/13/2020 at 5:10 PM, Biff Tannen said:

I had to go the other day to try and find a package that Amazon said had been delivered, but was nowhere to be found.  Went to the post office I always go to, which is .9 miles away.  Found out my post office is actually 2.1 miles further in the same direction.  Not sure why that makes any fucking sense.

I'd still like to be able to vote by mail in November if needed, so fund that thing!

 

Edit: and that John Oliver piece was quite educational.  Who knew you could have a savings acct at the post office?

Yeah my nearest post office is on Congress at Ben White about half a mile away. The post office that services my address is the one way the hell over on Manchaca south of William Cannon. 

[NWBuck 8548]

This doesn't sound like tampering or anything...

 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

I don’t get all the usps hate from people. Sure, I dread when I have to stand in line there but that is a function that they’re understaffed. I find it amazing that I can physically send something to any place in the US within days for 55 cents.

Could we get rid of the usps and survive? Probably. Letters, post cards, Invites, birthday card are more of a social nicety than a necessity. Emails or electronic documents are easier to retain. The private options would most like raise rates as they find that a govt competitor disappears.

i also wonder if the private companies could use their logistic model to drop off letters to close to 100% of all American homes weekly.

as for practical changes, ideas like fewer home delivery days might make some sense. However that doesn’t guarantee less mail. It might mean more mail for one mailman than on a normal day requiring more people to deliver on remaining days. Reminds me of one-day gas station boycotts, in that it accomplishes nothing. Besides I assume junk mail subsidizes daily mail.

 

[Celery Man 20886]

Privatization would jack up rates and reduce service (and especially jack up rates) to rural areas. The post office is fine. The financial dire straits are largely overblown but even if not, maybe just fund it? It's a public service that is in the fucking constitution that employs a metric fuck ton of people and is critical to the operation of our country. Why does every massive money pit of a job program in this country need to have a requirement that you might shoot somebody in the face.

[Neonmoon 38127]

Nothing like good old fashioned authoritarian measures 

[Queen Bitch 1692]

Gutting the post office to own the libs (and rig an election)

[tantric superman 4667]

8 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I don’t get all the usps hate from people

Agree.  This reminds me of when I get pissed off because the cash machine makes me logs in twice, or I have to go one block down to the next cash machine if it doesn't have cash.

Somebody sends something to me from 3000 miles away and it magically arrives within the month to me. 

Modern life is amazing.

[formermav43 4599]

I’ve had more problems over the years with FedEx and UPS than USPS.

[HornOnTheBayou 8881]

 

[Bookman 4611]

My biggest issue with the USPS is, in my experience, when you go there to mail something the service is exceptionally bad.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

1 hour ago, Bookman said:

My biggest issue with the USPS is, in my experience, when you go there to mail something the service is exceptionally bad.

How so? I’ve noticed they’re not running as fast as possible to complete a task but neither does any operation in the public or private sector. I’ve seen long lines but that itself isn’t a function of poor service but rather too few people working the front desk. I don’t blame the usps workers if they’re understaffed.

I have recently experiencing a strange thing where UPS hands off my amazon package to the USPS, and both amazon and UPS will claim it’s delivered but the USPS delivers it within the next 2 days. I have no idea who is at fault with that. It seems like the USPS but I can’t tell.

[NWBuck 8548]

5 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I have recently experiencing a strange thing where UPS hands off my amazon package to the USPS, and both amazon and UPS will claim it’s delivered but the USPS delivers it within the next 2 days. I have no idea who is at fault with that. It seems like the USPS but I can’t tell.

God... I have this happen all the time and it's ridiculous. Living in Seattle, we have 63 amazon trucks go by our house every day... You couldn't put the box on one of those? 

[TwiceHorn 31288]

On 8/8/2020 at 1:07 AM, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Yeah my nearest post office is on Congress at Ben White about half a mile away. The post office that services my address is the one way the hell over on Manchaca south of William Cannon. 

Do you really expect your post office to be dead center in your zip code/delivery zone?  Some people are going to wind up being closest to one that doesn't serve them unless the foregoing is true.

[TwiceHorn 31288]

5 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

How so? I’ve noticed they’re not running as fast as possible to complete a task but neither does any operation in the public or private sector. I’ve seen long lines but that itself isn’t a function of poor service but rather too few people working the front desk. I don’t blame the usps workers if they’re understaffed.

I have recently experiencing a strange thing where UPS hands off my amazon package to the USPS, and both amazon and UPS will claim it’s delivered but the USPS delivers it within the next 2 days. I have no idea who is at fault with that. It seems like the USPS but I can’t tell.

There are a whole shitpile of services that use USPS for the last mile.  DHL Global Mail, Smartpost, blah blah blah.  They are supposedly catering to online vendors.  I don't know what they offer, maybe a willingness to pick up a metric shit ton of packages at once.  But those services are always slow as shit.

If I am given the option to choose USPS First Class or Priority, I will always take it.  Best bang for the buck, and my PO is very reliable.

[NAVY 6739]

Fuck this administration for sowing distrust in, well, every got damn thing. 
 

Does the USPS need some modernization? Sure. 
 

Is the USPS capable of delivering mail in ballots? Yes. 
 

JFC

[RPM 26230]

If there's anybody that can destroy an American institution like the U.S. Mail, it's Donald Trump.

[atomheartbevo 89452]

3.8 million mail-in ballots were sent out in Florida for the primary next week.  Sent out to a lot of old folks.

3.8 million mail-in ballots in a state where Presidential elections are decided by a few hundred thousand votes over the past 30 years or so.

[Celery Man 20886]

anecdotal but still. I have a fair amount of dread over this issue. He's going to fuck up the election, use the chaos to try and stay in power, and this country will never heal.

 

[Rougarou 594]

I really enjoy the Informed Delivery Digest I get in my email every morning with the scanned images of the mail I should receive. I know if I should trek the quarter mile from the house to the mailbox or not.

[HenryJames 65890]

 

[Biff Tannen 45499]

19 hours ago, RPM said:

If there's anybody that can destroy an American institution like the U.S. Mail, it's Donald Trump.

It is actually quite fitting, since it is one of the oldest American institutions.  He started by just rolling back everything Obama created.  Now he's going all the way back to the founding fathers.

[Biff Tannen 45499]

Did anything come of the Pelosi meeting about USPS?  This shit needs to get fixed NOW.

[Mrs Whiggins 13049]

20 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

She is getting roasted right now on twitter. The postal service is being mention in the comments, too. People are pissed about that and this may be a cling film that the administration may find wraps up more than Trump (by association).

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

21 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Do you really expect your post office to be dead center in your zip code/delivery zone?  Some people are going to wind up being closest to one that doesn't serve them unless the foregoing is true.

Actually I expect that my post office is pretty close to dead center of it's zone, and the one on Congress isn't as it only goes as far south as Ben White and that post office is right on the border.  However, the old post office on Mary that the Ben WHite one replaced probably was pretty close to dead center as well.  I find the logistics part of USPS pretty interesting, so I've probably put more thought into this than it's worth.  

[David Dennison 18661]

1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

Did anything come of the Pelosi meeting about USPS?  This shit needs to get fixed NOW.

Not much they can do when the president and the postmaster general are working in cahoots to FUBAR the mail. 

[Biff Tannen 45499]

Just now, David Dennison said:

Not much they can do when the president and the postmaster general are working in cahoots to FUBAR the mail. 

Right.  So are we just conceding that we can't stop them?  

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

5 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Right.  So are we just conceding that we can't stop them?  

Ah, well, nevertheless.

[David Dennison 18661]

9 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Right.  So are we just conceding that we can't stop them?  

I don't know how we can when the Senate is controlled by Republicans and any court case will drag on past the election. As the nation's chief executive, Donald Trump has proven he's willing to do whatever he thinks is politically advantageous because he knows there is not much Congress can do to stop him. The only downside to him rat fucking the postal service is if it costs him votes.

Edited August 10, 2020 by David Dennison

[Celery Man 20886]

8 minutes ago, NameAlreadyInUse said:

Actually I expect that my post office is pretty close to dead center of it's zone, and the one on Congress isn't as it only goes as far south as Ben White and that post office is right on the border.  However, the old post office on Mary that the Ben WHite one replaced probably was pretty close to dead center as well.  I find the logistics part of USPS pretty interesting, so I've probably put more thought into this than it's worth.  

My station is Mockingbird as well. I do wonder how... old the one behind McDonald's north of Ben White is (you refer to one at Mary and Ben White, and it seems new), and how long it's been since they did whatever reapportionment kind of thing they might do for that chunk of central south austin (78745 and probably a bit of 78759). Wondering if real estate cost factors into the location of the south central one and if the population growth has factored into who well positioned Mockingbird (south of Wm Cannon on Manchaca) is. I do also feel like the area between 35, Manchaca, Ben White, and Slaughter is... weird to potentially overlooked. Growth in south Austin (not referring to south central Austin, although even there) favors the west, congress in that area has been largely industrial and/or undeveloped, and of course the people that have lived in that pocket have been less "suburban" than west of Manchaca.

[Celery Man 20886]

8 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Right.  So are we just conceding that we can't stop them?  

I don't think anything will be done but it needs to be screamed about loudly and well advance and regularly before Trump begins his information warfare on the results.

[Biff Tannen 45499]

So basically we need to start encouraging people to vote early and in person.  Awesome.  Mask up fuckers, it's time to crawl through that glass to vote against dotard.  Or in this case, crawl through a virus.

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

40 minutes ago, Celery Man said:

My station is Mockingbird as well. I do wonder how... old the one behind McDonald's north of Ben White is (you refer to one at Mary and Ben White, and it seems new), and how long it's been since they did whatever reapportionment kind of thing they might do for that chunk of central south austin (78745 and probably a bit of 78759). Wondering if real estate cost factors into the location of the south central one and if the population growth has factored into who well positioned Mockingbird (south of Wm Cannon on Manchaca) is. I do also feel like the area between 35, Manchaca, Ben White, and Slaughter is... weird to potentially overlooked. Growth in south Austin (not referring to south central Austin, although even there) favors the west, congress in that area has been largely industrial and/or undeveloped, and of course the people that have lived in that pocket have been less "suburban" than west of Manchaca.

The old one I was talking about was on Mary up north of Oltorf.  WHen that one closed, people were pointed to the next nearest post office which is the one by the gas station mcdonald's just north of Ben White on Congress.  That one is much newer.  The one on Mary almost always had someone who would try to give you a piece of paper saying they were deaf and they needed money for something.  I liked that one better.

[NameAlreadyInUse 5106]

31 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So basically we need to start encouraging people to vote early and in person.  Awesome.  Mask up fuckers, it's time to crawl through that glass to vote against dotard.  Or in this case, crawl through a virus.

That was my plan all along. Always, every election cycle, you see issues with mail in ballots.  I have never trusted my vote to count by mail for that reason.  I'll be out on day 2 or 3 of early voting with my mask and glove and pocket hand sanitizer.  Can't fucking way.

[David Dennison 18661]

30 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

So basically we need to start encouraging people to vote early and in person.  Awesome.  Mask up fuckers, it's time to crawl through that glass to vote against dotard.  Or in this case, crawl through a virus.

And if you vote by mail, make sure you a) mail your ballot as early as possible and b) know whether your state has a postmark deadline or a received by election day deadline. 

[Celery Man 20886]

I haven't shared the story because I don't know anything about it and don't know the source, but there's also some sort of thing floating out there about the postage rate for mail in ballots being raised. I also don't know the particulars about what that means if it is real, but (and this is another degree of speculation beyond things I've tried to verify) potentially make sure you have the proper amount of postage on your ballot. Like man, that would be so STRANGE and UNFORESEEN if ballots required more than a forever stamp and maybe lots of people mailed ballots in that didn't have the required postage to be delivered. I really hope that that story isn't a real thing or that if it is, it doesn't actually have that ramification.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

2 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Right.  So are we just conceding that we can't stop them?  

Elections have consequences. Still that doesn't mean the US Postmaster General and his team aren't subjected to law enforcement after the fact.  I'm starting to think there will be a large Justice Dept task force formed next year to investigate the Trump Admin.

[Biff Tannen 45499]

24 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I'm starting to think there will be a large Justice Dept task force formed next year to investigate the Trump Admin.

If there isn't then why are we even bothering to vote?

[HenryJames 65890]

 

[SydneyCarton 47885]

5 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

 

Won't matter, shit will sit in the private storage unit McConnell keeps for the bills he doesn't like and the bodies of all the hookers he's killed. 

[Biff Tannen 45499]

4 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

 

Won't matter, shit will sit in the private storage unit McConnell keeps for the bills he doesn't like and the bodies of all the hookers he's killed. 

Yep.  McConnell is holding this country hostage.

[Bevo14 8274]

I'm doing the ballot box (PA) assuming these fuckers don't succeed in messing with it

[Brisketexan 104629]

Y'all know that 1) this is only going to get a LOT worse, and 2) it's going to work, right?

Trump is going to win -- or at least have an argument that the election is "undecided" in states that might go against him.  This is how you kill a Republic.

[Jive Turkey 12568]

@bolverk posted a link to an NPR interview of the president of the Iowa Postal Worker Union in the Donald Trump thread.  pretty fascinating.  and scary.

KING: Are you feeling these changes that are being made in Iowa?

KAROL: Yes, we are beginning to see those changes and how it is impacting the mail. Mail is beginning to pile up in our offices, and we're seeing equipment being removed. So we are beginning to see the impact of those changes.

KING: Curious - I hadn't heard about this one - equipment being removed. What equipment?

KAROL: The sorting equipment that we use to process mail for delivery. In Iowa, we are losing machines. And they already in Waterloo were losing one of those machines. So that also hinders our ability to process mail in the way that we had in the past.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/11/901219097/how-are-postmaster-general-dejoys-changes-affecting-workers

[softlynow 1784]

25 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Y'all know that 1) this is only going to get a LOT worse, and 2) it's going to work, right?

Trump is going to win -- or at least have an argument that the election is "undecided" in states that might go against him.  This is how you kill a Republic.

 

This is you to us now:

 

 

Hopefully this isn't you later:

 

Edited August 12, 2020 by softlynow

[Grade of D as in David 13253]

24 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

@bolverk posted a link to an NPR interview of the president of the Iowa Postal Worker Union in the Donald Trump thread.  pretty fascinating.  and scary.

KING: Are you feeling these changes that are being made in Iowa?

KAROL: Yes, we are beginning to see those changes and how it is impacting the mail. Mail is beginning to pile up in our offices, and we're seeing equipment being removed. So we are beginning to see the impact of those changes.

KING: Curious - I hadn't heard about this one - equipment being removed. What equipment?

KAROL: The sorting equipment that we use to process mail for delivery. In Iowa, we are losing machines. And they already in Waterloo were losing one of those machines. So that also hinders our ability to process mail in the way that we had in the past.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/11/901219097/how-are-postmaster-general-dejoys-changes-affecting-workers

How is this not also fucking up social security checks for the olds?

[wildcat09 29261]

1 minute ago, Grade of D as in David said:

How is this not also fucking up social security checks for the olds?

It likely is.