[ChrisPlatt]

The most recent direction from USPS management:

https://link.usps.com/2020/04/21/face-coverings/

If your carrier fails to comply when asked contact your local postmaster.

Chris

[dborked]

.
I regularly receive packages that require my signature. My mailman (a vet with PTSD) is a chatty guy (I'm a vet too) who likes to get close when he talks. He does not wear a mask. I wish the Post Office would require their carriers to wear masks when talking with customers. I'm seriously considering putting on my N95 mask the next time I see him approaching my front door.

Given everything going on with their funding I wonder if they just don't have the funds to supply enough masks to all their employees which is a shame. At least where I am in PA all the carriers I've seen have been wearing masks, though I've seen some delivery drivers who don't.

[steamloco76]

I bought a lens from a forum marketplace seller in Alaska on June 3rd. He took the item to the US Post Office June 4th and mailed it Priority Mail 3 Day. Tracking shows it never left the originating PO until June 9th. Now it has just arrived in Anchorage! Still 4000 miles from delivery to me in Pennsylvania! USPS said the package is “ Delayed due to COVID19”
What? Just an excuse to hold mail until they get a full truck going to a regional distribution center. It’s a damn good thing the package doesn’t contain parts for a lifesaving device! 😡

[Racer X 69]

“Delayed due to COVID19”

It appears that everyone is using this as an excuse to drag their feet or delay responding to customers.

Some of it is ridiculous, as the sickness doesn’t affect anything but the health of a relatively small portion of the population.

[gaweidert]

I bought a lens from a forum marketplace seller in Alaska on June 3rd. He took the item to the US Post Office June 4th and mailed it Priority Mail 3 Day. Tracking shows it never left the originating PO until June 9th. Now it has just arrived in Anchorage! Still 4000 miles from delivery to me in Pennsylvania! USPS said the package is “ Delayed due to COVID19”
What? Just an excuse to hold mail until they get a full truck going to a regional distribution center. It’s a damn good thing the package doesn’t contain parts for a lifesaving device! 😡

If a person in a postage handling facility. or you local post office comes down with Covid-19. The facility shuts down until everybody is tested and quarantine periods are observed. This is the recommended way to deal with the situation. In small towns the problem is worse because they may only have one of two employees and there are no other facilities nearby to route the mail through. It is not ploy to wait for a full truck.

[ChrisPlatt]

At USPS Brooklyn P&DC where I work we had numerous COVID-19 cases however we never closed.
Some USPS facilities did shut down. We are still handling packages normally sorted at several other facilities.

I too have experienced delays receiving purchases shipped long distances, especially from the West Coast.

Chris

[gofour3]

Also post offices/couriers around the world are dealing with Xmas levels of packages, due to "stay at home" shopping.

Phil.

[c.a.m]

Also post offices/couriers around the world are dealing with Xmas levels of packages, due to "stay at home" shopping.

I had a casual chat with a Canada Post delivery guy as he dropped off a package to my neighbour last Sunday. I commented on the full stack of Amazon boxes in his vehicle, and quipped that the van should have the Amazon smiley on the side panel. "Don't laugh," he said, "it's just like Christmas these days and we're workin' overtime to clear the volume." He also mentioned that they're handling some overflow from UPS and FedEx.

I thanked him for working hard on a Sunday and for helping folks to get what they need through the pandemic.

- Craig

[steamloco76]

If a person in a postage handling facility. or you local post office comes down with Covid-19. The facility shuts down until everybody is tested and quarantine periods are observed. This is the recommended way to deal with the situation. In small towns the problem is worse because they may only have one of two employees and there are no other facilities nearby to route the mail through. It is not ploy to wait for a full truck.

The Post Office was not and is not, shut down. USPS blanket answer to ALL shipping complaints is now COVID19. No really good excuse for a Priority package to sit for four days in the originating post office other than it was misplaced, then found.

[ChrisPlatt]

As I mentioned several USPS facilities in our area were shut due to lack of personnel required to operate the machinery that sorts mail and packages.
These employees have been out because they became ill or must care for family members, so it is a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mail and parcels normally sorted in those other nearby facilities have been redirected to our facility.
There are more than 250 sectional center facilities nationwide. No doubt the same situation has occurred elsewhere.

The greatly increased volume my facility is experiencing has slowed handling and increased processing time.
Realize too that every redirection of the mail and increased travel time entails another delay.

Chris
USPS employee

[timb64]

But I want my toys and I want them NOW!!!

[SSGGeezer]

I bought a lens from a forum marketplace seller in Alaska on June 3rd. He took the item to the US Post Office June 4th and mailed it Priority Mail 3 Day. Tracking shows it never left the originating PO until June 9th. Now it has just arrived in Anchorage! Still 4000 miles from delivery to me in Pennsylvania! USPS said the package is “ Delayed due to COVID19”
What? Just an excuse to hold mail until they get a full truck going to a regional distribution center. It’s a damn good thing the package doesn’t contain parts for a lifesaving device! 😡

Everything over 5 or 600 miles is going by air and there are a lot of commercial aircraft sitting on the ground and not flying passengers and mail around. So this is a legit excuse as the goods are in Anchorage which means it has to get to the lower 48 either via ship or Aircraft. There isn't a road directly there. (Or at least there wasn't one.)

[Racer X 69]

Everything over 5 or 600 miles is going by air and there are a lot of commercial aircraft sitting on the ground and not flying passengers and mail around. So this is a legit excuse as the goods are in Anchorage which means it has to get to the lower 48 either via ship or Aircraft. There isn't a road directly there. (Or at least there wasn't one.)

There is a road. It used to be mostly gravel, and mud.

A long, and rugged road, around 2,466 miles from Seattle to Anchorage. They did finally pave it all the way, but it is still relatively primitive, and services are few and far between.

Carry two full sets of spare tires, extra fuel, food, water and warm clothing.

And your pillow.

[monochrome]

I ship and receive dozens of USPS Priority Mail packages a year. USPS makes their entire system available to me online so I needn’t drive, park, wait and do the counter deal. It takes one or two minutes to prepare a label, schedule a pickup and pay for it. USPS picks up at my door for free. USPS offers a sophisticated tracking app that updates the steps I want to know about real-time on my phone. All for around $10 - $12 a package.

I honestly have never had a delay in regular weather of more than a day, and the shutdown hasn’t changed USPS performance in any way that I’ve noticed. Frankly - I think that’s remarkable.

[SSGGeezer]

I honestly have never had a delay in regular weather of more than a day, and the shutdown hasn’t changed USPS performance in any way that I’ve noticed. Frankly - I think that’s remarkable.

I ship anywhere from 10 to 70 packages using USPS every day and they are never the issue with an order. Om the rare occasion there is an issue, it is almost always a sizing issue, not delivery.

There is a road. It used to be mostly gravel, and mud.

And the USPS is not sending Semi trucks through Canada, up and down the ALCAN Highway.