USPS seems to be having some problems.

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I've recently had two packages, that were coming by USPS, disappear. According to tracking, they are late, but still coming, but it shows no movement of the packages for more than a week and doesn't show a current location.
My understanding is there is a newly appointed head of USPS and he's making some changes that are causing the poor service. Or, it could be sunspots.
If given a choice, I'd have your packages sent by UPS or priority mail.
Both packages were rocket building supplies. Kind of hard to build rockets without the needed parts.
 
From the Deep South it seems anything headed west no problems. Heading east or north... problems, delays etc.
 
I have a pack of motors that went missing at USPS on 8/1 on there way from AZ to IL.
 
Yup, ditto here. Two Mach 1 kits, "arriving late" now.
 
What is happening is packages (other than regular mail) is being held at some regional sorting facilities for weeks at a time. Thrilling service...
 
USPO has a change in policy where there is now no overtime allowed - parcels are literally piling up in corners. Ups will deliver but tracking dates are meaningless. Fedex will pick up your package and just throw it out, you'll never get it.

Yet, there is Amazon, at my door 15 seconds after I hit "Enter" on the order screen.
 
I have my hurricane kits not show any update since they were "late" August 1st. They did get moving from PA, but disappeared somewhere in the Midwest. I've already filed a "where the (#*@() is my stuff" with the post office. UPS is no better, another order of motors from them is now "late" with no ETA. At least it made it across the country and is sitting 300 miles away.
 
Yeah, it's bad right now. Total package roulette...some breeze through, some go into the void for long times, just a mess. It doesn't appear to matter if it is standard first class packages or Priority mail either.

As a shipper I can't really do anything about it but ask people to be patient because the shipping charges for my typical order through UPS or FedEx would be a ridiculous percentage of the order value. USPS is the only economically viable shipping option for small, generally low cost items.

Just a shame too, because of my last 500 orders shipped, USPS has only lost a single one. That is pretty good given what they charge in my opinion. Some have gone slowly or taken some weird routes, but 99.8% got there, probably over 99% within 10 days.

This is definitely not on the list of things small businesses need right now.
 
Even the postal workers(!) have opined that Vote By Mail being proposed for upcoming election in November will be a “disaster” (their words, not mine).

”In Transit, Arriving Late” is the new USPS buzz phrase for tracking status.

I had a medical Rx that was marked ”Delivered”. Had to spend an hour or two on the phone with my health care provider to get the Rx re-sent and an emergency 7 day supply issued at their pharmacy.

The replacement Rx arrived 10(!) days later.

The message in this is to order your refills as far in advance as your provider allows. That’s what saved my bacon.
 
Belleville Hobbies on their web page:
By Federal Law, if your parcel contains Engines/Igniters, PLEASE ALLOW AT LEAST 21 BUSINESS DAYS (OR MORE) for your package to arrive due to the USPS Hazardous Materials Safety Laws and Regulations.

PLEASE DISREGARD USPS Estimated Delivery Date for Model Rocketry —–MOTORS/ENGINES/IGNITERS.
Since packages of Engines and Igniters are HAZARDOUS, they never physically enter a facility and are manually handled. Mandatory scans are made at the Belleville, IL post office and the destination post office. If you have questions about your order’s whereabouts during shipment, please contact your local postmaster or visit www.USPS.com and have your tracking code ready

And I will say again don't knock the USPS..knock Congress for not allowing them to not deliver mail on Saturdays...Knock them for the recent law stating pensions must be funded upfront.....Knock Congress for micromanaged USPS, they been loosing money for almost 10 years., Yes UPS and FEDEX are better BUT way more expensive and NO obligation to delivery mail anywhere in USA. And knock the new Postmaster General...a political appointee who wants to kill overtime and instruct employees only to delivered mail within their 8 hr workday.
 
I've recently had two packages, that were coming by USPS, disappear. According to tracking, they are late, but still coming, but it shows no movement of the packages for more than a week and doesn't show a current location.

Same here.
I had an eBay purchase go "dark" on me for full two (2) weeks. It did show up, eventually.
Shipping history excerpt reads as follows:
Thursday, May 14, 2020 1:07 AMNEWARK NJ DISTRIBUTION CENTERArrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 12:00 AMN/AIn Transit to Next Facility
Friday, May 1, 2020 12:40 AMPHOENIX AZ DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEXArrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility


My understanding is there is a newly appointed head of USPS and he's making some changes that are causing the poor service. Or, it could be sunspots.

Indeed.
When your federal government showcases nepotism, self-dealing, and proud ineptness, you get what you get.
USPS is joining the "party": https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/
 
Making some changes intended to destroy the reliability of USPS. They didn't 'join' the party, a totally non-qualified appointee was forced on them for the purpose of slowing the mail to crawl to support the claim that voting by mail wouldn't work.
 
USPO has a change in policy where there is now no overtime allowed - parcels are literally piling up in corners. Ups will deliver but tracking dates are meaningless. Fedex will pick up your package and just throw it out, you'll never get it.

Yet, there is Amazon, at my door 15 seconds after I hit "Enter" on the order screen.
The UPS order that is delayed above (2 days) is the one coming from you :( At least it's in the same state tho!
 
Same here.
I had an eBay purchase go "dark" on me for full two (2) weeks. It did show up, eventually.
Shipping history excerpt reads as follows:
Thursday, May 14, 2020 1:07 AMNEWARK NJ DISTRIBUTION CENTERArrived at USPS Regional Destination Facility
Tuesday, May 5, 2020 12:00 AMN/AIn Transit to Next Facility
Friday, May 1, 2020 12:40 AMPHOENIX AZ DISTRIBUTION CENTER ANNEXArrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility




Indeed.
When your federal government showcases nepotism, self-dealing, and proud ineptness, you get what you get.
USPS is joining the "party": https://fortune.com/2020/07/24/usps-mail-delivery-postmaster-general-louis-dejoy-us-postal-service/

Was supposed to arrive August 1st... Priority.

August 1, 2020
In Transit, Arriving Late
Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.
July 30, 2020, 2:16 am
Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
WARRENDALE PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER
July 29, 2020, 2:15 pm
USPS picked up item
GREENSBURG, PA 15601
 
My UPS guy said he was now a professional kitty litter delivery man, as he pointed to all the Chewy boxes!

Where are all the kitties gonna poo if it gets worse?
 
I had ordered a new water bow for my catsl via Amazon seller (non-prime) Posted via USPS. The order was shipped last week, I watched progress to where it was transferred in Hillsboro and the arrival date updated. Today I get this notice:
8:03 PM
Returning to seller
Portland, US
8:03 PM
Minor damage reported - delivery will be attempted
Portland, US
5:45 PM.
I never even saw it. So apparently the attempted delivery was not to me.
 
I know that the new head of USPS is a political appointee, but rather than assume guy's mission is to torpedo vote-by-mail, I wonder if he's playing chicken with Congress' own requirements that are forced upon the USPS. For example, Congress always bitches about the postal service spending too much money, not living within their budget, and underfunding pensions. So, he's doing what they asked, cutting budget, and services, so that he can fund pensions and live within the annual funding granted by the annual federal budget. And then, when Congress is up-in-arms he simply says that he's only doing what they asked him to do. If they want more services, give him more funding. Truly, much of the chaos in the USPS is caused by Congress and the administrators, of either party, are left to clean up the mess.
 
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My UPS guy said he was now a professional kitty litter delivery man, as he pointed to all the Chewy boxes!

Where are all the kitties gonna poo if it gets worse?

My cat has been going outdoors since we got it. No litter boxes and no accidents.
 
I have several packages stagnating in several places right now as well.
My eRockets purchase with the stuff for a Gemini Titan scratch build and a few packs of motors has been sitting in Pittsburgh for almost a week. My Stickershock decals for it came a couple of days ago.🤔
 
Even the postal workers(!) have opined that Vote By Mail being proposed for upcoming election in November will be a “disaster” (their words, not mine).

”In Transit, Arriving Late” is the new USPS buzz phrase for tracking status.

I had a medical Rx that was marked ”Delivered”. Had to spend an hour or two on the phone with my health care provider to get the Rx re-sent and an emergency 7 day supply issued at their pharmacy.

The replacement Rx arrived 10(!) days later.

The message in this is to order your refills as far in advance as your provider allows. That’s what saved my bacon.

Since the changes in USPS by the current administration : ( Why? Mail-in ballots of course. The post office used to actually work until recently. The money saving reason doesn't cut it at 30 tril and counting.

Cheers / Robert
 
Politics has harmed the USPS. The current president appointee as Postmaster General has no experience as far as the Post Office goes. (he's a political fund raiser.) And the fact that he & his wife have somewhere around $50M to $75M invested in competitors to the USPS makes me suspicious. What ever happened to conflict of interests. :(
 
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July 10, 2020
In Transit, Arriving Late
Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility.
July 6, 2020, 11:34 pm
Departed USPS Regional Facility
SPRINGFIELD MO DISTRIBUTION CENTER

After that the trail goes dead. LOKI has resent the delay grains and bulk head for me at no charge!
 
We run a report at least once a week that checks the tracking on orders we have shipped recently.

Screenshot_20200808-075307~2.png

Over the past few months, a few Parcel Select packages took much longer to arrive than typical. Occasionally, a Parcel Select package will go walkabout and take a long time between scans or head out the wrong direction for a while. That has always been the case and doesn't seem to happen any more frequently now than in the past.

But, on average, Parcel Select packages are taking just a few days longer to be delivered. I haven't seen much difference with First Class or Priority Mail.

One very noticeable difference with USPS lately is that packages are not being scanned for tracking as often. Specifically, pickup scans and arrival/departure scans are sometimes skipped. We haven't seen an issue with delivery scans (fortunately).

Our local post office says that labor shortages and restrictions due to COVID-19 are responsible for them not scanning everything.
 
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I had 2 packages 1 from Hawaii and 1 from California. The
California package was supposed to arrive 3 August and Is out for delivery today the 8th. The Hawaiian package was mailed out 3 August and arrived 6 August.

According to tracking number the California package was accepted 27 July and stayed at Los Angeles from 2 August to 6 August

Go figure ?

Bobby
 
I've had the same problem with USPS taking forever here the past few weeks. I ordered a few thousand 9mm bullets to load for a customer and it has been three weeks and I still have not got them. According to tracking they have been sitting at a distribution center in Illinois for the last three weeks. Normally, I receive orders from this distributor in 2-3 business days.
 
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I have experienced the same as everyone else...it only hurts because there are so few hobby stores out in the sticks where I live and delivery is the only way to get good stuff...
 
I have experienced the same as everyone else...it only hurts because there are so few hobby stores out in the sticks where I live and delivery is the only way to get good stuff...
As of right now, I have a UPS shipment that was scheduled for delivery on Thursday that is now back to waiting to be received by UPS, I have an Amazon delivery also scheduled for last Thursday that all of a sudden went to will be delivered, but later than we thought, which now says "Now expected today", but no 'out for delivery' notice. As for the USPS, I have had two packages that said 'rescheduled for tomorrow', but were not, as they were delivered that same day.
 
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