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From: Roger Merriman <roger@sarlet.com>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.tech
Subject: Re: The US Postal Service
Date: 17 Feb 2025 17:35:03 GMT
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Frank Krygowski <frkrygow@sbcglobal.net> wrote:
> On 2/17/2025 11:13 AM, AMuzi wrote:
>> On 2/17/2025 9:58 AM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>>> On 2/17/2025 9:37 AM, AMuzi wrote:
>>>> On 2/16/2025 9:37 PM, Frank Krygowski wrote:
>>>>> On 2/16/2025 4:58 PM, AMuzi wrote:
>>>>>> On 2/16/2025 3:50 PM, cyclintom wrote:
>>>>>>> On Thu Feb 13 16:34:16 2025 AMuzi  wrote:
>>>>>>>> On 2/13/2025 3:06 PM, Mark J cleary wrote:
>>>>>>>>> I believe at one time the US Postal Service sponsored
>>>>>>>>> cycling. Well they sure have been on my bad list as of late.
>>>>>>>>> Seems things are much slower than they ever were and shoddy.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I order a set of different guitar strings from a place in
>>>>>>>>> Traverse City Michigan. That is about 8 hour drive from
>>>>>>>>> here. Priority mailed out 02/05/25. I got the package today
>>>>>>>>> and yes the weather was bad they said it would be delay. It
>>>>>>>>> sat in at the post office in my town for 5 days. It showed
>>>>>>>>> up with a plastic bag around the mailing envelop and note of
>>>>>>>>> package damage. There was nothing in the package and only
>>>>>>>>> one set of the 4 string sets I ordered in the plastic bag
>>>>>>>>> sealing it all with apology.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> The place is going to send out the remaining strings but I
>>>>>>>>> wonder if they file a claim with the post office. Frankly
>>>>>>>>> probably not worth the effort. To top that off it took 21
>>>>>>>>> days in December for a letter of mine to get to Philadelphia
>>>>>>>>> Pennsylvania.
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Maybe Trump will look into that too they need something
>>>>>>>>> done. Frankly quite allowing junk mail and get the act
>>>>>>>>> together.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Yes that's right:
>>>>>>>> http://www.cyclismas.com/biscuits/us-postal-tour-de- france- 
>>>>>>>> squads-1999-2006/
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> USPS won a lawsuit against Mr Armstrong following his fall
>>>>>>>> from grace:
>>>>>>>> https://natlawreview.com/article/lance-armstrong- pays-5- 
>>>>>>>> million- to- settle-100-million-us-government- law-suit
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Yes prices are up, way up, and no end of that in sight.
>>>>>>>> There are a lot of reasons and a lot of players- plenty
>>>>>>>> enough blame to go around. This is not solely on Mr DeJOy
>>>>>>>> who has deep logistics experience but is stymied by the
>>>>>>>> nature of a not private not public structure.  All that on
>>>>>>>> top of freight being fuel+labor plus a markup. These are not
>>>>>>>> good times for the Post Office.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Yes, the vaunted "2 Day" service is now four to ten days and
>>>>>>>> more than double rates ten years ago.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> But no, in fairness, loss/damage rates remain steady (I ship
>>>>>>>> a LOT of packages) although always higher than FedEx or UPS.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>    A loss/damage claim takes 30 to 90 days, and they do pay
>>>>>>>> when they are at fault, but the process is tedious.
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Oh, and there is little a President can do.  It's on
>>>>>>>> Congress to act, which they have not and will not.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Like Mark, the cost isn't nearly as bad as the piss poor service. 
>>>>>>> I ordered a parts kit to put the hydraulics together on the 9th. 
>>>>>>> The last it was heard from was the 10th. They claim that I will 
>>>>>>> receive it on the 20th but the tracking doesn't show that USPS 
>>>>>>> ever got it. This stuff fits in a 6 x 6 envelope!
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Shipments from Texas or Colorado take 8 days and EVEN from Las 
>>>>>>> Vegas (how the hell did it get there? I ordered from Sparks near 
>>>>>>> Reno.) is so far running at 10 days when I could drive round trip 
>>>>>>> in one day.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> You ask why? Because Regional Sort Centers.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Anything I ship USPS (to you, for example) goes to Oak Creek Center 
>>>>>> near Milwaukee first. Yes that's the wrong direction. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> Agreed. Mail going from my suburban village to another suburb of the 
>>>>> adjacent city gets shipped up to Cleveland, then back down.
>>>>> 
>>>>> It used to be sorted in the main post office at the city center, and 
>>>>> be delivered days faster. But they spent big money to remove all the 
>>>>> sorting machines down there. Why? Got me. Ask Mr. DeJoy.
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> The newer optical scan/sort machines are huge, efficient and 
>>>> extremely fast. They're also expensive so it makes more sense to run 
>>>> those at capacity in a few places than hand sort everywhere. See also 
>>>> FedEx hub:
>>>> 
>>>> https://www.cnet.com/science/at-fedex-sorting- packages-1-5-million- 
>>>> at-a- time/
>>> 
>>> I don't know the technology used in the local sorting machines they 
>>> removed. I'd have thought that if some technological leap were 
>>> responsible for their removal, it would have come out in the press 
>>> releases, etc. But I don't know that.
>>> 
>> 
>> As with myriad other technologies, progress has been regular and 
>> incremental, at increasing frequency of innovation:
>> 
>> https://postalmuseum.si.edu/research-articles/machines-or-bust/mail- 
>> processing-machines
>> 
>> Major change in 2020:
>> https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mail-sorting-machines-are- 
>> crucial-for-the-u-s-postal-service/
>> 
>> In the same way, nearly all FedEx packages go to Memphis before being 
>> sorted and dispatched. On first impression, that seems screwy for a 
>> package from, say, Las Vegas to Oakland. In fact, it ends up being less 
>> expensive and more efficient.
> 
> Understood. However, in my case - mail delivery from one local suburb to 
> another - the result has clearly been less efficient. At least one day 
> has been added on to the previous delivery time.
> 
Considering the size of Youngstown or even if mail went to another mail
center should be one day turnaround, ie post on Monday get it Tuesday,
assuming it’s in time for last collection, the mail being ferried back and
fore while wasteful, is more efficient/cheaper.

Roger Merriman