USPS news that may help IMPROVE their Services. PAUSING some Changes.
Many of us that use USPS as our shipping have noticed that it just keeps getting less and less dependable. More and more packages are getting delayed and even worse, lost.
It is significantly affecting our buyer's experiences in a negative way and increasing the workload of sellers trying to hunt down these packages so they can get delivered to our buyers.
DeJoy is currently our Postmaster General. He was appointed in June of 2020 by then President Donald Trump. A large group of Senators approached DeJoy on the current state of USPS and the disruption it was causing across the country and likely world.
Here is a link to the letter DeJoy issued.
https://www.hsgac.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/PMG-Letter-to-Chairman-Peters-5.9.2024.pdf
And a couple of news articles on the subject.
Fingers crossed, this should help the USPS service to not be as disrupted and inconsistent as it has been of late.
deserdog
·2 years agoI think some of the confusion over USPS delivering Amazon packages is that now Amazon sellers can use the U.S. Postal Service’s new shipping service, Ground Advantage, through Amazon Buy Shipping. Now I do not know if this is the last mile package deliveries, but it does not sound like it.
tobaccocardyahoo
·2 years agoDeJoy is the first Postmaster General who knows about logistics, transportation and anything other than politics.
He scares the carp out of many career postal employees at all levels, and they have plenty of experience in fighting change.
He appears to be one stubborn SOB and his changes so far have been big improvements, once the workers give up and move on to other issues to fight about.
Logistics is an area which has had advanced quantitative tools available for close to 40 years. Other carriers use them and follow their recommendations. Even the Teamsters have learned to live with them at UPS.
Two Christmas' ago he moved sorting equipment out of centers which used them for 2 hours per day to centers where they ran 20 hours per day. There were the usual labor generated slowdowns and then poof, the resistance stopped and the mail flowed faster than ever before.
Letter mail volume decreases every year. Package delivery increases every year. USPS has built its facilities and plans to optimize letter delivery. Changes to optimize package delivery are necessary for them to survive.
ltldpr
·2 years agoI knew about his extensive logistics experience - including turning his father's small trucking company into a very successful, large trucking company.
That's why it blew my mind when, in Feb 2024 if I recall correctly, a Houston TV station sent 2 Priority packages with AirTags in them to two sister stations (one in Detroit, one in San Antonio) and their first evening was spent in an 18-wheeler, going back and forth between 2 sorting facilities in the Houston area.
That's not normal or efficient, at all.
mam98031
OP2 years ago@ltldpr
I personally have experienced this with a few packages over the last couple of months. Ping ponging around in a sorting facility for days, one was for two weeks. This is what many sellers are reporting and it is an issue, a big one.
ltldpr
·2 years agoThe wording of what they're doing is confusing. Maybe that's on purpose.
Unless I misunderstand it, and that's absolutely possible, USPS calls the consolidation and the basic overhaul of major sorting facilities a "review" - Mail Processing Facility Reviews (MPFRs). That's misleading. A review implies that things are being evaluated, looked into, not overhauled or consolidated/closed. The action takes place after the review.
Also, what does he mean by ". . . modernizing investments to vastly improve employee amenities . . ."? Anyone know?
dogofwar777
·2 years agoIt's OBVIOUS why the mail is all of a sudden having problems in 2024. I'm sure after November, all of a sudden the USPS will suddenly straighten itself out.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoHe’s at it again. Be prepared during Christmas. Switch to Fed Ex.
chevymontecarlo88
·2 years agoI love USPS and rarely have any issues. It has become political is a bummer but what isn't these days. My friends that currently work for USPS think most of the problems are with the workforce. A lot of employees that do not want to work nor care about there job. You can't fix the system if the system does not want to be fixed. Some think Dejoy's approach a little harsh (which i think is not fair) but what is the other option besides to continue to fail. I hope he turns it around because i do like using them. Congress is useless and will only complicate everything. (For the worse)
I am all for the worker when the worker wants to work.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@mam98031
Postmaster Louis DeJoy's is currently promoting "Delivering for America" by USPS.
Today, I had a long discussion about USPS with the senior clerk at my local post office. She admitted to being very upset when DeJoy authorized the removal of a huge segment of the automatic sorting machines at the biggest USPS Distribution Center in Minnesota -- just before the 2020 election.
At the same time, DeJoy had ordered the removal of hundreds of USPS "blue boxes," primarily from urban neighborhoods in Minnesota.
We also discussed the crooked deal which DeJoy had implemented between USPS and Amazon, which mandates that the delivery of Amazon packages carries more importance than the delivery of regular USPS mail -- and that Sunday deliveries are scheduled ONLY for Amazon deliveries.
That means that DeJoy has budgeted 1 day out of 7 for the purposes of delivering ONLY packages by Amazon -- a billion dollar corporation that can easily afford to make their own deliveries, rather than to squander USPS budgets, paid for by you and me.
"Delivering for America"?
In the words of Colonel Sherman T. Potter from "M*A*S*H": "Horse hockey."
More like "Delivering for Amazon."
deserdog
·2 years agoIn 2013, the USPS began a test program delivering packages for Amazon on Sundays. The program originally started in Los Angeles and New York City but quickly moved to all large metro areas across the U.S. As ecommerce continued to grow, the USPS expanded the program to include all packages.
So USPS delivering Amazon on Sunday started way before De Joy.
So some might ask, why is USPS delivering Amazon packages? Because Amazon is a customer. And I will have to dig it out again, USPS made over a BILLION dollars in profit delivering Amazon packages just in 2023. And USPS just delivers last mile, they do not sort the Amazon packages, Amazon delivers them to the local post offices.
yuzuha
·2 years agoAmazon isn't the only company that has a contract like that with USPS, either-- two of the crane game apps I use ship with courier services (ECMS and OSM) that handle the shipping all the way up until the last mile. They deliver the packages to my local post office and then my post office delivers them to me.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@deserdog
"So some might ask, why is USPS delivering Amazon packages? Because Amazon is a customer. And I will have to dig it out again, USPS made over a BILLION dollars in profit delivering Amazon packages just in 2023. And USPS just delivers last mile, they do not sort the Amazon packages, Amazon delivers them to the local post offices."
The point that I was attempting to make -- is that the ONLY deliveries made by USPS on Sundays are for Amazon -- which accounts for slightly over 14% of the USPS budget -- money which is paid by ALL customers for USPS -- not just Amazon.
In addition, USPS employees from local post offices have reported that they were instructed by their USPS managers to delay deliveries on regular mail before the December holidays, in order to concentrate SOLELY on Amazon deliveries -- INCLUDING SORTING.
Amazon is definitely goosing the system to avoid paying for making ALL of their own deliveries.
deserdog
·2 years ago"is that the ONLY deliveries made by USPS on Sundays are for Amazon -- which accounts for slightly over 14% of the USPS budget"
Neither one of the statement in red are true.
Does USPS deliver mail on Sunday?
Luckily, USPS, like many other services, has recognized the growing need for regular deliveries and offers weekend mail delivery. The United States Postal Service delivers two types of packages on Sundays: USPS priority mail express and Amazon packages. USPS priority mail express is also called USPS overnight.
slightly over 14% of the USPS budget
Are post office stations open on Sunday?
Limited Sunday delivery is a service provided by USPS. However, the post office stations remain closed on Sunday. This is the only day when full-time postal workers don't work at all. Regular business days by USPS are Monday through Saturday. This means that you cannot send anything at the post office on Sunday; however, you can go online and use some of their services.
So you figured the one day that the Post Office only delivers 2 types of mail and when the Post offices are closed would be budgeted the same amount of money as a full service day?
orangehound
·2 years agoThe USPS has been a mess for years, mostly due to Congress handcuffing them.
I know that there have been a lot of problems with some of DeJoy's directions, but a lot needed to change with the USPS (one of those changes is that they seem to be moving toward a slower, small package delivery service).
The bottom line is that change was needed, change is happening, and the good changes and bad changes will need to be sorted out as this evolves.
mam98031
OP2 years agoMaybe yes, maybe no. We are paying more and more for less and less service and/or dependability of the agency. And we have yet another increase coming in July.
Congress stopped requiring USPS to fund their Retirement 75 years in advance a few years ago. It was passed in 2022 and Biden signed it into law March 8, 2022.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoMore useless garbage from Congress, all they are doing is kicking the can down the road just like everything else that they should but are not doing.
The reorganization/consolidation is needed, more delays just means more disruptions down the road and generally poorer service in the meantime.
selsa84
·2 years agoBefore his "plan" went into affect I had 1 lost parcel, since implementing his plan I've had 6 in 2 months. He doesn't want to make the USPS better. He is invested in their competitors.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoHe has his own logistics company as well.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoHe is going to wait until the up and coming election and then start IMPLEMENTING during that time to disrupt again I imagine. This guy is a Trump bud. Hope we would be all prepared for that again.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoExcept, Trump is not president now. So maybe the current administration is getting really nervous about this guys plans.
mam98031
OP2 years agoThat isn't what he told Congress. He said he is putting a hold on the current efforts until January 2025. If you have a link where he said something different, please share.
vintagecraze50
·2 years agoYeah I know. But I personally do not trust this guy based on what he pulled during the election in the past with his Bud.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI try not to use tracking as much as possible.
I am one of the lucky few who when decided to sell something I picked something that didn't need tracking as much.
I started selling toys but stopped due to tracking...and International complications.
I have had no problems to speak of lately.
And going on 2 years nothing lost.
robbie31415
·2 years agoI think they just worried that all those REAL 🙄 ballots wont make it in.
After the election the upgrade will go back as planned.
mam98031
OP2 years agoThat is a legitimate concern. Remember in the last election it was a real thing, the big blue mail boxes were being removed for a whole lot of locations across the country making it even more difficult for voters to mail in their ballots. And other attempts were made to slow the process down too.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/election-wait-mail-ballots-swing-states-rcna140221
sextons-sweet-deals
·2 years agoI have no issues as a seller with USPS.
Do I like the increase in stamps or packages weight & dims? No
Do my buyers like that USPS now calculates dims & weight just like UPS & FedEx? No
DeJoy seems to being his job because he has not been removed by the current president, so don't try to toss politics into this.
Sellers need to their job to protect themselves when shipping for a safe secure delivery. Check your buyer's profile and all feedback.
Upload tracking, deliver to the USPS office in person and get a receipt.
Think about signature required if you think your buyer might be in question and you're selling a high $$ item.
mam98031
OP2 years ago@sextons-sweet-deals
The President doesn't have the power to removed the Postmaster General. The U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors has sole authority to hire and fire the postmaster general.
I guess I should have explained that more about how Dejoy got the job under the previous president. He was appointed by the Board of Governors, but All of the USPS' governors, at the time, were appointed by Trump, and DeJoy was a product of their selection. DeJoy's wife was Trump's pick for the U.S. ambassador to Canada, although she was never confirmed, and she served as the vice chair of the President's Commission on White House Fellowships.
This isn't about the fees going up. As I stated above this is about getting the mail processed and delivered timely. We have had all kinds of issues since they started consolidating things. It is wonderful that you have not had issues, but that doesn't dismiss all the issues many of us have had getting things delivered timely.
This specific subject has NOTHING to do with sellers not doing their job. Nor does it have anything to do with not getting tracking number, uploading them or getting receipts. You may want to revisit what I wrote and the letter that Dejoy wrote in which I gave a link to. Also the news reports explain it as well.
sextons-sweet-deals
·2 years agoyou posted:
DeJoy is currently our Postmaster General. He was appointed in June of 2020 by then President Donald Trump.
mam98031
OP2 years agoYes, I posted that. In reality that is true since he restructured and appointed the entire board US Postal Board and in turn he cot the US Postmaster General he wanted. So technically he did not appoint Dejoy, but he did appoint the entire board that appointed Dejoy. To me that is one and the same.
selsa84
·2 years agoBiden can't remove him. Board can but they won't.