Are we having another Ship-nado, and why?

[gurlcat]

I realize big winter storms devastated large swaths of the Eastern half of the US last week, including states that are Southern-enough as to be under-equipped because they don't have to deal with the problem very often (e.g. Kentucky & Tennessee, as if the Memphis Logistics Center wasn't enough of a postal black hole, year-round).   But I would THINK enough days have passed that sheer physical gridlock would no longer be a problem, yet I am seeing utter constipation on almost all of my shipments, both sales and purchases;  I have done a ton of buying (sourcing) right here on Ebay over the past week or so.  I have noticed the Eastern states have been slower overall for the past couple years, with facilities in Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta and the aforementioned Memphis being real bummers. 
But the crazy thing now is, the sluggishness isn't even confined to east of the Mississippi. It is just as bad when the origin or destination is in the WEST.  I'm in Mobile, down on the Gulf Coast, and normally I rejoice whenever I see that my buyer (or seller) is in TX, CA, OR, AZ, etc. Heck, even Hawaii is usually more encouraging than any Eastern state.  But now I have sales and purchases packages going to or originating from all over the country, with only a tiny few moving at normal speed; everything else is agonizingly crippled. 
I'm reaching out to all my buyers before they get annoyed enough to write to me like I did in fall/winter 2020,  so I'm not worried about having to issue refunds or anything, but okay I'll just admit it, I want MY stuff, LOL!  
So are there any theories floating around about what's causing all this sluggishness when it's not even Christmas season and only patches of the country were affected by snow many days ago?  

[nobody*s_perfect]

"But the crazy thing now is, the sluggishness isn't even confined to east of the Mississippi. It is just as bad when the origin or destination is in the WEST.... now I have sales and purchases packages going to or originating from all over the country, with only a tiny few moving at normal speed; everything else is agonizingly crippled. "

Transportation hold-ups in one part of the country will affect everyone because the trucks and planes aren't available for their usual routes.  Some of them get marooned in affected locations; others just get backed-up on their routes.  The truck that was supposed to pick up your stuff on the west coast could be still in Ohio, or somewhere in-between delivering the stuff that they picked up late, in Ohio..

[gurlcat]

Yeah I get that, but do you know if transport has even remained a problem in the places that got all the snow last week?  Seems like an awful long time even with a backlog to deal with.  
Here's what I mean, to be more specific: I have several packages that have not had any scans since the FOURTH (last Friday), and not shown any scans outside the origin state, or even city, in some cases. 
Also just curious, are you seeing hangups in your shipments too?    

[coastaltechsolution]

I have seen little to 0 scans of travel the last month or so, from first class and priority

Shipping from California to mid-west, east coast I have seen the acceptance scan and then nothing until it reaches the State of delivery.

I'm just happy it all got there 😁

[dhbookds]

Mine are fine.......including to Tx.....and CA

Have you tried putting the "notify me option" onto the ones you are having trouble with?

[jda15121]

1. The weather has ben pretty much constantly miserable.

2. Post Offices like all businesses are extremely short handed.  Was at my local last week and mentioned a couple of days with no deliveries. They apologized and said they were doing the best they could with limited resources. Actually he asked me if I wanted a job. They did offer to hold my mail and I could pick it up daily if I had stuff I needed immediately. I'll wait for the deliveries.

[maxine*j]

I have had nothing but respect for the USPS and I have had nothing but great, reliable service from USPS for decades, and I expect that to continue, so this is not a complaint.   It's just a funny, ironical story of the times:

I'm so old I still write letters and send notes and cards, so I keep a supply of what I think are attractive stamps on hand to use for such personal correspondence.  On January 31, I ordered a few booklets of First Class Forever stamps, which are shipped Priority Mail. Nine days later and, per the tracking info, they're still going back and forth and forth and back hither and yon.   Evidently, they are travelling in a mailbag on the Fying Dutchman.   😄

=

[wrong66]

When you consider the thousands of flights that have been cancelled over the last month, it's no wonder that much of the mail has slowed down and backed up. All those passenger flights carry Priority and First Class mail. 

[gurlcat]

Oh man the ONE time I ordered stamps from their website was a total mess too, literally one of the most memorably bad shipping experiences I've ever had. Yet I've ordered their FREE shipping supplies dozens of times, and they always deliver lickedy split, LOL!  

[gurlcat]

I misspoke when i said I see several tracking histories with no scans after the 4th.  --I actually have three that have not been scanned since the 3rd (last Thursday).