USPS new rule, only have to scan part of pick up

[tsme35]

Mail lady just stop by, they had a meeting(rural couriers) and were told their only require to scan a few packages when they do a pick up. She was told she only had to scan 5 packages when she picks up, even if you have 20, and let the sorting center to scan the rest. You have to tell the courier, to their face to scan them all. You also can print off a bulk shipping when you put in the pick up(online), they'll scan the sheet but won't include anything you sold over night and pack the next morning.

 Really bad because our sorting center in St. Louis only scans half the packages as it is. I have a feeling I'll be getting alot of "where's my package" emails, well more then I'm getting now.  I'm am lucky because I have a great mail lady, but her subs, won't be scanning them all.

[mr_lincoln · Accepted solution]

@tsme35   This needs to be addressed, you are assessed Late shipping defects if you do not receive Acceptance scans from the carrier on time ... you should report this to eBay on their Weekly Chat (every Wednesday) ...

Check your Seller Dashboard to see if you have gotten any Late shipping defects yet ... keep in mind that in this area, eBay's Seller metrics are based on the 3rd party carrier doing their part to verify YOUR part and the only way that can happen is if the carrier scans each and every package at the point it enters their system, be that at the counter or a scheduled rural pick up ... you don't want an attitudinal or lazy Postal Worker dragging down your account because they refuse to do their job ...

Mr. L

[nobody*s_perfect]

An acceptance scan was never promised as part of the USPS tracking label, even though eBay acts as if.

After USPS announced that policy, the SCAN form which consolidates all of your shipments into one scannable bar code was invented as a concession to accommodate the demand for acceptance scans at the PO counter, or at carrier pickup. Surely your carrier's 5-package limit could be extended to do a second SCAN form for your late additions..

[collectible-lots]

It doesn't sound right. Rural Carriers are paid by the amount of mail they deliver/pick up (unlike the city carriers who get paid hourly). No way the union would allow their boss to make such a rule. Your carrier is only hurting themselves (and their paycheck) by not scanning each item. Solution is to file an online complaint. It goes both to headquarters and to the local post office. That would put a stop to it quickly. Here is the link: https://www.uspsoig.gov/form/file-online-complaint

[wildpitchsports]

That doesn't seem right but who knows these days. All that really matters is it's scanned once and after it is delivered. Don't overestimate the weight of an acceptance scan. For ESE, it's basically non-existent and useless yet it always worked itself out.

[nobody*s_perfect]

It's my understanding that rural carriers' allotted work hours are based on average overall volume. If that has been maxxed out then there's no motivation to increase their apparent workload.

@lja440 -- can you shed some light on whether this local limited-scans policy is within USPS overall rules?

[katzrul15]

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@tsme35 wrote:

Mail lady just stop by, they had a meeting(rural couriers) and were told their only require to scan a few packages when they do a pick up. She was told she only had to scan 5 packages when she picks up, even if you have 20, and let the sorting center to scan the rest. You have to tell the courier, to their face to scan them all. You also can print off a bulk shipping when you put in the pick up(online), they'll scan the sheet but won't include anything you sold over night and pack the next morning.

 Really bad because our sorting center in St. Louis only scans half the packages as it is. I have a feeling I'll be getting alot of "where's my package" emails, well more then I'm getting now.  I'm am lucky because I have a great mail lady, but her subs, won't be scanning them all.

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Not surprised.  Rural carriers are not paid by the hour and their days are often really long.  DH did the rural route before City CCA route for PO.

Glad your mail carrier is friendly and cooperative.  Would concern me as well.....

No way to do multiple scan sheets?

[mr_lincoln]

@tsme35   I meant to add ... on our rural route the carriers use what look like personal vehicles NOT US Mail trucks.  There are a number of Sellers on our road and the vehicles they use would not hold all of the packages on certain days if we all had them picked up ...

So if they had to do pick ups it would probably mean another vehicle altogether ...

[dbfolks166mt]

     Rural carriers are not required by USPS policy to scan packages at pickup nor are the PO's required to scan it when it reaches the PO although most are. The only policy requiring the postal worker to scan the package is for any item presented to a postal employee in person at a post office regardless of whether the customer request it or not. 

[collectfest]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

An acceptance scan was never promised as part of the USPS tracking label, even though eBay acts as if.

After USPS announced that policy, the SCAN form which consolidates all of your shipments into one scannable bar code was invented as a concession to accommodate the demand for acceptance scans at the PO counter, or at carrier pickup. Surely your carrier's 5-package limit could be extended to do a second SCAN form for your late additions..

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McKinny Texas won't scan the sheet or the items. You can leave them there and "trust" they'll be scanned or scan them yourself. I obviously scan them myself. 

[dhbookds]

At my old address, the carrier made a point of thanking me for all the packages........he got paid a small amount for each.......Said it added up quickly............that was 10 yrs ago, so could have changed by now......

[a_c_green]

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@tsme35 wrote:

Mail lady just stop by, they had a meeting(rural couriers) and were told their only require to scan a few packages when they do a pick up. She was told she only had to scan 5 packages when she picks up, even if you have 20, and let the sorting center to scan the rest.

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Oh, good grief. That is nitpicking at its finest. How many stops of theirs actually involve picking up more than 5 packages? How much time is actually saved by not pointing the scanner at each package and going *beep*? Under what rule do they get to accept one SCAN sheet but not two?

I had a rare instance this morning of shipping six packages at my PO instead of the usual one or two. I routinely go to the front desk for their Acceptance scans if the lobby is open at the time. This morning's dropoff must have taken an extra 30 seconds, if that, to weigh and scan my extra packages. A roadside pickup doesn't even have a weighing step; it's just point and *beep*.

I would tell your carrier (nicely) that your expectations for an Acceptance scan at pickup time have not changed. If you get pushback, escalate the complaint.

[tsme35]

I have a great mail lady, she's the one that told me, just worried about when the subs pick. She was scanning my packages and tells me "see not counting lol". My post master(4th in the last year) knows how important they scan my packages, even if the trucks don't run up to St. Louis, just scan them and I'm good. I'll try and catch Wednesday's chat but always forget until its over.

 The only late scan I've had was a fishing rod that got picked up, not scanned and went missing for 3 weeks, buyer never wrote or asked, got scanned when it went out for delivery, I only seen it because I was checking for late shipments.

[tsme35]

Yea if I want to print out 2 scan sheets, not when printing ink runs about $40 a cartridge for something that should be habit after 15 years.

[tsme35]

They use to audit a rural route once a year, usually in Feb., the slowest part of the year, then base hours it takes for that route and pay that amount per day thru out the year. So if they say it takes 6 hrs, the carrier gets paid that and in Dec. it takes 8 hours they don't get paid for the extra 2 hrs. But usually holiday season they do get paid over time. But they haven't done an audit in years as far as I know and the mail lady and i talk alot.