For me, packages around the same weight and size to the same areas are taking 4-5 days longer now with USPS Ground Advantage vs. USPS First Class. I sent a package out to a repeat customer at the beginning of the month via USPS First Class and it arrived in 3 days. The package I sent the same customer on the 11th (same size and weight) has yet to arrive. Judging from the tracking, I expect it to be delivered in another day or two. That's a significant delay from what my customer is used to getting from me, even accounting for the weekend.
Since I ship orders to the same areas frequently, I've also noticed that shipments are taking different routes now. Not sure if that's because everything is going ground transportation or what. My packages used to process through a local regional branch (every evening, like clockwork), then would head out to their destinations with only one or two stops in between (that got scanned, anyway); but now packages are spending two days at the regional branch before going to a sorting facility the next state over (never saw any of my First Class packages go through there before), and then several stops along the way before reaching their destination. Doesn't seem to matter what day I drop off packages; same thing.
I'm just waiting for the fallout. I tried adding USPS Priority as an additional option for customers who want to pay more to get their packages sooner; but when testing one of my listings out myself to see what my customers see, I noticed at checkout that the delivery date range for Ground Advantage was the same as Priority...what a joke! I know the release info for Ground Advantage says USPS is still offering the same 2-5 day delivery that it was for First Class, but that certainly isn't the reality. With First Class, I could absolutely ship something out to certain regions and have it arrive in two days. But now? There's no way with Ground Advantage.
