Has anyone else seen USPS Mailing tube delivery become SLOW

[auto-loader]

I have been shipping with 3 inch mailing tubes since about June this year with good success.  I use first class mailing with tracking.  Packages are up to 13 oz. Average delivery time for the tubes has been around 4- 5 days to the continental US.

Starting in early October I have seen MAJOR delivery delays.  Of the 22 tubes I shipped during October I have seen almost every tube get delayed.   The average time to arrive is 11 days.  2 of them were over 20 days to arrive.    Lots of customer questions about delivery,  I have re-shipped multiple packages due to delay.  I am seeing an increase in cases opened against my account.  Losing customers....

Over the same period of time I have shipped 72 other smaller packages with the same first class mailing rate using 4x6 bubble mailers and these are averaging 3 days to arrive.  I was thinking the tubes may be rolling around and not scanning but I had good succes with these tubes up until recent.  Im trying a few other types of small boxes.  I am also trying to put the tubes inside a bubble mailer.    I asked my local post master and they had no idea why.     Anyone else having issues or solutions?

[sam9876]

 If you print your postage online, First Class packages can weigh up to 15.99 ounces.

[orangehound]

This is a few years old, but you might want to read this ... it is the reason why it is better to ship in triangle tubes rather than circular tubes:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Archive-Selling/mailing-tubes-a-problem/m-p/20247832/highlight/true#M2...

[berserkerplanet]

Exactly what I was thinking when I read the OP - if the shipping label isn't flat and machine readable, and the package has to be human handled (due to changes in pkg handling equipment or pkg handling protocols), it may get sidelined and delayed.

A solution would be to slide the tubes into bubble mailers (or maybe poly mailers) to have a flatter, horizontal label surface for scanability.

Should be able to stay under 15.99oz based on the "up to 13oz" in the OP. The 15x11 bubble mailers I use weigh 1.00 oz, and can be easily cut into 2 15x5.5 1/2oz mailers with my heat sealer. 20sec* of time and 13¢ for the half mailer and problem maybe solved.

*If it were I shipping that way I'd sit down with a pile of 100 15x11 poly mailers while watching the news, and cut them into halves. If shipping volume was super high, I'd look for custom bubble polys in 15x6 or 12x6 or whatever.

[auto-loader]

Thanks for the replies.  Its too bad we have to rig up packages, and add cost becasue of USPS hander deficencies.

I have several versions of differnet boxes testing out now to see if theres any improvement.  I also ordered a box of mailers last night, going to try to come up with the most effective solution.     Its odd this started on Oct 5th prior to that I had no issues. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

I wouldn't call it a "deficiency;" it's just geometry.  Packages that don't roll around can be handled by machines (including the bar code holding still so it can be scanned), and rolling ones can't.

However, the abrupt start date for this issue does point out that the problem could be something else entirely such as the legibility of your printer.

[auto-loader]

I would call it a deficiency.   It certainly is not a proficency.

[auto-loader]

If it was a printing issue, then I would see it across the board?  Its only on the mailing tubes.

[berserkerplanet]

>>If it was a printing issue, then I would see it across the board? Its only on the mailing tubes.

Yes, but geometry (curved label) and scan angles for those curved labels on the tubes may be the straw that broke the camel's back if your label print quality has become marginal.

That can readily be determined by looking at your labels though - if they all still look pretty good then that probably isn't it. (labels in general have to get pretty faint and fuzzy before they start failing in my experience - yes I've printed some obviously awful ones with no issues I was made aware of)

I suspect it was some sort of internal flow reorganization at the sort centers your tubes pass through that went into effect on 10/5 (maybe in preparation for the holiday pkg overload - they might have decided to deprioritize diversion of human resources for manual pkg handling. The packages sit like media mail until someone has time to deal with them, and it would happen at every stop along the way if the labels have to be manually scanned and/or tracking numbers manually keyed in.)

Path of least resistance is to try alternative packaging as discussed.

[juststuffisell]

Remember we had bombs being mailed out - pipe bombs. I will venture a new proceedure has been implemented relative to scanning "round tubes" that could contain explosives.

Just a thought given the start date.

Cheers

[youngspock]

Yes!  I recently started using 3" mailing tubes and have been frustrated at the handling times. The last one I mailed took 80 hours from the acceptance scan (I waited in line) until it reached the ORIGIN facility!  That's a record low for me. The previous tube never received an origin facility scan, but got a destination scan four days after acceptance.  I figured it was because it was rolling around and unable to scan automatically.  No more tubes for me!