One swallow does not a summer make.

[richard1rst]

Yes, yes - an old tired cliche BUT

I have noticed a variety of shortcomings at my local post office. Understand, this is the main post office in Nevada’s second largest city, not some one horse town in the middle of nowhere,.

In no particular order:

Due to labor shortages passport photos are by appointment only (used to be an anytime walk in)

(sometimes) Cash only (Card readers are not working)

Last pickup now 5:30 PM (used to be 6 PM)

Overnight Express to any city east of the Mississippi has a cut off time of 10 AM. Bring it in any time after that and it is automatically converted to 2nd day air. Cutoff is  mid-afternoon for west of the Mississippi. That effectively makes Overnight not available to half the country. (As an aside I just used UPS overnight - their cutoff was 5 PM and they delivered Nevada to NYC by 10 AM the next morning)

Mail deliveries to my house used to be in the 2-3 PM period. Now it is closer to 5 PM (now in fairness, it might mean more mail being delivered OR fewer carriers which means each route is now longer and more time consuming)

Last Friday the entire post office was closed due to the presence of liquid mercury (I can not even imagine how that came to be)

7 postal clerk windows yet sometime lines out the door because only 2-3 clerks on duty

Now, back to my opening cliche. Yes, one post office is not indicative of a trend. But I am wondering if others are seeing similar events at their post offices which, in total, might indicate a downward trend of postal efficiency.

Anyone?

[cityslickercreations2004]

We are on very good terms with our carrier so we get "free mailbox gossip."

>> My pick up time has varied over the years but my carrier has stated that was because the routes were rearranged. From personal experience, I know a substitute unfamiliar with the route may change the pickup time. I can adapt.

>> Sometimes, they are short handed they will mix up the delivery times to deliberately catch us off guard. That way they have less mail for the day. My pick up was 2:48 pm for years. You could set your watch by it. Now it ranges from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. OK, I can still adapt.

>> Here is My Favorite!! They will skip whole routes. Getting to the PO downtown isn't always an option.

Now, I panic.

Don't get me wrong, overall I am thrilled with the service the has USPS provided to me. My carrier (the best) is retiring in the fall and I am filled with apprehension.

[krazzykats]

Some days, my post office closes for an hour so the clerk can take lunch. They’re shorthanded.

ᓚᘏᗢ

[soh.maryl]

Have never understood the "closed for lunch" thing on any business.  My former employment often involved calling physicians' offices with Xray results.  Several local offices had a phone message "Our lunch hour is noon to 1:30PM. ''  So they can't go to lunch one at a time? Not to mention that the lunch hour is 1 1/2 hours. A local pharmacy has a similar phone message, but theirs is actually just an hour.

OK, feel free to jump all over me.  

[roccotacodad54]

   He's probably not up yet.

[powell-collectibles]

Absolutely, in my small local post office, I see less clerks. Sure, that means less efficient for waiting customers, if and when we have a high need customer come through the line.  But I wouldn’t assume it means less efficient for the Postal Service.

usually have decent lines of people waiting for service. We used to have 2 to 3 clerks working at all times, now it is one or two. The lines really haven’t changed, from my general observation.  My thought is that the longer lines just force people into using self service. I do see more of that. That is more efficient for the Postal Service. 

[lesegouts]

You can be sure they are not delivering more mail. I'd be happy getting mail three days a week. M,W,F, at home and at my business.

Passport appointments are a good thing. Nothing like waiting on line while someone is applying for all six of their kids at one time...

[stainlessenginecovers]

Didn't read all that but...

I spent almost 60 years in Orange County CA (Southern California) and there is NOT ONE post office in Nevada or Arizona that is ANYWHERE near the 'horror story' of SoCal.

So, be grateful to whatever you get there (I'm ALSO in NV)

(Laughlin; hours were 8-5, Sat 9-4; now 9-4 and 10-2)

Good thing on that 'Passport' thing as those people take up 30 minutes each time. 

I say; let's find ANOTHER place for these people to get Passports!! 

[a_c_green]

---

@lesegouts wrote:

Passport appointments are a good thing. Nothing like waiting on line while someone is applying for all six of their kids at one time...

---

Yes! A passport application brings everything to a screeching halt. The worst part is when both the clerk and the applicant(s) have to go off around the corner and into the back someplace where their passport photos are taken. Our PO keeps at least one other window open for non-passport business when there is a passport application being taken, but that's still a major bottleneck.

They used to have a strict appointment-only policy for passports, but recently I noticed those signs were gone, and people seemed to be bringing applications to the Front Desk at all hours.