I'm guessing USPS wants out of the parcel business

[clemsonfor]

I live in a VERY small town. My house is on about an acre right on a paved road, so I am rural but not down a private drive. My issue with prime is that it is not 4 day delivery. I have prime just like you stated, I do not live near stores and I would have to order things anyway and I can get them usually at as good a price as anywhere and I can have them fast for projects. When I started ordering amazon about 5 years ago I was not Prime and I would sometimes get things the next or 2 days and others took 5 or 7 days. Then I got prime on a free trial for a Christmas or something. I used it for a month or so after the free trial and then canceled. Their normal non prime delivery started to take almost 2 weeks every time. We joked and said that it was to get me to go back prime, but I don't see how they can make more money cause all prime does is make me willing and able to order those $2 and $5 and $10 items when I need them instead or waiting till I had The then necessary $35 for free shipping. Anyway I went back to prime. Still have it but considering dropping it for just going back to mostly ebay and walmart. Anyway Prime use to always ship the same day if I ordered by say mid day and I would have it the next or then the 2nd day after an order. I started getting stuff after 2 days. Then they gave me well there is a processing day before the 2 days starts. And if I order after like 11am that day does not count, so that day is gone. So say I order at 2pm on a Monday, Monday is out cause of the later order time, then Tuesday is a "processing" day and then they have Wednesday and Thursday to deliver the item. Which is basically 4 days! Every time they miss the window , which is all the time now I call them out and get that free month or the $10 credit. I often return the item because it was late and I had to go to town to buy it as I really needed the item, many times they tell you to keep that item as they don't want to return ship it.


This last item I ordered and wanted to return was a like $13 air hose. I didn't notice it was the wrong size and was no good, I went to return it and they just said to keep it. So now I have a 1/4 air hose laying around but I cant really use it cause it cant flow the amount of air that I need to run the impact usefully anyway, I reordered a 3/8 hose.

 

[clemsonfor]

Fed ex will sometimes deliver 2x in a day to my house!! From the same hub, sometimes from different hubs. I guess depending on how its routed? I have 2 hubs for fedex that deliver to me, I think just one ups hub

 

[ultrarunner]

The only delivery/order time that is consistently amazing is when I order from Grainger.

Often I will put an order in late in the day and it will show up the next morning...

I do not believe any order has been processed via USPS.

 

[tcreeley]

UPS always does well. FedEX- I always wonder. They like to use the post office- but it has been a while since I had to go to the post office to pick up a package.
I use Amazon prime for most everything- tires to small stuff. Always good and reliable.
I like the post office for my mail.

 

[daugen]

I've been buying from Amazon since 2001 and on Prime since the beginning. Used to be only Fedex and UPS, and they used Fedex for the expensive items or at times those needing a signed receipt. Now it seems they will send any hillbilly with a pickup truck. My local mail carrier delivers packages, rain or shine, in her pickup. It has a cover on it but it's clear everything is loose and moving around back there. A moving lapidary tumbler. This is way below UPS's pay grade...though we have all seen the gorillas who chuck boxes whenever they can.
And on my mail carrier's off days, the packages delivered by USPS come in her colleague's open pickup truck. Delivering packages in an open truck with the downpours we get here. Major fail.

It just seems that everything is dumbed down to the lowest common denominator, what is the least capable/cheapest to deliver service we can provide and get away with it.
That's why if Amazon comes up with their own delivery, and it would not be hard to make this look more professional that the postal delivery people,
then I think the USPS is in serious trouble.

I like my little old lady USPS person, she's a sweetheart and brings my mail in carefully and leaves it on my porch if something won't fit in my large mailbox.
But she is not a good package delivery person. Two months ago I had to go downtown to the main PO and get a farm jack, because she called me and asked if I would, it was
too heavy for her. Never would have gotten that call from the Browns.
Well why did they send a 60 pound item through the USPS anyway? They aren't equipped for that.
Most of the small bubble wrapped parts packages I get in the mail come through just fine.
The post office should stick with the little stuff and leave the heavier, bulkier items to Fedex and UPS.

I put this all on Amazon, not my carrier. 2 day delivery almost never works here btw, it's always three or four. Must be too far from regional distribution hub.
My town has a Walmart and a Lowes. That's it. Oh, one Ace hardware. Amazon is very helpful out in the country. Though I bought two Panasonic bathroom vent fans for fifteen dollars less at Lowes than the supposed low Amazon price. You really do have to double check Amazon pricing. Not always such a good deal. Convenient for sure.

Mr Bezos is now the world's richest man I believe.

 

[daugen]

The post office however has done something I've not seen anyone else do.
They have delivered mail packages, usually small bubble wrap stuff, all the way from China
in an envelope with Chinese stamps on it. Must not have been Prime; pretty sure that has to be warehoused here.

My UPS driver is fantastic. Does a K turn in my driveway parking lot every time with precision, and doesn't spin his steering wheel while parked
on my pavement. He backs in first, gets positioned to leave, likely not to get blocked in, and once delivery made he scoots right down
my 1200 foot lane. Actually, if I leave my garage door open, he will come in my garage and put the package right at the top of the steps going in front of
the entrance door. I think he likes to look at my old car parked in there. Super nice guy, friendly and very polite.
UPS training is clearly evident and it's all good. And I'm sure he only makes a right turn out of my driveway.

 

[tomplum]

Yeah, USPS is in the news again. No money. Default. Raise postage. Arrange the words all you want in just about any USPS themed article. Yet, the current managers must figure their pensions and paychecks are covered. So no worry, they can lower cash flow +polish up some other numbers without a negative effect to themselves. That's really the part that irks me. I like all people that I deal with. Though the little Grumman's they drive must be a death trap seeing as though 12 yard dump trucks and concrete trucks and big box vans turn around in my drive. When you use the Googler on USPS backing up, there's stuff there from a decade ago.

 

[ultrarunner]

No matter how good... things will be delayed and nothing can be done.

You might remember a few weeks back in SF when a disgruntled UPS driver shot and killed several other UPS employees in San Francisco?

I had a critical medical shipment packed in dry ice that was needed that morning for surgery... this was priority etc...

UPS tracking and calls to UPS said it was in transit... the surgical team was on standby... it never showed up until two days later and was no longer usable.

It was not an Act of God but for the patient was just as devastating...

There is this entire push for Just in Time... I get it but it also means tremendous faith in the supply chain and has always made me uncomfortable as for whatever reason the timeline cannot be me.

There have been times where I have simply got into my car and made the trek to the tissue bank staying in touch with the surgical team...

 

[tomplum]

Amazon rectified the USPS debacle by using other carriers. Something I ordered got switched from FEDEX to USPS Smartpost (which is code for getting 30 miles or so away is 3 days , then taking a 2 week , 3 state tour only to have to pick up at the post office after the weekend. ) In writing FedEX to opt out of future sh@t storms, they responded "In the future, you can advise your shipper to choose FedEx Express, FedEx Ground or FedEx Home Delivery Service. " Is there even a Smartship option when you ship FEDEX?

 

[Oaktree]

There is this entire push for Just in Time... I get it but it also means tremendous faith in the supply chain and has always made me uncomfortable as for whatever reason the timeline cannot be me.

I thought that was one of those 80s fads that went out of style just as quickly as it came in. This was back when if the Japanese did it, it must be the right way. That was before we learned that just because it works there doesn't mean it works here.