New USPS service or Big Brother is watching?

[japody]

Still pay all my bills by check. Don't see any benefit to electronic payment, and several drawbacks. I generally keep very little in my checking account, don't transfer it until I'm ready to pay bills.

As far as the USPS scanning & photographing all mail, there was a show this past spring called "Hunted" (I think...it was on CBS). The hunters were able to subpoena the post office for scans of mail sent by one of the "fugitives".
Until then I wasn't aware they did this...my wife asked our local postmaster and she confirmed it.

Don't know how long they keep the info.

I don't think the scans are kept for more than a day. The files are wiped clean when a hard reboot is done, which is usually on a daily basis. However, there are ways to keep info on specific addresses.

 

[Alien]

The USPS is designed to confuse us. This is an item that was ordered on the 8th Sept.
I find it VERY confusing but it seems that it has done a lot of to and fro'ing.

 

[jcummins]

The USPS is designed to confuse us. This is an item that was ordered on the 8th Sept.
I find it VERY confusing but it seems that it has done a lot of to and fro'ing.

View attachment 523097

Only the government can come up with that routing.

 

[japody]

Only the government can come up with that routing.

The two scans in Louisville are incorrect. There is no way the package could go from HI to KY and back in that time frame.

 

[Dftodd]

Only the government can come up with that routing.

Looks like the FedEx tracking I checked earlier today. The part for my dishwasher has been bouncing around on the east coast for the past week. Supposed to be delivered tomorrow by USPS. Still haven't seen where it made it anywhere close to Arkansas

Edit: Just checked the tracking. Shipped FedEx Smartpost, Monday out of Canton OH. Arrived in Indianapolis IN, Wednesday, and departed same day. Package arrived in Tampa FL today. Supposed to be delivered tomorrow by USPS. Don't think that's gonna happen since the package is 1,100 miles away.

Guess smartpost isn't so smart

 

[TomSeller]

Would anyone expect the government to be efficient? The carriers probably get paid by the mile.

 

[Alien]

Yes the whole tracking system is pretty stupid and certainly is a waste of time and money.

 

[tjkubota93]

Looks like the FedEx tracking I checked earlier today. The part for my dishwasher has been bouncing around on the east coast for the past week. Supposed to be delivered tomorrow by USPS. Still haven't seen where it made it anywhere close to Arkansas

Edit: Just checked the tracking. Shipped FedEx Smartpost, Monday out of Canton OH. Arrived in Indianapolis IN, Wednesday, and departed same day. Package arrived in Tampa FL today. Supposed to be delivered tomorrow by USPS. Don't think that's gonna happen since the package is 1,100 miles away.

Guess smartpost isn't so smart

Smartpost is the WORST

Fedex has never impressed me. Smart post reussures that feeling. Ups has always been better for me. Usps too.

 

[Dftodd]

Smartpost is the WORST

Fedex has never impressed me. Smart post reussures that feeling. Ups has always been better for me. Usps too.

I absolutely agree Didn't have an option of using UPS for shipping or even USPS. Apparently the supplier has a contract with FedEx. They were two days on a couple of other parts. Figured it would be about the same At this point, I should have just went to the appliance store and bought another dishwasher. Wife would have been happy

 

[Gator6x4]

U.S. Post Office gets an $18 billion gift from taxpayers every year | Fortune

A B/S piece advocating the closing down of the US postal service and having private enterprise do what the postal service does and showing what private enterprises could make if doing what the Postal Service does and calling it a 18 billion dollars a year subsidy. The information below was taken directly from the Article and shows the ghost trials to the alleged 18 billion dollar in subsidies.

1.Laws that bar any other shipping service from delivering mail and packages directly to residential and business mailboxes. Shapiro estimates that this gives the Post Office a $14 billion annual boost.


2.Tax breaks. The Post Office is exempt from state and local property and real estate taxes, along with other burdens like tolls, vehicle registration fees, and parking tickets. These exemptions save the USPS $2.18 billion per year.

3.Finally, Shapiro points out that the USPS pays its workers salaries and benefits far above the rates paid to similar workers in the private sector. Labor accounted for 78% of the organization痴 costs in 2014, 努ith about 89% of those costs involving employees represented by collective bargaining. These higher labor costs, plus the absence of a need to innovate due to government-granted monopolies, has freed the USPS from $20 billion in labor and productivity costs per year, Shapiro estimates. 展hile we do not technically count this as a subsidy, he writes, it represents an economic burden on others arising directly from USPS痴 monopoly position. Postage, for instance, would likely be cheaper for everyone if the organization were subject to the same