# Does the USPS need help



## bitshird

Today I sent 4 packages Priority mail from Adamsville Tn, which is approximately 100 miles east of Memphis, I purchased the postage last evening scheduled the mailing date for today Jan 31st.
T just went to track the packages and this is the actual fact from the USPS site


Electronic Shipping Info Received, January 30, 2009
Processed, November 20, 2000, 8:51 am, ZIP Code 38199.

  the 38199 that zip code is the bulk distribution center in Memphis TN.
 Now the question since the packages all 4 arrived just over 9 years before they were shipped.are the postal authorities

1 geniuses that have conquered time space continuum

2 Complete idiots that can't tell time.


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## pipecrafter

Or, more likely than not, it's:
3: One of their servers temporarily lost contact with a time source after a reboot, and the internal CMOS battery is dead, so it defaulted to a date near the time it was originally manufactured.


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## kirkfranks

#1
This is why I can get a package from TX in one day:biggrin:

Still don't know why it takes a week for a letter to go across town.


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## Daniel

Kurt, Now this is not meant to be insulting at all but humorous. But that is a very intelligent explanation of a very idiotic result. I for one prefer to think that USPS has finally found the ultimate answer to slow deliveries. deliver it before it is shipped. So anyone receiving orders you don't think you want. well wait cause you will.


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## Dario

This is just a totally useless poll IMNSHO.  

Not even amusing at all.

I worked on IT for a decade and there are millions of things that can happen in a day...only time people notice the computer is when something goes wrong.  Yes computers can do a lot of things super fast...including mistakes.

Not depending USPS but other delivery companies break my stuff more often than USPS.  If you are not happy....don't use them.  That is what I did with UPS whose tracking service is GREAT.


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## Jim Smith

While the USPS does mess really things up sometimes, overall they do a good job for me.  I think a third option should be added if you really want honest answers.  

As an aside to how things can happen with the USPS; I worked for a major airline for almost 30 years.  When we haul mail, the letters are in plastic trays wrapped in cardboard.  That being said letter sometimes slip out of the trays when stacking in the bin of the aircraft.  On one occasion a letter slipped out and slid in between the side of the bin wall and the floor of the bin.  When the aircraft came in for an overhaul nine years later, the letter was discovered.  One well-meaning employee simply slipped it back into a tray of letters headed in the right direction.  I'm sure someone had some bad things to say about the USPS taking over nine years to deliver a letter, but it really wasn't their fault.  In the case you referenced, I suspect it was a computer glitch or a simple typo.

Jim Smith


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## Dario

Jim Smith said:


> While the USPS does mess really things up sometimes, overall they do a good job for me.  I think a third option should be added if you really want honest answers.



Exactly...the poll is so restricting it is plain bashing.

One option is calling them idiot and the other is impossible they lose either way and pollster wins (by hearing what he wants).


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## arioux

That sound like a computer reconstruction or restore.  2000 is usually the default year where it restart after:

1 - A motherboard change
2 - A dead internal clock battery
3 - A computer that have been on the shelf too long with no power

Whatever the cause, the tech that did the job is probably not that competent.   I hope for them this is a local machine, not a nationwide server`) 
Don't worry, Canadian postal services are not better, and worst, more expensive 

P.S. I didn't vote because i don't use their service (Post Canada here) .  No bashing either, just trying to pinpoint the cause of this problem.  I don't think the whole system is incompetent, just missing some testing procedure or common sense when fixing problems.


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## tim self

Dario said:


> Exactly...the poll is so restricting it is plain bashing.
> 
> One option is calling them idiot and the other is impossible they lose either way and pollster wins (by hearing what he wants).



That's why I'm not voting.


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## Gary Max

Try mailing a package in Europe ---it will change your outlook on the USPS.


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## bitshird

Geez guys, sorry, I just thought it was kind of funny to see that a package was received  before it was shipped. 
I think some folks need to get a little less excited, you do have to admit that an organization that size that controls a lot of sensitive data and has such a huge responsibility really shouldn't have things like that happen, I believe things like that under other conditions are major screw ups, would it have been more humorous if a glitch like that happened to NORAD or with some states DOJ I guess I'll go sit in a corner with Ed Brown, just out of curiosity what would you have as a third option?


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## Pen Maker

#3 Pollster is Dangerous on the computer, step away from the keyboard!


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## bitshird

Pen Maker said:


> #3 Pollster is Dangerous on the computer, step away from the keyboard!



I suppose that could have been an option, but it's just hard to explain to people why they haven't received packages that were sent 9 years ago, I dunno :beat-up::crying::embarrassed:


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## Daniel

Ken, IMNSHO The poll is cute. Some people just cant figure out how to get out of a place they are tired of. They think they should just bitch and whine and try to get everyone else to fix things for them. I know lots of people like that. they are called spoiled rotten children. Others just want to stir up whatever they can. it is a way of controlling others by trying to cause a reaction in them. of course trying to cause irritation in others is sort of the ultimate underachievers goal since it is almost like falling off a log to do it. get creative and set a challenge for yourself, try to cause some happiness. I'm sure somebody or bodies will not have enough happening in there life to actually get offended by this reply. My condolences to you.


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## rjwolfe3

Ken, I took it as you meant it.  You thought it was a funny glitch. I didn't think you were slamming the post office.  As one of the recipients of the package supposedly mailed in 2000, I was going to print off the webpage and mess with my local postmaster. (Took ya 9 years to deliver this too me?)  I remember seeing some other posts where either UPS or USPS were slammed and I don't think this was one of them.


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## Dario

bitshird said:


> just out of curiosity what would you have as a third option?



IMHO...a poll is supposed to get the pulse of respondents, NOT to confirm a predefined outcome (w/o a choice).

If you want a meaningful one, cover all possible bases or at least the major ones.

If you want to RANT, you are welcome to do it...but there are better ways IMHO.  

As I said, I believe their tracking is horrible too.  Given a choice to rate their tracking with balance choices...I will vote accordingly.


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## bitshird

Dario, I apologize for not being dead serious about this poll, I do hope the Post office by being allowed to not deliver mail one day a week, will be able to afford a better IT outsourcing. also read the results for the poll so far, I'm not bashing the post office, just some of their incompetent IT help, does this sound more politically correct?


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## Russianwolf

having seen the way Bill can get packages delivered nearly before the order is placed on his website, I'm going with him being involved with the beta version of A.
:smile-big:


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## bitshird

Mike, I know my utility bills always seem to come before they are expected, I voted for geniuses


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## bybill

There used to be a note on the USPS web site that said they reused tracking numbers and it might be a while before the right package and tracking number matched up on the public site.


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## pipecrafter

Daniel said:


> Kurt, Now this is not meant to be insulting at all but humorous. But that is a very intelligent explanation of a very idiotic result. I for one prefer to think that USPS has finally found the ultimate answer to slow deliveries. deliver it before it is shipped. So anyone receiving orders you don't think you want. well wait cause you will.




Oh, don't get me wrong, I think it's funny as heck.  But, I worked in IT for nearly 20 years, and have seen pretty much everything.  I can't even enjoy movies like Firewall and Swordfish because the scenes dealing with computer technology trip my bullcrap sensor and I end up ranting about how you *ACTUALLY* should do it.  You should have heard me carrying on the other night while 24 was on the telly....

Sorry bitshird - I for one wish the USPS would get some better tracking, but having seen the inside of government IT infrastructure, it ain't gonna happen in our lifetimes.


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## nava1uni

I am surprised that so many people got upset by this poll.  Relax people.  I haven't found any delivery service to be completely without occasional problems.bag  That's life.  A perfect example of USPS not doing it correctly.  In October I sent a package to Roger Garrett's son with blanks and kits for an Eagle project he was doing.  They arrived back to me this past week in a plastic bag with no address label, the envelope in shreds.  It took over 4 months for them to be returned to me.  So, if I base my response on this experience USPS could get a negative.  But as they say s**t happens so I will continue to use them.  Hey, maybe I just haven't mailed it yet.LOL


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## TellicoTurning

Jim Smith said:


> While the USPS does mess really things up sometimes, overall they do a good job for me.  I think a third option should be added if you really want honest answers.
> 
> As an aside to how things can happen with the USPS; I worked for a major airline for almost 30 years.  When we haul mail, the letters are in plastic trays wrapped in cardboard.  That being said letter sometimes slip out of the trays when stacking in the bin of the aircraft.  On one occasion a letter slipped out and slid in between the side of the bin wall and the floor of the bin.  When the aircraft came in for an overhaul nine years later, the letter was discovered.  One well-meaning employee simply slipped it back into a tray of letters headed in the right direction.  I'm sure someone had some bad things to say about the USPS taking over nine years to deliver a letter, but it really wasn't their fault.  In the case you referenced, I suspect it was a computer glitch or a simple typo.
> 
> Jim Smith



Interesting new way to haul mail... when I worked for the airlines, the mail all came bundled and placed in orange nylon bags for airmail, green nylon bags for surface mail (we called it "green mail"), red nylon bags were certified/high priority, etc.., blue bags were international mail.  We loaded the mail by standing in the doorway of the aircraft and heaved the mail to the front or back of the compartment, depending on load master specifications.  Green mail was mostly filler mail.. if it didn't make a flight, then it was sent back to the airport mail facility to be trucked.


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## TellicoTurning

nava1uni said:


> I am surprised that so many people got upset by this poll.  Relax people.  I haven't found any delivery service to be completely without occasional problems.bag  That's life.  A perfect example of USPS not doing it correctly.  In October I sent a package to Roger Garrett's son with blanks and kits for an Eagle project he was doing.  They arrived back to me this past week in a plastic bag with no address label, the envelope in shreds.  It took over 4 months for them to be returned to me.  So, if I base my response on this experience USPS could get a negative.  But as they say s**t happens so I will continue to use them.  Hey, maybe I just haven't mailed it yet.LOL



Cindy,
You are 100% correct about all delivery companies have problems, and not always their fault.  I worked in the freight industry for over 40 years and over that time worked with every possible connotation of freight delivery companies from USPS, UPS, Fedex, DHL, all major airlines, truckers and steamship companies.  These guys handle millions of pieces of freight in a year's time and their error ration is way less than .01%.  And not always their fault... one incident I remember from about 1968 or 69.. not sure of date, but I was load master on a cargo jet out of San Francisco.  We had a very hot shipment on board for Emory Airfreight.. it was part of the planned moonshot coming up and the shipment was from Jet Propulsion Lab.. my flight was released for take off and began taxing... just before they reached take off speed, the plane blew a tire, rubber was ingested into an engine and because of the load, the acft could not get airborne.. and they didn't have enough runway to stop the plan,  they went off the runway into the water and the JPL shipment wound up under about 8 feet of water... it wasn't Emory's fault, but they took the hit for the non-delivery.... along with about 20 other major forwarding companies.

'course they took advantage of this also, the next week Emory had an add in Time Magazine worded to the effect "Dear customer, we've found your package, it is in the belly of TW F604 under San Francisco Bay".:mad-tongue:


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## jkeithrussell

USPS only updates the tracking information once per night.  You printed the label one day, but the item wasn't scanned at the PO until you dropped it off at the PO next day.  The same day that you dropped it off, you're not always going to get current tracking information.  You seem to be upset that the package wasn't delivered before you dropped it off.  I'm not an apologist for the PO, but this seems to be to be a whole lot of fuss over nothing.  If you want real time tracking, use UPS or Fed Ex.


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## nava1uni

We have become a culture of wanting everything to be known at all times.  Today's delivery services do a great job and much, much faster then the Pony Express or even 10 years ago.  Everything needs to be instantaneous or we become unhappy.  I am pleased to get mail within a week.  If you ship or order from overseas then it takes much longer to get.  At times I long for days when everything would move slower and there weren't so many distractions.  It certainly was a lot easier and simpler.


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## bitshird

jkeithrussell said:


> USPS only updates the tracking information once per night.  You printed the label one day, but the item wasn't scanned at the PO until you dropped it off at the PO next day.  The same day that you dropped it off, you're not always going to get current tracking information.  You seem to be upset that the package wasn't delivered before you dropped it off.  I'm not an apologist for the PO, but this seems to be to be a whole lot of fuss over nothing.  If you want real time tracking, use UPS or Fed Ex.



Keith, you seem to have over looked the point of my poll, The package arrived at Memphis TN,. NINE YEARS before I mailed it, according to the USPS tracking system..  
 I think that's a neat trick, I'm nor ragging on the Post Office, I had the postmaster pull it up when I took in some more packages and he thought it was funny as HE** I he nearly wet him self laughing, How could any body complain about something arriving a 120 miles away 9 years and a few months before it was shipped, I live in a very small town and there hasn't been much to laugh at around here for the past four or five years, so maybe I've just got a warped sense of humor, but I guess the Postmaster does too.


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## TellicoTurning

Ken,
When I read your poll I was pretty sure you were trying to be funny... (you know, 10,000 comedians out of work and you're making jokes:biggrin::biggrin  I didn't take it seriously anyway and thought it funny.  Sometimes I do wonder about our compulsion for and dependency on computers.  A few years back Art Bucholtz, a columnist in the Washington Post or Washington Times, don't remember which said, " You know computers makes easy to do lots of things, the real problem is those things don't necessarily need to be done."

And back when I was an international cargo agent for BAX, a cartoon went around about Continental Airlines that I've paraphrased to many industries..so to paraphrase for the postoffice:  Last week I couldn't even spell postman... now I are one!

BTW, here in Tellico Plains, we have a terrific post office... it's run by almost all women who are the friendliest and sweetest post persons I've ever run across.. biggest problem I've ever had with them, there are two Charles Ellis's that live in Tellico Plains... for a while my pen kits kept getting delivered to his address, he would open the package before he realized it wasn't for him, then I would have to go pick it up... fortunately, we only live about 6 miles apart.  He's been here longer than me, so he's also better known and the mail sorters would see the name and not pay attention to the address... I mentioned it to the postmaster and she jumped right on getting it corrected.  Hasn't happend in about a year now.

Oh, about the compulsion and dependency on computers, as soon as I get my morning coffee, first place I go is to the computer.  My wife too.. we don't have much and are on social security, but we have his and hers computers.  :glasses-nerdy::hypnotized::embarrassed:


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## Pen Maker

> there are two Charles Ellis's that live in Tellico Plains


 
Why that's mighty strange Chuck, Charley called me last week to say he was getting more than a few phone calls for YOU ! Don't that beat all 8o)


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## TellicoTurning

Pen Maker said:


> Why that's mighty strange Chuck, Charley called me last week to say he was getting more than a few phone calls for YOU ! Don't that beat all 8o)



That's funny considering he does body work and front end alignment, but has an unlisted number.:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Btw, I can tell you're Texan 'cause you know how to spell Charley correctly..:good:


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## YORKGUM

kirkfranks said:


> #1
> This is why I can get a package from TX in one day:biggrin:
> 
> Still don't know why it takes a week for a letter to go across town.



You don't think our government is efficient? Don't you wish they would run all business like they're trying to do? They did a good job running Amtrak into the ground too.


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## bradbn4

You must vote Geniuses that have conqured the space time continuum  

They know who you are and where you live - so best to play nice with them.


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## OldWrangler

Back in the time prior to 2005 when I was in the online nursery business, I was shipping as many as 30 boxes of plants a day and my annual bill with USPS was in excess of $6,000. I generally had lost or late deliveries less than 5-6 times a year. Priority with the free tracking was wonderful. I could check when each package was delivered. Nobody could say the never received their order and get a free reship. Ocassionally a box would get damaged but if I did my packing job well, these cases were rare.

I am still impressed with their ability to get boxes from one coast to the other in 2-3 days for less than $5. They are possibly the only part of the government that does function efficiently. They get my vote.


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## yarydoc

I ship everything USPS Priority Mail. I have only lost one package in over 1500 shipments. The customer let me know they didn't receive their order even though tracking said it was delivered. Replaced the order and two weeks later received an email from them letting me know they got the first one. I think they do a great job. I get free boxes delivered to my door and my packages are picked up at the mailbox or at the door if they won't fit in the box. Sure sometimes it takes longer than 2-3 days but sometimes they get it the next day. I consider selling on the net a hobby and I couldn't do this if the post office didn't do their job. Just my opinion.
    Thanks,  Ray


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## bitshird

So George and Ray You guys must be voting that they are Geniuses that have conquered the space time continuum.
 First they get a package from my house to Memphis TN. 9 years before I mailed it, which is a pretty good trick.
 But yesterday Vizxp got a priority package that I mailed to Florida on Feb 21 Geez I could walk to Florida in that time. 10 days for priority??????


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## yarydoc

Well when you start walking come by and pick mine up. I have some for tomorrow.

               Ray


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## bitshird

Howdy Neighbor.. I have to get my electronics stuff there for building CNC stuff or a place in the Shoals,


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## Gary Max

One day soon----when that postal employee waits and me and starts with the 400 hundred question that takes 15 minutes to answer.
I want to remember to ask them
Is it true the gov is taking the post office over and you will be getting a pay cut to help with the bail out?????????
I just want to see the look on their face.


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## programmergeek

The only mail service on earth that can't track all of there packages!  

Also Why is it that privet companies can delever cheaper service than gov and local subsitised and supported companies that are well established.  Don't get me started on trying to ship a large package they pretty much just refuse.


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