USPS

[RoscoTrombone]

He says he's had quotes around $100 which seems ridiculous. I tried DHL & it quoted me $72.

It's his first international shipping so any advice/tricks will be vrratly appreciated

[Backbone]

Going to digress slightly...I'm in the process of buying a pipe from a fellow forumite but he/we are struggling to find reasonable shipping that isn't USPS.

So is there anything else out there or is the current snail mail the most cost effective?

A leadpipe? There's no way that's expensive with any of the shipping companies.

This is an international transaction. US to UK. So far, expensive.

[Doug Elliott]

I am still using USPS Priority Mail and not having any serious issues except usually an extra day.
Most leadpipes will fit in a Priority Mail Small Box and postage is $8.30 anywhere in the US.
Those boxes are available at any post office for no extra charge.

[MTbassbone]

I am still using USPS Priority Mail and not having any serious issues except usually an extra day.
Most leadpipes will fit in a Priority Mail Small Box and postage is $8.30 anywhere in the US.
Those boxes are available at any post office for no extra charge.

I am also a huge fan of the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes. Some people have turned the Flat Rate Envelope into a box so it will fit whatever they are shipping. I believe the slogan is "if it fits it ships" (up to 70lbs). I also like the Automated Postage Center because I use it after hours rather than waiting in line. A lot of people don't want to use it so I usually don't have to wait.

[HawaiiTromboneGuy]

Purchased a couple of mouthpieces here on the forum. Seller shipped them from California via USPS Priority small flat rate box on Tuesday and they were delivered to me in Hawaii today (Thursday).

[gregwaits]

That is fast!

[Elow]

Something seems a bit off... Should i just go up there and try to pick it up because they say it’s been there for 3 days. It’s a mouthpiece from canada

[brumpone]

Seeing those multiple "depart" messages in a minutes reminds me of a time about 3 years ago that a package of mine would leave one depot for another on the other side of the city, just to be returned to the sending depot. This ping-pong carried on for about a week. The package never arrived. The carrier (DPD) was useless, but the sender - an upmarket department store in central London sent the best customer service email I have ever received.

[harrisonreed]

Seeing those multiple "depart" messages in a minutes reminds me of a time about 3 years ago that a package of mine would leave one depot for another on the other side of the city, just to be returned to the sending depot. This ping-pong carried on for about a week. The package never arrived. The carrier (DPD) was useless, but the sender - an upmarket department store in central London sent the best customer service email I have ever received.

"Well, at least it's not our fault!"

[Elow]

Welp, that’s good to know. The seller was pretty nice and responded fast so i don’t really want to bother them. I’ll give it another week and then i’ll go to the post office, it’s only like 2 minutes away.

[BGuttman]

Had an interesting experience. Bought something on Ebay (not a trombone) and getting shipped here to NH from Arkansas. Tracking showed pickup, then a cryptic message "in transit, on time". It was supposed to be delivered today but the tracking now just says "arriving late". No location information.

Wonder if this is an artifact of the new Postal Service directives?

[pompatus]

That’s a fairly common message, that I’ve seen all the time over the past couple of years when using USPS tracking.

[Burgerbob]

Happens all the time with UPS and Fedex as well.

[Elow]

My mouthpiece was delivered today, a sunday... Now to wait for a trombone that was supposed to be here monday

[CalgaryTbone]

I just received a package from Hickeys. I spent the extra for Priority Mail because I was hoping to get it quickly. 10 days and about $50(US )postage (for a small, light box). Watching the tracking was interesting, as I noticed it bouncing around the US and then finally ending up in Eastern Canada, about a half-day's drive from where it started, and then take a slow drive west. My last package (from a different source) arrived in town and said "out for delivery" and then they changed the delivery date twice. I want to be patient with all that's going on, but what's with stuff travelling the wrong way? I could see it if the package just travelled to a large center to be loaded on a plane, but it's like they are driven around on a "road trip"!

Jim Scott

[kmiller]

I love the USPS. As we as a whole realize that while going for any sort of delivery we have to deal with a couple of things. In this way, regarding whether you pick homegrown or worldwide delivery there are some disallowed items and some confined things which are not permitted to boatload starting with one spot then onto the next. Also, thus every one of those things or products are not admissible for delivery. In the event that you are picking this USPS International delivery, at that point let me reveal to you that you need to keep a few standards which are about products that don't consider dispatching.

[Posaunus]

Yesterday I received a mouthpiece purchased from RoscoTrombone.
• He shipped it from Scotland via Royal Mail, with tracking, in a padded envelope, on October 12
• It was processed through USPS in Los Angeles on October 19
• It was safely delivered to me in California on October 22

All things considered, the cost was reasonable.

No complaints about mail service on either end.

Thanks, Ross!

[Elow]

Something popped up when i looked at my incoming deliveries for usps, this is from their website

"NEW! USPS Electronic Signature Online | Enroll Nowcaret image
Register your signature online so you can receive packages even when you're not home!
USPS Electronic Signature Online lets you keep an electronic signature with USPS for an entire year. Apply this electronic signature to any incoming packages that ship via Priority Mail Express®, require Signature Confirmation™, or are insured for over $500 when you cannot sign in person. USPS will leave your packages in your mailbox or at a preferred delivery location if a package is too large for your mailbox."

Being able to sign virtually for a package defeats the purpose of signing for a package right? Am i not understanding something?

[Posaunus]

As of today (12/18/20) USPS seems hopelessly bogged down within the U.S.

I have expected a Priority Mail delivery to California from New York City since 12/15, and a package sent from California to Maryland, also scheduled for 12/15 delivery. Both are indicated as "In Transit. Your package will arrive later than expected, but is still on its way. It is currently in transit to the next facility."

Christmas Rush? Covid? Weather? Delivery Saturday? Monday?

Our local postman has been asked to do two shifts/day. Early morning trip is largely package delivery; then he delivers mail to us in the afternoon. We are grateful for his service – as a truly essential worker!

[Burgerbob]

Still waiting on a horn shipped from Switzerland... November 7th.

But then again, I shipped a bell section to California and it took a grand total of 3 days.

[Elow]

I get a package every week from a dude about 30 minutes away and it normally only takes a day or two but this week i haven’t gotten it and it shipped monday. I also have got that message for something a couple states away that was supposed to be here tuesday.
Today my ups person came in a kia soul and it says i should have another package delivered by someone else later today

[Doug Elliott]

It's a mess right now. 10 days or more for Priority Mail. The line out the door of the post office took an hour to get through a few days ago. They're coming in faster than they can sort them. It's a combination of less employees, the usual Christmas rush, and the changes made by the new postmaster who Trump put in who is intent on destroying USPS.

[sacfxdx]

I’ve got 2 packages in the USPS vortex. just says “in transit” for several days. Only one state away. I guess they are doing the best that they can. Since travel is discouraged there are many extra packages being shipped by all the carriers.

Good luck. I hope your package (and mine) show up soon.

[Trav1s]

At the beginning of November my parents mailed a birthday present from Ohio to Iowa a week before my daughter's birthday. It got stuck in an infinite loop between Des Moines and Cincinnati then Des Moines and Columbus. We finally received the package after my parents talked to the postmaster and raised a stink.

Currently we have 4 separate packages that have not been delivered after 7-12 days. The package shipped 12 days ago took a detour to the Minnesota on day 10. I have not received another update from the sender. My inlaws mailed three packages to us a week ago and they have showed in transit to their destination since Monday 12/14.

This all wreaks of sabotage and setting up the USPS to fail. So sad and frustrating

[Posaunus]

This all wreaks of sabotage and setting up the USPS to fail. So sad and frustrating

Gee, who could have been responsible for that?

[Trav1s]

This all wreaks of sabotage and setting up the USPS to fail. So sad and frustrating

Gee, who could have been responsible for that?

I know nothing...

[Posaunus]

From the Boston Globe:

‘The system is just overwhelmed’: Post office struggles with holiday deluge

The pandemic has boosted shipping volumes to holiday season levels all year. Then it got worse.

The Postal Service is especially strained this season as UPS and other delivery services have limits on what they will take from retailers, but the Postal Service takes all deliveries.

If you haven’t already shipped your Christmas gifts, it may be too late to get them there on time.

The usual holiday crunch has been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, which long ago sent delivery services into hyperdrive. And the brunt of it is falling on the United States Postal Service, with reports of mail and package delays stacking up around the country.

While the entire delivery sector is strained this holiday season, experts and analysts say the Postal Service is especially challenged, because private carriers like UPS and FedEx have planned limits on shipping volumes from some retailers, and are declining to immediately accept packages outside those previously agreed upon volumes. That is likely pushing even more packages into the Postal Service, said Satish Jindel, president of ShipMatrix, a Pennsylvania-based software company that tracks shipping industry performance.

“While [customers] will find the Post Office is going to have lower performance than UPS and FedEx, it’s because they are getting those extra packages that UPS and FedEx are turning away, that the Post Office can’t say no to,” Jindel said.

The Postal Service fared well in the earlier stage of the holiday shopping season, according to ShipMatrix, which found that between Nov. 22 and Dec. 5, USPS achieved an on-time rate of 92.8 percent for parcel delivery. That trailed UPS and FedEx, but was still ahead of its performance over the same period at the beginning of the 2019 holiday season.

But because the overall number of packages is up considerably this season, the raw number of late packages was also much higher. And the Postal Service’s performance has since fallen off, with packages arriving on-time just 86.1 percent of the time this past week, according to ShipMatrix.

In fact, Postal Service spokesman Stephen Doherty said mail volume all through the pandemic has been running well above normal, to the point where it’s been close to holiday-season busy all year, and only got busier when the actual holidays arrived.

The surge is so unprecedented the agency isn’t even projecting volume, “other than we expect to see a record number of packages this year,” Doherty said.

It is impossible to tell whether UPS and FedEx policies are adding to the backlog, he added. But Postmaster General Louis DeJoy warned workers in a recent online video that the Postal Service “may be getting a lot of overflow” from competitors that are at capacity.

Compounding the issue further are “staffing shortages in individual facilities” as some postal workers stay home if they feel sick or otherwise need to quarantine, Doherty said, though those issues are mitigated somewhat by sending additional workers to those sites.

“It seems to vary a lot. Some things will get there fine, and others will take weeks,” Richardson said. “Everything seems to be getting there eventually, but it’s just taking longer.”

The Postal Service faced similar concerns ahead of the 2020 election given the huge volumes of mail-in voting and President Trump’s attack on that process. State and local election officials urged voters to send ballots early, and there were ultimately no major reports of late-arriving ballots.

Nada Sanders, a supply chain expert at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business, said capacity issues may persist well beyond the holidays — and perhaps even beyond the pandemic — if the sharp uptick in e-commerce sticks. She called on Congress to provide more funding to the USPS so it can keep up with demand long term.

“My concern with what happens with the supply chain is, you can only work at that level of maximum capacity for so long,” she said. “It’s not going to let up in the same way it has in the past.”

[Elow]

That’s just sad, everyone remember to thank their mail man/woman