MTFCA Forum

This is just a small vent to let people know what’s going on. As a seller of Old Car Parts, we use the post office a lot. Fedex for larger items. It appears current things are moving a bit better now, but I read an article last night that there are still mountains of stuff for the guys and gals to get through from the past month or so. In all my life, the PO has never lost a package. I’m confident that record will continue. Now they have huge issues with staff getting Covid, and on top of that the political interference has really gummed up the inner working. Right now we have about a half dozen checks in the mail to us, and some from a month ago. We have customers that want to stop payment and resend, and both are rather costly, and may run into the same issues. Unless you are in a hair on fire hurry, just relax. JUST RELAX ! PayPal is one way to speed up payment, but some people don’t like to use that, and the issue is still the item has to make the trip to the buyer.
Our carrier is often here after dark some nights, so these poor guys and gals are and have been working overtime for many months now. I’m reading some since summer. They are keeping the holiday temps on until they catch up. We just have to be patient, things will get back to normal soon.

We received a Christmas card on January 20 which was mailed on December 14 from 350 miles away in the same state. Could have walked it here faster.

I can beat that James . A Christmas present mailed from an hour away, Priority. Posted on dec 14 , recd Jan 18. The chocolate was still delicious. Malleys is the best !

The tracking has helped us immensely, Steve. Connie takes care of that, but don’t think it’s too complicated. They even track first class now. I like to joke that the only thing ever gets “lost” is someone’s check to us. It used to be a joke.

Seems there is no way to tell which package from where will take the longest. I have had deliveries from across the country take just a few days, and I have had them take a few weeks. Doesnt seem to matter from which direction it is coming from either.

I purchased two antique like-items recently. One out of Maine, the other Vermont.
I am about as far away from these two places as one can get without getting on a boat
or crossing a border. I sent checks to each. Both were to send the item once the check
cleared. The Maine item arrived here two weeks ago, about a week after I sent the check.
The Vermont guy just got the check, and said he will mail the item next week Last time
I checked, Maine and Vermont are next to each other, and upon investigation, the two
sellers are only 45 minutes drive apart ! Go figure.

sweet23 wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 23, 2021 3:14 pm

Seems there is no way to tell which package from where will take the longest. I have had deliveries from across the country take just a few days, and I have had them take a few weeks. Doesnt seem to matter from which direction it is coming from either.

Isn't that the truth! I was sweating bullets on a set of NOS Center Caps for my OT 67 Toro that I won on Ebay. Shipped Dec 9th from Florida, arrived here in Northern Ohio Jan 6th & only had one notification on the tracking that it was in transit on Dec 14th. Yet I had a pair of license plate frames come from Seattle to here & it only took 3 days! Both were shipped USPS Priority Mail.

God Bless
Bill
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/thr ... ed.614419/

Service is good here. I've only had a few small issues.

One of the things affecting service is the amount of Amazon packages + other internet deliveries.

With the pandemic, more and more people are ordering on Amazon Prime with two or three day shipping.

My SO has been a mail carrier for almost 20 years and she has never seen the volume of mail they are getting. In a little town like Dillon, Montana they were getting a truck of packages almost every day before Christmas. Nearly every one means you get out of the van, walk up to the door and deliver it. More help???? Nope, just add more stops to the carriers that are already doing everything they can.

We are having such an influx of people in Montana trying to get away from the riots and problems back east and in California that you can't find a place to rent and the real estate people are advertising for listings and land to buy to develop like you would not believe.

EVERY ONE of those people wants home delivery and last fall, Sandi got 90 rural boxes added to her driving part of her route. New people shop on the internet, they don't go to town to the store.

New post office rule: You must be back in the post office parking lot by 6 PM, they will pay NO overtime, if you don't have all your mail delivered you get written up for being slow, no matter what the roads are, the load was that day, whatever.

The carriers are also no longer allowed to chain up their little van. If they get a call to chain up or get stuck or are on a hill they can't pull without chains in those little POS vans, they have to call for chain service and wait -- sometimes two or three hours to get chains put on. But they still have to have their route delivered and back in by 6.

She has about a year and a half left.

I recently entrusted USPS with delivery of a small package with a few parts. Regular six-day-delivery was $11.60 or I could send next-day for; YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!, the parts aren't worth that much! Then I was given a third option, second day delivery, for $11.75. Only fifteen cents more than six day delivery? Yes, that's right. So I sent them off for two-day delivery. It took seven days!

I have worked for the USPS for many years and can verify that the Postal Service is in VERY bad shape.
A majority of its delivery fleet is over 30+ years old and almost every office has daily breakdowns.
COVID has impacted the service badly-Thousands of employees are out sick or in quarantine.
New hires start at a much lower pay scale and are forced to work 12+ hr days just to keep up with the extra volume of parcels due to increased on-line shopping due to the COVID lock downs.
Some areas of the country are worse than others but the whole Postal system is struggling.

As the saying goes, "keep calm and carry on". Or, as in Taylor Swift's song... "you gotta calm down now...." or something like that, I never was very good at remembering lyrics, just remember HER!!

Burger in Spokane wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 23, 2021 4:01 pm

Last time
I checked, Maine and Vermont are next to each other, and upon investigation, the two
sellers are only 45 minutes drive apart ! Go figure.

I live in Maine and I can tell you that Vermont is not next to Maine. You have the entire State of New Hampshire in between us!

Keith

We have had snail mail in Canada for years so the slow down is normal , I have noticed a huge slow down in the US across all the couriers . I don't worry about the things I can't change, I just buy only what is a super good deal . The other problem is the closed border ,I can fly to the US but I can't drive to Pembina to get my mail.

Its refreshing (but almost unbelievable) to hear someone has never lost anything in the mail. I guess I shouldn't complain about my losing only two or three items in the last 10 years. Losing things is only part of the current postal systems problems. Much delayed delivery time is the other. I know COVID has contributed greatly to the problem, but if the USPS is losing that many employees, I'm sure there are some of those millions of Americans who have filed for unemployment in the last year, who would like to have a chance for a job. Hopefully the new administration will appoint a new Postmaster General who knows the postal system and its problems, instead of just appointing a "Good Ol Boy" appointment as the last administration did. Recently, I ordered something from Bob Bergstadt. It left Love's Park on 1/19. All mail to my suburb of San Antonio has to come through the San Antonio hub. This package did, but instead of being routed straight to my post office, it was routed (MISSENT, as the PO calls it) to the New Braunfels, TX post office 10 miles away. That was on 01/22. Tracking only says it was "missent" so I don't have any idea where it is at now.

ModelTWoods wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:37 pm

... Hopefully the new administration will appoint a new Postmaster General who knows the postal system and its problems, instead of just appointing a "Good Ol Boy" appointment as the last administration did. ...

I realize that one of the most popular sports these days is finding new things to blame on President Trump, but I believe that the Postmaster General is appointed by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service.

(My modest postal claim to fame is that my mother's second cousin was JFK's Postmaster General.)

Don't confuse them with facts, Dick. Once they find somebody to blame nothing will ever change their mind.

You are absolutely correct as to how the Postmaster General is commissioned to the job.

DLodge wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:33 pm

ModelTWoods wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:37 pm

... Hopefully the new administration will appoint a new Postmaster General who knows the postal system and its problems, instead of just appointing a "Good Ol Boy" appointment as the last administration did. ...

but I believe that the Postmaster General is appointed by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service.

(My modest postal claim to fame is that my mother's second cousin was JFK's Postmaster General.)

That is correct, The Postmaster General is appointed by the Postal Board of Governors. The current board members were all appointed between 2018 and 2020 and that is the brain-trust that brought us Louis DeJoy our current Postmaster General.

First correct answer here gets a free firewall mounted oil can holder. $45 value. Who had a sign on his desk that said “ the Buck Stops Here “ and what was his middle name?

President Harry Shipp Truman

Harry S Truman, the middle name is"S" nothing else.

Harry S Truman. His middle initial is to honor both of his Grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young

Billdizer,Spencer In wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 7:54 pm

Harry S Truman, the middle name is"S" nothing else.

Agreed, S and nothing more.

But depending on which guy you are talking about, it could be Bennett.
Colonel A.B. Warfield, 1942

I guess I should have read more closely!

Hmmmmmm. Nobody is right yet, but I’ll send one to Ed AND Bill. Harry Truman is correct, but he didn’t have a middle name. He got tired of telling people that, so he added the S. JMHO , but if you are in charge of ANYTHING, that’s where the buck stops. Take responsibility, wouldn’t that be refreshing? It’s pretty painless to say “ I made a mistake”. I tell wifey that multiple times a day.

I will hazard one more guess;

James Earl Carter

Pep C Strebeck wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:59 pm

DLodge wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 2:33 pm

ModelTWoods wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 12:37 pm

... Hopefully the new administration will appoint a new Postmaster General who knows the postal system and its problems, instead of just appointing a "Good Ol Boy" appointment as the last administration did. ...

but I believe that the Postmaster General is appointed by the Board of Governors of the U.S. Postal Service.

(My modest postal claim to fame is that my mother's second cousin was JFK's Postmaster General.)

That is correct, The Postmaster General is appointed by the Postal Board of Governors. The current board members were all appointed between 2018 and 2020 and that is the brain-trust that brought us Louis DeJoy our current Postmaster General.

I stand corrected for my misrepresentation of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. He WAS appointed by the USPS Board of Governors, HOWEVER, every Governor on the USPS Board of Governors was APPOINTED by former President Trump (What a coincidence), and Louis DeJoy has been for years, a big Republican party fundraiser (another coincidence), and since he got so much 'heat'" last year for his handling of the postal service, I thought I had read that he was appointed. I should have researched him in the Wikipedia before posting.

Thanks Tim, but I think only Bill should get it and not me. Technically my answer was not correct. I read to quickly and missed that President Truman’s middle name was just “S”.

LVRR2095 wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 24, 2021 9:57 am

Burger in Spokane wrote: ↑

Sat Jan 23, 2021 4:01 pm

Last time
I checked, Maine and Vermont are next to each other, and upon investigation, the two
sellers are only 45 minutes drive apart ! Go figure.

I live in Maine and I can tell you that Vermont is not next to Maine. You have the entire State of New Hampshire in between us!

Keith

=======================

WHAT ?!!!

Oh, great ! Now, they've gone and moved Maine !

Boy's, I think I found our postal delivery problem !!!

Our son's birthday was December 12. We mailed him a card before that date, and he got it last week!
Norm

Ed, my game, my rules, sorry you are getting one ,too. Just remember, old Harry didn’t have a middle name.

I had read that during the WW1-2 era, if a military personnel did not have a middle initial, the name was printed like Doe,John,NMI for no middle initial, and was on their dog tag that way too.

All my business sized envelopes seem to go through just fine. Any odd size takes longer. I am guessing COVID is the problem. Hats off to all the postal workers here in WI. They do a great job.

Saturday''s mail brought me the January Funny Times. Today the February issue arrived. I guess they're catching up.

Last Tuesday I mailed a small package - 2x2x7, 12 oz - in the Hartford City, IN post office at 11:32 AM. It left at 4:32 PM. It was delivered south of Omaha on Thursday morning. I'd say that was pretty good. It was sent Priority Mail.

Billdizer. My dad was a WW II vet and had no middle name. It was just the other day I was explaining to a coworker that my dad would sign documents with "Anthony NMN Spaziano".

All I know is Maine is west of California by way of Russia and/or China, I've never heard back from anyone who I sent Christmas cards (making me think they got lost in the system), the US postal system wasn't as bad in the previous 56 years as it has been in the past 4, our postal workers are getting the raw end of a number of deals, and people sure love to tell others how screwed up a state they don't live in is...

I also know our local post office is innundated with contract packages from Amazon which has totally blown their time norms, they see that ugly smley truck pull up and start dumping and their hearts sink. Yet they still pull it off, as they are contracted to deliver these packages, giving Amazon it's smley face happy feel and making them look like dirt. DO they have a choice? Nope. Does it ruin their schedules, and make our carriers hate their jobs?

Well, you get told you get a pay cut, no OT, and guess what, here's an extra 40% more for you to do in the same time period. And it only costs you 10x as much to send a letter now as it did when we were kids...

I wonder if ol' Ben Franklin is spinning in his grave yet...

A friend got both the November - December 2020 Vintage Ford and the January February 2021 Model T Times on Saturday!

I do not have either one yet!

We get bills delivered that are already past due......... Christmas cards last week.....tracking info useless once a parcel gets to a major distribution center. Local postmaster did admit to a backlog and says as long as people order dogfood from the Walmart to be delivered by the postman, things are not going to get a lot better. I thought the PO was hurting for business when UPS and FEDEX took their business?????????????

I’m waiting on an item that arrived in Memphis (90 miles away) 16 days ago. Usually the next destination is my local post office. It has instead now been to two other mail centers (one 40 miles away) and is now back in Memphis. Fortunately I’m not in a big hurry.

Just got word that some parts arrived at a customer's 15 days after shipping them 3 day USPS priority mail. At least they arrived!

I received my oil can holder from Tim promptly, no delay in postal mail! Thanks Tim, it's a great piece!

Thank you Tim!

My can holder was delivered yesterday also. It will look great on the firewall of my speedster!

modeltspaz wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 25, 2021 10:36 pm

Billdizer. My dad was a WW II vet and had no middle name. It was just the other day I was explaining to a coworker that my dad would sign documents with "Anthony NMN Spaziano".

Mike, when I was in the Air Force, a friend of mine also had no middle name. In his case, the abbreviation in use at the time was "(NMI)," which stood for "No Middle Initial." He was Jewish and used to tell people that "Nimmi" was an ancient Hebrew name.

Current mail has improved dramatically. We are back to sending first class. HOWEVER, still have 5 orders way overdue. We believe they are in the mountains of stuff still to get through. We are getting letters 2 or 3 weeks dated. I’m an optimist, the postal guys and gals are some of my personal hero’s !