A contributing factor to the losses of the USPS

[freeradical]

[Chakravartin]

Mac-A-Matic wrote:
About ten to twelve years ago, a guy I knew from FedEx explained it to me. Essentially, FedEx is not a local delivery service and its mandate (or federal law, etc, etc) requires that all packages be taken out of the locality to their main hub in Memphis for sorting and distribution - even if the package is being delivered locally. It's been quite some time since it was explained to me so the details are hazy.

Other than the usual common carrier restrictions, the major limitation on FedEx and other private delivery services is that they are not allowed to deliver to mailboxes marked "U.S. Mail."

There are freight-logistics reasons for a package taking seemingly odd detours en route to you, not legal restrictions.

Memphis is one of the three major FedEx hubs, but not every package in the continental U.S. has to go through a major hub. They also have 50+ sorting centers that packages can go through. If your closest sorting center is the Memphis hub then yes, nearly every package sent to you via Fedex is liable to go through Memphis.

[WHiiP]

Black wrote:
These threads are getting repetitive.
People are mixing up cause and effect. You can only streamline management so far in response to financial difficulties before "the system" stops functioning smoothly.

True, but you can''t even streamline a Union at all. :banghead:

[space-time]

I ship some stuff on Amazon. This morning I received email from a buyer that he didn't get his stuff ordered on Oct 22! I shipped it the same day.

Sure enough, I track it via USPS and I get this:

Label/Receipt Number: 9101 9000 XXXX XXXX XXXX 34
Class: First-Class Mail®
Status: Processed through USPS Sort Facility

Your item was processed through our BELLMAWR, NJ 08031 facility on
October 22, 2011 at 9:34 pm. No further information is available for
this item.

So I asked him if he wants a replacement or a refund. If I don't hear from him today, I'll issue a refund.

[Robert M]

Space,

This is one of the reasons I don't use the USPS for shipping goods. The tracking system is archaic in comparison to UPS and Fedex. Same goes for getting information on packages that have gone wayward.

Robert

[bazookaman]

Robert M wrote:
Space,

This is one of the reasons I don't use the USPS for shipping goods. The tracking system is archaic nonexistent in comparison to UPS and Fedex. Same goes for getting information on packages that have gone wayward.

Robert

Fixed that for you.

[Rick-o]

WHiiP wrote:
[quote=Black]
These threads are getting repetitive.
People are mixing up cause and effect. You can only streamline management so far in response to financial difficulties before "the system" stops functioning smoothly.

True, but you can''t even streamline a Union at all. :banghead:
Yes, it's those gosh darn Unions screwing everything up!! Why, someone ought to do something about it!! 8-)

[rz]

Same thing in the airline industry. I live in Orlando, and took a trip to Pensacola, which is in the same state. For the flight up, I had to fly to Atlanta. It's a little out of the way, but not too bad. But for the flight back, I had to fly through Dallas... which is 4 states away in the opposite direction. On that airline, it was the only option (unless I wanted to wait until 6am the next morning and fly through Atlanta). Other airlines had direct service, but it cost more than twice what it was to fly through Dallas.

When you're dealing in the kind of volume that USPS or the airline industry deals in, it actually saves money to standardize on things that might not make sense.

[Uncle Wig]

Gosh, yet ANOTHER anecdote that reveals exactly what's wrong with the Post Office? Why, O WHY isn't Don C Postmaster General? Problem solved!

[Mike Johnson]

Funny how when Congress passes a law designed to strangle the post office, customer service suffers. Whodathunk.