Post office holidays

[FredRydr]

Yes, post offices around the world sometimes lock their doors for the day.

The US Postal Service is taking the day off tomorrow for Columbus Day. (It's also Indigenous People's Day, but no mention is made of that on the USPS online holiday calendar.)

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/events/welcome.htm

So plan your post accordingly if you're hoping your correspondence will get there on time.

[FredRydr]

Poor ol' USPS, is it going 3rd world? Postcards from the next county take three weeks to arrive. Yes, I am aware of the strain on the system as a result of Covid-19 distancing layoffs across the system, added to the deluge of parcels and holiday mail with sorting equipment taken offline and the unqualified individual placed in charge of it all. I have confidence things will have substantially improved by the end of February. One of these days after the crisis passes, I'd like to tour a major mail sorting station.

Meanwhile, stalled Priority parcels due to arrive a month ago still haven't shifted, according to USPS online tracking info.

[Chrissy]

Poor old USPS. They will bounce back. :)

I've recently bought a book from Amazon.com - well November 26th. It's arriving by UPS tomorrow. The money was finally removed from my credit card on Christmas eve (credit card delay according to Amazon) and the book is now in the UK. Damn fine work I say. :) Especially as I've only paid $7 for this service and it's a heavy book. :) I can't wait to see if it's in good condition...... or not......

[guyy]

Poor ol' USPS, is it going 3rd world? Postcards from the next county take three weeks to arrive. Yes, I am aware of the strain on the system as a result of Covid-19 distancing layoffs across the system, added to the deluge of parcels and holiday mail with sorting equipment taken offline and the unqualified individual placed in charge of it all. I have confidence things will have substantially improved by the end of February. One of these days after the crisis passes, I'd like to tour a major mail sorting station.

Meanwhile, stalled Priority parcels due to arrive a month ago still haven't shifted, according to USPS online tracking info.

My Brooklyn to Brooklyn priority overnight parcel shipped on the 21st and arrived today the 28th. Tracking says it took a round trip to Florida. I wonder if that was deliberate.

[Chrissy]

Poor ol' USPS, is it going 3rd world? Postcards from the next county take three weeks to arrive. Yes, I am aware of the strain on the system as a result of Covid-19 distancing layoffs across the system, added to the deluge of parcels and holiday mail with sorting equipment taken offline and the unqualified individual placed in charge of it all. I have confidence things will have substantially improved by the end of February. One of these days after the crisis passes, I'd like to tour a major mail sorting station.

Meanwhile, stalled Priority parcels due to arrive a month ago still haven't shifted, according to USPS online tracking info.

My Brooklyn to Brooklyn priority overnight parcel shipped on the 21st and arrived today the 28th. Tracking says it took a round trip to Florida. I wonder if that was deliberate.
I admit I have trouble with working out why US tracking seems to go from one city to another then sometimes back again, then to another city, and another. I used to think those long tortuous trips were meant for ground items only, but I don't think that's the case. Not sure what it means.

By comparison I think the tracking for my book looks quite straightforward:

58080

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Poor ol' USPS, is it going 3rd world? Postcards from the next county take three weeks to arrive. Yes, I am aware of the strain on the system as a result of Covid-19 distancing layoffs across the system, added to the deluge of parcels and holiday mail with sorting equipment taken offline and the unqualified individual placed in charge of it all. I have confidence things will have substantially improved by the end of February. One of these days after the crisis passes, I'd like to tour a major mail sorting station.

Meanwhile, stalled Priority parcels due to arrive a month ago still haven't shifted, according to USPS online tracking info.

---

The worker bees are doing the best they can under the circumstances.

Even UPS is backed up. UPS' site predicts that eight days for calendars shipped from Austin, Texas to Cleveland.

I hope you are able to get that tour, and get to see what the USPS refused to show Congressmen/women who wanted to tour one of those places.

[FredRydr]

Don't confuse UPS (United Parcel Service - shiny brown vans) with USPS (United States Postal Service).

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.moddb.com%2Fimages%2Fdownloa ds%2F1%2F34%2F33463%2Fups.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftse1.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DOIP. 7NLof6MVuhHWhKcj2w_U2QHaFH%26pid%3DApi&f=1

[Yazeh]

I think most postal services in the world are affected.
I have had three parcels lost.
I don't dare to order anything from overseas, as unless I get insured they get lost.
Shipping between Toronto and Montreal usually took 2 days, now it takes a week :)

[Ole Juul]

I think most postal services in the world are affected.
I have had three parcels lost.
I don't dare to order anything from overseas, as unless I get insured they get lost.
Shipping between Toronto and Montreal usually took 2 days, now it takes a week :)

I'm sure they'll show up. If everybody lost a parcel or two, they would need a warehouse the size of a small city to store them. It is extremely rare that something gets stolen.

I think Canada Post has had more problems on your side of the country. At least it has looked like it in the past when we were only dealing with covid. But now that we're dealing with an unprecedented Christmas volume I'm seeing it here too. I've had quite long delays, and one parcel has been waiting (according to tracking) for the last delivery hop for over a month! I'm fairly confident it'll get here eventually if my name is still on it. :)

[Yazeh]

I think most postal services in the world are affected.
I have had three parcels lost.
I don't dare to order anything from overseas, as unless I get insured they get lost.
Shipping between Toronto and Montreal usually took 2 days, now it takes a week :)

I'm sure they'll show up. If everybody lost a parcel or two, they would need a warehouse the size of a small city to store them. It is extremely rare that something gets stolen.

I think Canada Post has had more problems on your side of the country. At least it has looked like it in the past when we were only dealing with covid. But now that we're dealing with an unprecedented Christmas volume I'm seeing it here too. I've had quite long delays, and one parcel has been waiting (according to tracking) for the last delivery hop for over a month! I'm fairly confident it'll get here eventually if my name is still on it. :)

Thanks Ole. But the two from China are definitely lost.
The one from Germany, I'm still hoping for a miracle, that it'll show up.
Funny thing is that items I receive items from France faster than BC. Probably because of the direct line between Montreal and Paris.
I hope you get yours soon. :)

[eachan]

Over the past month or so items sent to the US have arrived in good time. An item sent to The Netherlands took more than a month. Packages sent to Australia have been very slow. Strangely, a pen sent to a London address took more than three weeks though all other domestic items have taken the usual time.

[Ole Juul]

I think most postal services in the world are affected.
I have had three parcels lost.
I don't dare to order anything from overseas, as unless I get insured they get lost.
Shipping between Toronto and Montreal usually took 2 days, now it takes a week :)

I'm sure they'll show up. If everybody lost a parcel or two, they would need a warehouse the size of a small city to store them. It is extremely rare that something gets stolen.

I think Canada Post has had more problems on your side of the country. At least it has looked like it in the past when we were only dealing with covid. But now that we're dealing with an unprecedented Christmas volume I'm seeing it here too. I've had quite long delays, and one parcel has been waiting (according to tracking) for the last delivery hop for over a month! I'm fairly confident it'll get here eventually if my name is still on it. :)

Thanks Ole. But the two from China are definitely lost.
The one from Germany, I'm still hoping for a miracle, that it'll show up.
Funny thing is that items I receive items from France faster than BC. Probably because of the direct line between Montreal and Paris.
I hope you get yours soon. :)

Ah, from China. That's another story if it didn't get here. Once it's in Canada, different rules apply. Not all countries have the same discipline that we do here. I sent a book to India last year and because it was $40 to send, I didn't register it. That one went into a black hole. All in all, with the cost of a second book and registered mail, it cost me over $150. For Christmas I sent another book, but this time, having learned my lesson, I paid the price of registered mail right away. Registered mail to India for a small book is $86, by the way.

[FredRydr]

...Registered mail to India for a small book is $86, by the way.
Is the post turning into a racket?

[Ole Juul]

...Registered mail to India for a small book is $86, by the way.
Is the post turning into a racket?

I think mail in India is a complicated affair. The address had 9 lines!

We don't have so many people in Canada though. I bet you could get away with only my name and postal code here. That would be specific enough.

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

Yes, the similar acronyms are confusing. They are separate.

Due to overload, both United Parcel Service (UPS) and FedEx were reportedly declining to accept packages at some point before Christmas.

Happy New Year

[grainweevil]

Ah, from China. That's another story if it didn't get here.

If it's by sea, certainly. Coincidentally Pa Weevil read me out a piece from one of his regular journals that covers merchant shipping just yesterday, and one single container ship lost over 1800 "boxes" overboard in one trip. By "box" they mean one of those stinking great big 40ft containers. This is by no means a unique example and steady loss of containers overboard in rough weather is a real problem; the idiots sail right into storms because that's what profit dictates. Anyway, the net result was I came away marvelling that anything that comes via the slow boat ever gets to us at all.

[Chrissy]

Ah, from China. That's another story if it didn't get here.

If it's by sea, certainly. Coincidentally Pa Weevil read me out a piece from one of his regular journals that covers merchant shipping just yesterday, and one single container ship lost over 1800 "boxes" overboard in one trip. By "box" they mean one of those stinking great big 40ft containers. This is by no means a unique example and steady loss of containers overboard in rough weather is a real problem; the idiots sail right into storms because that's what profit dictates. Anyway, the net result was I came away marvelling that anything that comes via the slow boat ever gets to us at all.
After reading this I considered that it was almost a miracle anything actually reaches us at all. :(

[Yazeh]

Before covid times, I remember seeing in the news cast, contents of washed out container, littering the French coast....
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47732553

[FredRydr]

I remember well the reports of salvage on the Devon coast from one of 200 dropped containers. These guys would have needed to complete the assembly of this BMW R1200RT's front wheel and handlebar to get it this far out of the crate, and they'll need a new windscreen. Wonder if they got the coded keys?

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/opportunists-salvage-bmw-motorbikes-from-the-shipping-containers-up-picture-id73062723?s=2048x2048

[Yazeh]

Or this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THriYNnq7iQ

[BlkWhiteFilmPix]

A letter mailed from Istanbul around November 23, 2020 arrived in NE Ohio on January 5, 2021. The postage equivalent is $6 US.

Parcels are predicted to keep trickling in until the end of January or the first week of February.