Priority vs. 1st Class mail

[Cwalker935]

I took two identical parcels to the post office this morning one going to New York one going to Florida with Virginia roughly halfway between the 2. The Florida parcel had a rush request so I thought that I would send it priority mail. Expected delivery to New York is Saturday. Priority delivery to Florida is Monday, 1st class delivery to Florida was expected to be Saturday so I sent it first class. I asked why was priority slower and got some song and dance about the priority carrier giving preference to Amazon packages.

 

[JimB]

That certainly sounds like a song and dance. I wonder what carrier they are referring to.

 

[Skie_M]

USPS, UPS, and FedEx all share major carrier transport service agreements, especially when it has to do with long distance or air freight travel.

It could be that due to scheduling conflicts, your package delivery to Florida was delayed in order to be shipped with a lot of other items headed that direction.

Keep in mind that during the holidays, shipping issues can be magnified manyfold ... the general rule is to EXPECT DELAYS and be patient.

 

[Cwalker935]

That certainly sounds like a song and dance. I wonder what carrier they are referring to.

None of her explanation made any real sense. She did reference some sort of recent contract change. The USPS did recently enter into a contract with FedEx to fly USPS Express mail and Priority mail.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...-fly-mail-for-postal-service-for-10-5-billion

This seems to imply that Priority Mail is being handled in part by FedEx while the USPS continues to handle other mail. That could help to explain why there is a disparity in delivery times.

I just find it very odd that priority mail would be slower than regular first class mail. Could FedEx be less efficient than the post office?

 

[Skie_M]

That's pretty much the case ... USPS is required to be available for every address in the USA, as it's a government run service.

UPS is geared more towards packages and transport of larger items than the USPS can generally handle or is permitted to handle (certain chemicals, gunpowder, ect...)

FedEx is also geared towards the larger packages ... They are more efficient in terms of being able to quickly move packages from coast to coast or to another continent, but far less efficient at rural delivery. The USPS has 20 times the personnel, easily, for door to door delivery.

They all still share some transport arrangements like sharing cargo planes and boats, and occasionally big rigs for cross country travel with large/heavy items that can't be shipped by air, along with the more dangerous items that are ground transport only. (You do NOT EVER ship gunpowder or dangerous/explosive chemicals or compounds by air!)

 

[Loucurr]

I recently sent a package from Florida to Connecticut. I sent it 1st class and for some strange reason it went to Hawaii first and ended up being delayed...go figure.

 

[BackyardSmokin]

I order the following all in the same day.
- Shirt from a site based in Texas
- Penn State
- Exoticbalnks

ExoticBlanks was shipped via USPS and came within 3 days.

The other two were shipped via UPS sure post. The shirt was held at the local UPS sorting facility for three days due to "operating issues". Penn State has still yet to arrive and has been stuck at another sorting facility with no delivery ETA.

 

[dogcatcher]

I recently sent a package from Florida to Connecticut. I sent it 1st class and for some strange reason it went to Hawaii first and ended up being delayed...go figure.

The zip code was read wrong, Connecticut Zips start with 0, Hawaii starts with 9. Mail is sorted first by Zip. Human or machine error, it doesn't matter, the next time a person looked at the package it was in Hawaii.

 

[jttheclockman]

This time of the year many strange things happen because of the increased volume of packages. I just got off the phone with PSI. I called them about 2 weeks ago to explain about my dedicated chuck problem and spoke with Bob in the tech dept. He said he would send out another set of jaws. I have not received them yet and just talked with him and he sent them last week. Now maybe they got lost or something else happened but he had kept no record of them so no way to track. We are at the mercy of the mail system which ever one we choose.

I had told this story here before, I did a solar panel job at the FedX hub in my area and it is a huge facility. They were also doing a new conveyor system too. I seen first hand the mass chaos that goes on around this time of the year. The amount of trucks flying in and out of this hub was amazing. Many times I was walking on the outside of the building and noticed many packages just laying on the ground where trucks backed up to the loading dock had dropped. They fall off the conveyor system and just lay there and until someone rides by to pick them up if they ever do get picked up. I stopped a few times to just place the packages on the dock and was told not to do that and not to touch the packages. Here these packages were sitting outside in the rain and the snow. It was a little disheartening to see this, knowing how many packages I get through FedX. They hire extra help this time of the year and they push these people to keep up with the line. The speed at which packages travel is amazing. It is no wonder more things are not broke. So whenever sending something protect it and then protect it some more. I seen it first hand.

 

[dogcatcher]

.Everyone should have to spend a week touring UPS, USPS, FedEx and airline hub sorting centers. They would be thankful for everything they get, including the junk mail

This time of the year many strange things happen because of the increased volume of packages. I just got off the phone with PSI. I called them about 2 weeks ago to explain about my dedicated chuck problem and spoke with Bob in the tech dept. He said he would send out another set of jaws. I have not received them yet and just talked with him and he sent them last week. Now maybe they got lost or something else happened but he had kept no record of them so no way to track. We are at the mercy of the mail system which ever one we choose.

I had told this story here before, I did a solar panel job at the FedX hub in my area and it is a huge facility. They were also doing a new conveyor system too. I seen first hand the mass chaos that goes on around this time of the year. The amount of trucks flying in and out of this hub was amazing. Many times I was walking on the outside of the building and noticed many packages just laying on the ground where trucks backed up to the loading dock had dropped. They fall off the conveyor system and just lay there and until someone rides by to pick them up if they ever do get picked up. I stopped a few times to just place the packages on the dock and was told not to do that and not to touch the packages. Here these packages were sitting outside in the rain and the snow. It was a little disheartening to see this, knowing how many packages I get through FedX. They hire extra help this time of the year and they push these people to keep up with the line. The speed at which packages travel is amazing. It is no wonder more things are not broke. So whenever sending something protect it and then protect it some more. I seen it first hand.

 

[CREID]

.Everyone should have to spend a week touring UPS, USPS, FedEx and airline hub sorting centers. They would be thankful for everything they get, including the junk mail

This time of the year many strange things happen because of the increased volume of packages. I just got off the phone with PSI. I called them about 2 weeks ago to explain about my dedicated chuck problem and spoke with Bob in the tech dept. He said he would send out another set of jaws. I have not received them yet and just talked with him and he sent them last week. Now maybe they got lost or something else happened but he had kept no record of them so no way to track. We are at the mercy of the mail system which ever one we choose.

I had told this story here before, I did a solar panel job at the FedX hub in my area and it is a huge facility. They were also doing a new conveyor system too. I seen first hand the mass chaos that goes on around this time of the year. The amount of trucks flying in and out of this hub was amazing. Many times I was walking on the outside of the building and noticed many packages just laying on the ground where trucks backed up to the loading dock had dropped. They fall off the conveyor system and just lay there and until someone rides by to pick them up if they ever do get picked up. I stopped a few times to just place the packages on the dock and was told not to do that and not to touch the packages. Here these packages were sitting outside in the rain and the snow. It was a little disheartening to see this, knowing how many packages I get through FedX. They hire extra help this time of the year and they push these people to keep up with the line. The speed at which packages travel is amazing. It is no wonder more things are not broke. So whenever sending something protect it and then protect it some more. I seen it first hand.

I used to have to go to UPS after hours to get a package. It is amazing how this is done. And yes packages do fall off. But all in all, the percentage of packages lost and or late is so small, it is almost incalculable. We all think that if our package is lost then the system is screwed up, actually it works remarkably well.