Anyone else notice slow packages, no matter who is delivering them?

[piddyprints]

Yes, we expect the USPS to be slow now that DeJoy has lit a bomb under the entire thing.

You'd think it would be a great opportunity for the "F..." and "U..." companies to step up and say, "Hey, come to us! We will deliver faster and better!"

Well, the "F..." in our area could not suck more. They don't maintain their trucks, which means I have multiple oil spots on my driveway. Yes, I have complained and, yes, something will be done if I live long enough. Meanwhile, they fixed the truck temporarily and it's leaking oil again. Know who had to be the one to tell them? You got it! Me! Why are they not going through regular inspections?

So now that they know their truck is leaking, my packages are delayed. Their plan "B" is not reliable. It usually is for another truck to bring my packages or, in at least one case, an employee to deliver using a personal vehicle on his way home. And then, only because I told them that the package is perishable and they will pay for it if it's spoiled. As retaliation once, they left my package in a flower garden leaning up against my mailbox, about 600 feet away from the house. Only once, because I complained, and it was fortunately not a heavy package. That driver is still working.

"U..." is better for now. Their trucks do not leak. But the package I was supposed to get yesterday and has been a 35-minute drive away since yesterday morning won't be here until Monday. No reason. Not at all. Oh, and the driver is very, very nice. But he apparently can't read. I have a floor mat with a big red sign on the wall saying, "Please deliver packages here." And he walks right past it and puts them on my furniture.

It took me quite a while and lots of complaints to get both of them to put stuff on the covered porch, which they drive right past to get to the uncovered, frequently wet porch.

They used to be very reliable. Is it just a coincidence? Is it just this area?

WTAF?

By the way, only one USPS package was delivered late in the past several weeks, and that was because there was roadside mowing or something such that vehicles couldn't get past. Totally not the fault of USPS.

[CrispyQ]

1. IMO, we are seeing the first signs of the breakdown of systems

that we've taken for granted for so long. I used to tell my husband, "We're gonna exit planet earth just in time." But now? We're gonna see some shit, too. Everything is accelerating—downward.

[piddyprints]

2. You may be right.

So much is going awry these days.

[marie999]

3. No, but any mail I need or want is sent to me from within the state.

I also use tracking on all my VA meds and I am told by USPS when they are notified when they expect the shipment from the VA when they send out the shipment when my post office receives the shipment and what day it is being delivered. BY 0800 I know what mail and packages will be delivered that day.

[piddyprints]

11. I get texts and track all my packages.

Countless times, I've gotten a text before 8:00am telling me to expect a package that day. And countless times, I've later gotten an exception, saying that it couldn't be delivered. Frequently, the reason is a lie, like "customer wasn't home" on a package that did not require a signature. Also, I have cameras and know without a doubt if a truck of any kind even came down my driveway or if anyone was on my porch.

[marie999]

13. That would seem to be a local problem.

I am not saying that only your local post office is doing it.

[piddyprints]

18. It's not the post office so much.

It's the other two.

[Tetrachloride]

4. The driver problems will get worse until February

My company hired me and a few other people out to one of the big delivery companies.

We had to do as good as the regular drivers with less experience on the route and ad hoc worksheets. and we did.

Over half of my company would not have been able to do the job. Some cant read a map. Most were just below par.

Amazon will already be having an effect on package volume.

USPS is the least popular driving job. One person said she would rather drive a
school bus than work as a USPS driver.

[piddyprints]

12. Yikes!

But why February?

We have a very good USPS driver now. He has a small car, though, and sometimes has to make 2 tips to deliver packages... or one delivers the mail and another one delivers bigger packages. We're never sure unless we're on the porch when they arrive the 2nd time.

[Tetrachloride]

15. Christmas. Layaways. Some people wait for post Christmas sales

There is close to zero chance than on Jan 1 that problems evaporate.

USPS, FedEx, UPS and school bus companies all want drivers.

School busses work best if there is a chaperone. Not every bus has one.

[we can do it]

5. UPS seems to be only one still on time.

[piddyprints]

10. It was here until lately.

And unless we had snow. Apparently, we don't get enough winter weather for them to have chains or all-weather/snow tires. So if the roads are iffy, they don't deliver here.

[Karma13612]

6. Yup

A package from Amazon was supposed to be here yesterday. That would make it a week after I ordered it. The last leg of the trip is via USPS although the first portion is supposed to be UPS.

It should be UPS right up until it hits our local NYS post office in rural NY-21.

According to tracking it is still stuck in MO or MS. And now another package I ordered days LATER, is in the same area according to tracking. I wonder if they are trying to merge the two packages to be delivered on the same day.

Obviously they don’t give two hoots about Prime Membership, and the fact that I was relying on that first order to be here in time for some plans I had.

What is the point of prime? Yea, lots of streaming, music, etc. But, if they say a package is supposed to be here on X date, they should honor it.





WTAF indeed!

[piddyprints]

8. Amazon used to honor it

or they'd give a free extra month of Prime, or a credit. Now they just toss up their hands and say so sorry.

I ordered a package from Amazon on Thursday evening and it arrived yesterday via USPS, likely because they have a new distribution center very nearby.

[Karma13612]

17. Congrats!!

I just checked tracking on mine and it’s still in MS.

Turns out it was USPS from the start and from a 3rd party reseller.

Yea, I got the apology from Amazon who says if I don’t get by October 7th (OMFG!!), then I can request a refund.

I need to pay more attention to the “who it’s sold by” information.

I needed this item, GD-it.

[piddyprints]

19. Yesterday's package wasn't sold by Amazon.

But somehow it got here really fast. OTOH, a package I ordered a week ago isn't here yet. Prime. Used to be 2 days and you'd have it.

If you open a chat with Amazon and say the seller didn't email back to you, you can escalate so that they will contact the seller directly. That has worked for me before.

I understand your frustration. I waited and waited for a book I was giving as a gift. When it came, it was a used (very used!) library book, complete with library card stuck in the back. The seller refunded my money and I didn't even have to send it back. But I did order another one and it came exactly 1 day before I needed it. Brand new, wrapped nicely, complete with a packing slip saying which edition it was, etc. It's a crap-shoot what kind of service you'll get.

[Karma13612]

30. Appreciate the sympathy and I also

Feel for your situation as well.

Hope we can get some improvement once we are able to rid the USPS of “NoJoy”.

[Grammy23]

7. I know for a fact that Fed Ex once put a high priority on

Vehicle cleanliness and maintenance. Vehicles (a long time ago) were washed every night at the station (a person or persons came in to do it after all trucks were back at the station for the night) and a company mechanic came in nightly to do a regularly scheduled PM (preventive maintenance). Some bigger repairs were done in house but if it took up too much time of the employee mechanic, it was sent out to a vendor. A day time mechanic was available to do PMs on vehicles not in service or for breakdowns during routine hours.

Fred Smith put a high value on the outward appearance of the fleet. Vans were washed regularly and waxed periodically, as needed. The company had a poop sheet of maintenance for every vehicle and records of that maintenance were kept on file. Fred Smith apparently believed that having a reliable, well maintained fleet was important to their much noted goal of “when it absolutely, positively must be there overnight” being met. He came up with the concept and was determined to have the best track record in the industry.

Now things have changed. Fred doesn’t have as much control and the “suits” in Memphis are more concerned with profit, so clean vehicles are lower in priority. They still do vehicle maintenance (I know an inside source) but it isn’t the same as in the old days. 😔

[piddyprints]

9. Fred Smith might,

but the locals surely don't. Considering that oil leaks are a DOT violation, as was told to me by the local office, you'd think it would be a high priority.

The trucks are dirty, smelly, drippy, and every package that comes off them is covered in brownish/black dust. I've asked the companies I order from why they don't use someone else and they reply that the choices are all bad.

[Grammy23]

33. And what you describe as the conditions of their delivery vehicles

would have been unheard of when Fred established the company. All of it from the exterior of the van, the interior and particularly the engine were cleaned, inspected and repaired overnight before the next day (when possible). Big repairs were sent out or the vehicle was taken out of service until it could be properly fixed. They rented vehicles if necessary to insure deliveries could be made on time.

Something happened in the last 10 years or so and the priority of having very clean vehicles with timely repairs has fallen off the radar. Fred’s philosophy was the delivery vehicle represented the company every time it left the building. It was a rolling advertisement. In addition, if a vehicle broke down while in service, it made on time deliveries harder. So he put a high value on having a clean vehicle that was running efficiently and reliably 100 % of the time. Not most of the time. All of the time. One of the highest paid employees at each station was the vehicle maintenance mechanic. They were/are hired based on years of experience and ASE certifications.

So some things have changed and evidently that is across all of the delivery companies. Fred Smith’s original idea still lives but obviously the attention to detail that he began has clearly been demoted.

[brooklynite]

14. Nope; deliveries to NYC have been traveling smoothly.

[piddyprints]

20. I'm thinking it might be very local.

My daughter lives an hour away from me and her stuff is always there when it's supposed to be. We must have a particularly bad crew here.

[bif]

16. No, but our mail delivery has actually gotten worse.

We now get mail twice a week. And out local weekly newspaper hasn't come in four weeks! We have the mail system of a third world country!

[piddyprints]

21. Holy cow!

Twice a week?

That's outrageous!

[bif]

22. I's pretty much a joke.

My wife and I joke about it. I'll check the mail and my wife will ask me if anything came. I'll tell her, nope, we already got mail this week! Sometimes we'll get mail on Sundays, for some strange reason. And we live in a big city. I can only imagine how crappy it is out in the country.

[MissB]

23. FedEx has been the worst around here

I mean, all the local networks have done a story about how short staffed and backed up they are. It took almost three weeks for a package to arrive and most of that time it was parked locally, probably in a trailer that they couldn’t unload because they didn’t have the personnel.

I found the easiest thing g to do was to reroute the package to a local FedEx shop. The last mile delivery is what was going to take so much longer. If I were ordering some stuff from Amazon, I’d have it delivered to the local Whole Foods store to get it faster.

[demmiblue]

24. All but one of my recent purchases have been timely.

My Chewy package took five-six days via FedEx (my Chewy deliveries are usually exceptionally quick). Not expecting that length of time, I ran out of prescription dog food.

[milestogo]

26. Chewy is excellent.

[milestogo]

25. Erratic

Sometimes early, sometimes late, sometimes put in the wrong mailbox.

[USALiberal]

27. Not at all, Amazon prime still quick as ever.

[Karma13612]

34. Consider yourself fortunate!

There might be many factors at play here.

We have been prime members for years and have noticed them slipping in the last couple years. Now it is pretty much a week wait, regardless if it’s prime and shipped right from Amazon.

Forget it if it travels by USPS for the last leg. Then you are looking at more than a week at least. We give them a LOT of business, we live in a rural area with fairly reliable mail service. The mail-person (via vehicle) comes by Mon-Saturday to drop off and pick up.

I ordered something from Amazon a week ago, it was due to be delivered yesterday, but I didn’t realize it was a 3rd party reseller and it is being delivered by USPS. The response I have gotten from Amazon is that if it doesn’t arrive by Oct 8 (!!!!!!!!), then I can contact them for a refund.

If it arrives by Oct 8th, then that will have been 2 weeks from order to delivery. That is not acceptable. In any universe.

We have tracked packages and have noticed that they will get the package to a mid-point somewhere in the states where it will then sit for a few days. Then it will finally get delivered by the promised date (as I said, usually one week from the order date). They could get it to us sooner, because it shipped right away, but they hold it in limbo until they get it to us by their promised date.

All the while we pay for prime, and are waiting for the item.

[LanternWaste]

36. Little bit yes, Amazon slowing down.

[Vinca]

28. I wonder if it matters who's sending it since the big carriers have contracts with big

companies. I always get stuff from Amazon quickly through the mail and my boxes of pet food from Chewy arrive in 2 - 3 days via FedEx. On the other hand, I got a couple of bills for different accounts at the same place. One had a date due for payment that was 12 days before the other despite the bills arriving at the post office on consecutive days. So one bill must have inexplicably been delayed more than a week.

[KentuckyWoman]

29. Even newspaper delivery is a problem

I get the daily print edition and more often than not it never shows up. Now I realize the papers want to get out of the paper business but if they are going to take my money, deliver.

Sometimes the local "marts" didn't get their delivery either. The "report a lost paper" online is permanently broken. A call to customer service defaults to a message to use the online reporting tool. Pinging them on social media gets a bounce back that says email this person who never answers.

Covid has the volume of all delivery everything way up and everyone wants free shipping, free delivery. A lot of people don't have the temperament to drive around all day. It certainly doesn't seem fun to me... So the need for drivers is I'd expect much larger than the labor pool.

[HipChick]

31. Fedex Overnight took 3 days to be delivered..

Everytime I called about it, they cited resource issues...not enough drivers, too many packages to be delivered...

[Karma13612]

35. Fed Ex is terrible around here.

I groan when I realize that a retailer uses them. There always seem to be delays.

[musette_sf]

32. Sometimes, but I've got to give it to Costco

I had a 2-day grocery order delivered at **3:30am** last week.