THE USPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[rwsmith]

You haven't missed anything....

Having been an associate rural carrier for a short time, I'll add my comments.

When the carrier comes into the post office in the morning, he/she has to pick up the mail from at least 5 different areas of the PO. The carrier takes it back to their area and then puts it into the pigeon holes for that route. The holes are arranged in the order that the mail is delivered. There is a lot of memorizing to get the mail into the correct pigeon hole. Magazines, flyers and catalogues are a pain also. Plus, there is mail that has to be tracked and packages as well.

Once the mail is sorted, you have to bundle it up and put it in your vehicle. Mail boxes are supposed to be set at a certain height. Not all are. Driving on the right side of a vehicle, using your left foot for gas and brake, takes a little bit of time to master.

I had 5 or 6 days of training at a couple of large post offices and then 4 days of training on the job. The big problem was that I only worked every other Saturday. It is kinda hard to master a skill with that schedule.

I tried coming in an hour early to try and get ahead of schedule, only to be told I wasn't supposed to do that. Anyway, I soon found out that I was too slow for that job and got fired, after working from January to mid March. Later, I was told by other postal workers that I got a raw deal and wasn't given enough time to truly learn the job.

I left the PO in March and was offered a security job in April that paid better. The Good Lord may close a door, but He will open another one.

The carriers have been delivering Amazon and UPS for about three years now. They got around to adjusting the pay a few months ago.

I'll be so glad for her to get out of there....

 

[JohnZMI]

Be glad you don't live in Italy in the 60's-70's; I had a lot of mail traffic in those days with the Ferrari factory in Maranello, and learned quickly NOT to mail anything there or to expect any items from there around the end of December/beginning of January. Apparently that's when they cleaned out the corner of the post offices in Italy where all the stuff piled up that they hadn't had a chance to process yet, and dumped it all so they could start the New Year "fresh".

 

[Sistema1927]

USPS service has really gone into the toilet recently. We had a mail hold all this past week as we were out of town. Neighbor saw mail delivered on Monday, which he intercepted and called me. I called the PO, and they told me that they would inform the carrier to follow the hold order.

Then, as we were having lunch yesterday about 5 hours away from home, my doorbell camera gave me notification that the carrier had delivered two packages on my doorstep. Fortunately they were still there when we arrived.

Held mail was to be delivered today. We received about 1/2 of it. So, a trip to the PO on Monday morning to try to find my mail and lodge a complaint.

 

[Rustyt1953]

An hour ago I received a package, sent by USPS, from a forum member in Alabama. It contains home grown tomatoes, garlic cloves, scotch bonnets and ghost peppers. The box was securely bound in duct tape.

It arrived on time, undamaged and un-nibbled upon.

Duct tape rules!

 

[gman51]

I don't believe there is anything in their motto about darkness. Last winter I didn't get my expected packages because it got dark. The Postmaster ordered all carriers return to the office.
A plus for them was the postmaster had another truck deliver the missed deliveries by about 10 a.m. the next day.
My neighbor told me he saw a car stopped at my mailbox and he wasn't sure if he put something into it or took out something. By the car description I knew it was from up the street. I believe he was putting mail that was mine into my mailbox that had been delivered to his mailbox. I know that getting mail delivered to wrong addresses has happened at least a dozen times.
Twice my monthly bank statement got delivered to the wrong address. It was opened and taped back shut when I finally got it. I left a note for the mail carrier that I didn't appreciate the neighbors getting my personal banking information. I asked her to please pay attention to the address before she puts the letters in the boxes on my street. I don't know what system she was using for sorting mail in her truck but she was occasionally screwing up bad. Obviously she was grabbing a pile and assuming she had the correct addressed pile without looking at the address.
The PO has a lot of part time carriers which I think are perhaps dyslexic.

 

[Rastoff]

The USPS handles 188 million pieces of mail a day, every day. More than that, they get the vast majority of it right. They are better than 98% or 99% or even 99.999%. But, they are just like everyone else and every now and then they lose something.

It's more likely that the OP had a person problem. Remember, the carriers are individuals. Every now and then you get someone without integrity. Sometimes, when they get overwhelmed or behind in their deliveries, they'll just report that they couldn't get to the address. This way they deflect blame from themselves. Sorry, but sometimes this is how people act. Not the fault of the USPS, but just one carrier.