Midwest Chick's Place

(A.K.A. Non-Original Rants)

–Co-opting good stuff from all over the ‘Net and maybe some original thoughts—ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

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Can does not equal should when it comes to the USPS

A few interesting things:

The U.S. Postal Service on Friday reported a net quarterly loss of $2 billion as it faces a growing financial crisis and has warned it could run out of cash as soon as February.

USPS said mail volumes fell another 6.3% in ‌the three months ending March 31 as operating revenue rose ​2.3% to $20.2 billion over the same quarter last year.

And the second one:

The United States Postal Service could begin mailing handguns if a proposed rule from the Trump administration receives approval.

Filed last month, the proposed rule would allow Americans to mail concealable guns, like pistols and revolvers, to anyone in the country. Protections similar to those for mailing long-barreled rifles and shotguns, which require them to be unloaded and securely packaged, would likely be applied.

The Postal Service reviewed public comments due on Monday before making any changes to its rules on handguns.

And this:

Thousands of mail parcels, including gift cards and drugs, have been stolen over the past few years by United States Postal Service employees, according to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG).

A recent report by the OIG investigating 12 mail processing facilities showed internal mail theft still occurs at processing facilities nationwide despite processes and procedures in place to deter it.

The OIG said theft is related to a lack of specific policies restricting personal belongings on the workroom floor, high supervisor and manager vacancy rates and no periodic mail theft employee training.

So riddle me this…. Considering items 1 and 3, why the heck would anyone entrust a firearm to the USPS per item 2? Especially in light of the fact that there was also malfeasance on mail-in ballots by USPS workers also (official federal documents, not just stuff we plebes send out).

I buy stuff online and the fact that some sellers only use USPS just annoys me. I am on a first name basis with the chick at our local post office whose job is to find lost items. For some things, the USPS has a lock on shipping–post office boxes, etc., but otherwise I won’t use them–UPS is my shipper of choice at this time.

Benjamin Franklin has to be spinning in his grave over what his beloved postal service has become.

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Midwest Chick

17 responses to “Can does not equal should when it comes to the USPS”

  1. stlview Avatar
    stlview

    Had a Christmas package I was trying to send to one of grands in Maine. Got delivered to a post office in Texas no less than four times before it finally got to Maine in late January. I’ve had outgoing packages that got to the processing center here in St Louis that found a black hole, never to be seen again. Ditto on another shipper these days. FedEx is more convenient right now.

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  2. B Avatar
    B

    Did you ever try to ship a firearm via either Fed Ex or UPS?

    Most of the time you have to go directly to the sorting facility, as many of the retail outlets won’t handle a firearm.
    Plus, of course, getting the firearm from either UPS or FedEX can be annoying, as they require an adult signature, but that makes you wait for HOURS because they cannot give you a time for when they will deliver….even to a few hours.

    USPS could hardly be worse (except for the theft).

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  3. Don Curton Avatar
    Don Curton

    The USPS made sense back in Franklin’s time, but today we have commercial delivery services that actually turn a good profit. The USPS is no longer needed except as a jobs program for people who can’t find work elsewhere. The local post office here is a complete mess and mail gets lost/never delivered all the time. We won’t ever order anything that gets delivered by USPS.

    As for guns, I thought federal law required all gun transfers take place thru a FFL? Either way, not gonna trust USPS. In fact, some of the online gun stores expressly state they will not ship USPS. So there’s that.

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  4. veeshir Avatar
    veeshir

    The railroad and mail service are important for emergencies, moving people or information.
    The problem is that the people currently running both are tools and in case of emergency would either be useless or working for the forces of chaos.

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  5. Gerry Avatar
    Gerry

    “What is the duty of the US government?” someone asked.
    “Deliver the mail and guard the coast. Nothing else” was the answer.

    I really don’t care about the money lost as much as the shitty job being done by the Postal Service. It takes longer for mail to reach the end user than it did in 1970.

    When Al Gore invented the internet, he should have thought on how this would impact the USPS earnings.

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  6. Unferth Avatar
    Unferth

    Years ago, I sent an item to Ruger. They USPS mailed it back. It was sitting by the front door when I got home. Glad one of the kids didn’t open it.

    One thing USPS does right, that congress forced them to, is a fully funded retirement system.

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  7. riverrider Avatar
    riverrider

    my package that i was supposed to get today just got sent in the opposite direction for some unknown reason. eight days from texas to va… i get stuff from utah in three days. but kalifornia takes two weeks. anything to do with guns gets different routing and usually takes twice as long.

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  8. steves6 Avatar
    steves6

    “A postal service, if you can keep it.” Ben.

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  9. capvideo Avatar
    capvideo

    Yeah, I’ve seen all sorts of weird stuff going on with tracked packages via USPS. Packages that sort of circle their destination for several days before finally zeroing in on me. Packages that arrive without ever having left their origin facility.

    Lately, if I have a package arriving and mail out for delivery the same day, I will get one but not the other. Whichever isn’t delivered will arrive the next day.

    But one benefit of a seller only using USPS is that you’re guaranteed to get a workable Hold Mail. UPS has a tendency to change their mind about whether a package is holdable at random points during delivery, which is difficult to deal with when the reason the mail is being held is that you aren’t there to deal with it. Fed Ex seems to assume you’re a business, and always there.

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  10. p2 Avatar
    p2

    The US in USPS stands for either Unbelievably Slow or Stupid depending on the day. They’re 32 for 46 on items I’ve sent or had inbound either lost, destroyed, damaged or very delayed just since January. Their tracking system is completely false and I had the station manager here tell me “We don’t care” when asked about it. UPS is even worse up here. FEDEX is my choice.

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  11. Madam DeFarge Avatar
    Madam DeFarge

    I don’t expect the USPS to do anything except act like the deranged democrats who dominate their employee rolls.

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  12. wv citybilly Avatar
    wv citybilly

    UPS would not a ship a firearm I needed repaired. Wouldn’t even box it for me, even though their website is clear they do (or did) allow this, and here’s what you need to do, ya da ya da.

    Assholes!

    To their credit, the post office shipped it for me, and I have used the post office to ship firearms since.

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  13. Old NFO Avatar
    Old NFO

    Once had my dealer send a gun USPS to a contest winner. It tracked all the way to the postman, but never delivered. Filed a complaint with Postal Inspectors, nothing ever heard, and they refused to pay the insurance, saying it was NOT USPS fault… Grrrr…

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  14. SilliestString Avatar
    SilliestString

    @Don Curton – It’s legal for an individual to ship a firearm to the manufacturer and for it to be returned without FFL involvement. If it’s a pistol, it has to go UPS, FedEx or other common carrier because USPS has rules against shipping them. The proposed rule would remove that restriction and add USPS as an option. I’ve used FedEx in the past to send one in for repair, but just learned I could have used USPS since it was a rifle. Probably wouldn’t have, but there ya go. They returned it using FedEx, too.
    A brother once shipped a pistol to Ruger for repair, but the damage was such that they replaced the gun instead of repairing it. Since it was a new serial number, the return had to go through an FFL.

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  15. Nemo Avatar
    Nemo

    Gee, they couldn’t be going broke because of this could they?

    The average annual salary for U.S. Postal Service (USPS) workers is around $57,870, with a range typically between $44,415 and $97,650.

    That doesn’t consider the lavish gold plated benefits they get along with said salary.

    How tough is it to sort and deliver mail?

    I live in a complex that has central mail delivery. At least once a month, I get someone else’s mail in my box. Makes me wonder if my mail is going to someone else’s box.

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  16. Grandpa Ed Avatar
    Grandpa Ed

    I agree. I am NEVER using USPS again to send packages, We have had gifts sent to family members that have either never been delivered or delivered weeks after we were promised they would be. We’re only using UPS or FedEx from now on.

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  17. Boone Avatar
    Boone

    @silliest string – last year, UPS refused to accept a handgun from me going to H&K for warranty repair. It has been my experience that no one will touch a handgun shipment going from other than an ffl. Has also been my experience that UPS drop off centers will refuse any gun parts such as magazines.

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