USPS Media Mail

Patience is a virtue

 

Here's one for you guys. I purchased a few records from Chris in the classifieds on July 26th. Chris is a top seller so this is no issue with him. The records were shipped media mail the next day. The records just arrived today, August 19th, from MA to FL.

 

This situation will likely start to improve over the next 2-3 weeks if the Postmaster General's announcement is true (reversal of recent policy and operational changes until after the election).

 

He didn’t say anything about reversal. He said it would stop (and it hasn’t).

 

According to this story, the ban on overtime will be reversed, as will planned service reductions. You do appear to be correct, though, in that it only says that the removal of sorting equipment and mailboxes will be suspended, but it does not say that what's been removed so far will be replaced.

As for not having actually stopped yet, believe me I do not trust the administration at all - but it's Wednesday night now and they only made this announcement on Tuesday. I do agree we need to monitor closely, though, and keep the pressure on.

 

With the current situation I try to stay away from Media Mail. For single and 2-3 CD box sets I use FCM, usually the cost is around $3.33 for up to 8 oz. If I sell higher priced vinyl I'll go with Priority Cubic which is around $8 for 2 pounds. Of course I'm stuck with Media Mail for albums under $10, just the way it goes.

It seems most sellers here go with MM no matter what, and then have to bitch about it being bogged down in New Jersey. Media Mail is done through hubs, unlike FCM/Priority.

 

USPS Headquarters Tells Managers Not to Reconnect Mail Sorting Machines, Emails Show

 

There was a local TV story about the letter sorting machines being pulled. They showed them sitting in storage and will not be replaced.

Media Mail are packages and go on another machine called an FSM, Flat Sorting Machine.

 

So many positive things coming out of this administration. It seems to be endless...

 

And if you look at the tracking did it go through NJ?

 

Of course. The NJ hub is terrible. Always. It did take 14 days to get from Jacksonville to Miami though. That usually takes 1 to 2 days.

 

Maybe the PMG should look at threads like this and see what facilities have problems. Wishful thinking.

 

Yeah he literally does not care. He’d see it as a job well done.

 

Not gonna post the obvious question, but I'll post the inevitable punchline:

"...his lips are moving."

 

I understand as a businessperson,you have different priorities,but as a businessperson,you have that right to bitch about it all and possibly carry more weight than a schlub like me. In one of the many threads about USPS,I emailed Real Gone Music about my personal delay experience of my order moving 45 ft. in 11 days,not from Jersey City,but from a building five miles away. This was not a complaint against Gordon & Co.,just a piece of ammo if he needed it for reference. I also implored him to keep using Media Mail to jam things up. If I was in a business needing USPS,I would keep putting on the heat. The misleading mea culpa from DeJoy(less) as already been proved to be four Pinocchios from the powers that be. Even if he did a partially right thing of putting things back to the sad system pre-swearing at,err,swearing in last spring,which is not happening,the Service needs to be put back in the USPS. It is not intended to make a profit. Declines of letter mail vs. upticks of packages have made a strange mix to stay on top. Previous PG was a long time USPS person,starting 34 years ago(including some time here). Current PG has zero experience-possibly surprised that you don't have to lick stamps anymore. As a logistics guy,he was in charge of moving pallets,not letters or small packages and a crew of non-union folk who possibly fell for that matchbook ad to learn to drive truck. The pressure to get there yesterday,cook log books and work past safe times are standard for logistics. Meanwhile,one would think that the postal system is so immense that hiring from within,as has done in the recent past,would be the way to go.
Want more-/Google Lisa Graves/Bill Moyers/inthepublicinterest.org

 

Postal workers were out 'protesting' at the local PO today.

At least they still have jobs. My work in the events/concert business ended March 8, 2020 with no return date in sight. Not looking for any pity, I just worry about the younger kids that I work with as the business has completely collapsed worldwide. I'm semi-retired and have other income streams, they don't.

 

Around here the protests were made up of just regular folks. The workers fear of retribution,though one photo shows a sign worn by a worker's grandchild. The previous Postmaster General was lifelong USPS employee,starting as a sorter decades ago. She spent time here in the Lehigh Valley so the protests have an added spark. She worked in nearby Reading,too and there were protests in Wyomissing. Know that Wyomissing was where Taylor was growing up,even into the early '00s. Quite possible that early fan mail(she appeared locally before her first Sony recordings) passed through that post office.

 

I'm not on social media. I just got word that there will be more postal protesting on Tuesday 8/25/20. Just a warning if you use the PO a lot, like I do.

 

Well since we’re griping here, not related to the efficiency of USPS per say but I just shipped an LP media mail. It got there....but the LP had been stolen. The thief was kind enough to leave the cover.

 

As long as you're goin' there, bring them some cookies and sodas. These poor innocent people deserve a helluva lot more than they've been forced to do on their own, when their own legislating body hangs them out to dry year-in-year-out.

 

what the hell?

 

I know. You’re saying, I bet he forgot to pack the LP. Well, I had somebody right there when I was packing and my USPS receipt shows a weight completely consistent with shipping one LP packed exactly as I do each time. Luckily, I had another and it’s on its way. It can’t happen two times, can it?

 

Everyone whining about the USPS without acknowledging that the agency has been tuned into a political football by one side of the congressional aisle at the behest of their donors is cordially invited to hire UPS or FedEx to deliver their CD for less than $3.00 and see how that goes.

 

i wasn't saying that, just dumbfounded. reminds me of the 90s when all of the CD cases at the goodwill were empty. no one cared about anything but the discs, i guess.

 

So much winning...

Okay, let's put our cards on the table here. We've had thread after thread after thread of bitching, whining and moaning about the system, so, time for you, the constant complainers, to put up or shut up:
How do you think you could improve on the system? What exactly do you think is wrong with the implementation of Media Mail? What was it created to solve, and how should it be done instead?
Is it the packaging? The routing? The choices of distribution centers they select to put your package in the exact wrong place to handle trajectory heading towards your door?

Time to stop hurting, and work on helping the situation. You have packages you want to get to you. How do you propose the USPS improve their system specifically to solve your problem?
Don't go for t traditional political talking points, or blamesmenship, or just clinging to a smart*ss comment crafted to make people shout at you. If you really care so much, do your part and make suggestions that the USPS can consider implementing with a mind towards a satisfactory result for the customer, within the realm of their facilities and resources. Endless evidence proves that earnest brainstorming actually solves problems (and endless proof also exists that, once you challenge the ones always trying to badmouth a situation, tend to shut up when you turn to them and ask them to contribute a positive, workable suggestion).

Understanding and empathizing with the issue, is the first step towards actually trusting that your infrastructure wants to make things easier for you, no matter what turd bomb gets thrown on top of it to make things worse. You solve their self-made problem, and they have nothing left to screw up.