Did the USPS stop scanning packages?

[sben451]

I've had some problems with packages that I have been receiving. I ordered hatching eggs online. The package was taken to the PO and I was sent the tracking number. Three days later, still no info on the PO tracking site--just the info that the package had been received. After a week, I gave up. The seller gave me a refund and I chalked it up to a lost package. Sixteen days after the package was mailed, guess what I received--yep the box of hatching eggs--in perfect shape, but too late to incubate. I just wonder where they were for those 16 days. Still no info on tracking other than when they were shipped and when I received them--nothing in between. Why does the PO offer tracking if they're not going to use it properly??

 

[Cara]

That's basically the other end of what keeps happening to me. It chaps my behind that I can do everything right and end up oweing money.

 

[fordmommy]

I bid on some eggs here 2 weeks ago now. Won. And they were mailed Priority with confermation#s. It took 4 days! AND was never scanned at the last main stop before coming to m town. Luckily my local post office found the package and nothing was broken. But that's crazy. I think they will probably just blaim it on budget cuts in the end. You know what.......I darn sick and tired of everything being blaimed on budget cuts. No excuse.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

So...what are the options? Fed Ex. UPS? Are they any better?

 

[Cara]

Don't get me started on FedEx

Because of our rural location they use contractors, most of whom don't want to drive all the way out here. They are so bad we literally do not buy anything that will ship FedEx. I had one item that took two days to get from Mississippi to Amarillo, TX, then a month to get from Amarillo to here (approx. 150 miles). On another occasion the old ranch manager ordered a diamond ring for his wife for Christmas. FedEx left the package tied to the front gate with no notice (the front gate is 12 miles from the house). On yet another occasion they refused to deliver a saddle, the buyer refused to drive 200 miles to collect it, and it sat at the depot for 5 months. He had another shipped from Mexico via UPS without a problem.

 

[lildinkem]

The PO is really killing the chick business. literally. I think that is why the better breeders only sell live grown out birds. Cause of the mishaps that you mentioned. Gives the breeder a bad name that he/she has no control over.

 

[FlashPointFarm]

I'm not sure where I read it, but I saw that the PO contracts Fed Ex. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this?

 

[MagsC]

Priority packages...sigh...more often than not it takes at least four days for me to receive them, not three, and often longer.

 

[scbatz33]

I know this is so frustrating. I have had several packages lost in the past couple years even though they were supposed to be tracked. Not too long ago I asked my local PO worker about the tracking. She told me that although priority packages can be tracked if they are scanned, postal workers are not required to do so. She said only Express Mail must be scanned.

I can tell you from personal experience, the PO workers on the docks at each DC Hub are supposed to scan in and out each cart of mail. Each piece of mail on the cart is supposed to be scanned and registered to a particular cart. This, I know for a first hand fact, does not always occur. If loads are behind or someone is being lazy(let's call it what it is) the carts don't always get scanned.

As a driver, this screws up my loads because the weight and load size is also calculated by the scanning. There were plenty of occasions where I was, according to my paperwork, supposed to be hauling a fully loaded trailer and I was not. Fortunately I was never stopped by DOT and questioned about my load paperwork. Having your load not match the shipping papers is justification for "out of service" and fines for a driver.

The problems at the USPS are not a computer or software error, it's human laziness for not doing the job correctly. Compounded with the USPS cutting manpower and routes all over the country. Seriously, I surprised anyone ever gets mail.

 

[Wifezilla]

We are a fedex shipper. In the 2 years we have been using them we have only had 2 claims. One was mangled in the sorting center by the machines, the other was a broken item...and it looks more like a customer packing issue than a fedex problem, but they paid anyway.

The GROUND service uses independent contractors. The EXPRESS service is all Fedex employees. We are lucky and we have a VERY good ground guy. If you are getting crappy ground service, PLEASE CALL FEDEX!

Do not let one idiot give the whole company a bad name...especially since so many hard-working professional people work there and do an excellent job.