Post office throwing boxes

[dretd]

I read somewhere recently that the USPS handles 40% of the world's mail volume and we have about 5% of the world's population.

I have had problems with my local mail delivery, just like everyone else. I have talked to the local postmaster 3 times to get mail delivery problems solved and they were very nice, but it took a long time to solve it (they finally got a new carrier on the route). One of my friends had problems with delivery and they changed their physical address to a different street number to get their delivery problem solved because it was too close to another address somewhere else in the city.

I guess with the sheer volume of mail I am surprised there aren't more problems with the mail. And going with FedEx or UPS is no fix as I have had delivery/damaged packages with both of those guys too. The cost to ship lightweight things with them is far higher than USPS.

I have been treated very rudely by a small fraction of USPS workers, too. I assume that they are tired and burned out from getting yelled at by customers when they didn't personally have anything to do with the damage. Hence they will warn you that the package will get throw around because they know other workers will and the are trying to admonish you (albeit rudely) to package with that knowledge. I just really package my stuff well--triple taping, extra wrapping, double boxing etc.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

deleted

 

[MobyQuail]

my general experience with postal employees leaves me wondering how they find their way to work everyday...

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

I left the Postal Service 17 years ago, after 18 years with them, to go to college.

You may trust that the folks there do their best to take excellent care of the living and the dead. From baby chicks to the cremated remains of our loved ones. They handle plenty of both.

Yes, a lot of things do get slung around, in the interest of keeping up with the demands of working short-handed and getting everything home on time. But believe me when I say that live birds hold a special place. I just picked up my own first mail-order birds this Sunday. Sunday because I got a call from the regional center that they were there. They had no way to deliver them on a sunday, but called to let me know I could come get them. Just like we did it back in my day.

Our practice as the birds were in transit was to keep them indoors as long as possible. They were always loaded at the back of the truck -- first off and last on. I do recall some large orders of chicks. The ones with the boxes of four sections (100 chicks each) stacked five high and strapped together. Now and again, other mail in the trailer would shift as it went over the road and fall into such a stack of bird boxes so that they'd pop open at the corners, letting the chicks out. Nothin' much will set you free any quicker than seein' a couple hundred chicks come runnin' toward the light when you throw the back door up on a truck!

Points are 1) anything you mark as fragile, folks will take as good a care of as they can, but their ability to limit the damage of going over the road is limited and 2) nobody will be drop-kicking eggs or baby chicks.

 

[Lacrystol]

Quote:
that is an excellent idea, I received eggs and they were placed in one boxed with bubble wrap all around them, into another box. My second package was in a syraphone container inside a box, all wrapped individually with bubble wrap.

Fed ex isn't any better as far as deliveries, My fed ex guy brings a package to me and he says " it says fragile on them", as he's holding the box like it's a pile of books, yes to the side.... i said to him "THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S EGGS IN THERE".. Post office, fed ex and UPS (who are the worst), just don't care about any messages on a package... i guess they feel they are under paid, so therefore we get lousy service.. Needless to say I ended up with 12 eggs that now have loose air cells... out of 32.... BUT none of them are cracked, yippie...

 

[Elgrady]

We recieved a shipment a pheasant eggs on Friday, the box was marked Fragile and it was smashed

. The eggs were packaged in 2 boxes and wraped in foam. the first clue that there was some broken was the egg leaking out. Out of 45 eggs 11 were broken, now I am wondering if the others will hatch

 

[reereechickens]

Quote:

Yes I would like to know how you get the flat tub to get special handling also!

 

[Squishypuff]

My local post office has wonderful folks who call me at the obscene hour of 4 or 5am so I can get my chicks home as quick as possible, without making me wait for them to open. They give me advice on how to get the best prices, and even let me know when it would be cheaper for me to ship in a different type of box (as in Flat Rate instead of the home boxed Parcel Post stuff). They love getting chicks in, and they put them in one of the offices, out of the way of workers walking through and out of the way of drafts. I'm very grateful to have such kind people. KErnersville post office is fantastic.

 

[Christie Rhae]

I got eggs in a box marked Fragile. Right where the word Fragile was written... was a big old dent. Looked like someone kicked it there on purpose. Jerks...

 

[onthespot]

Quote:
To me, delivery confirmation is so buyers can't scam you and say they never got it, not about the PO at all.