The US Postal Service STILL Sucks!

[Big Frank]

The population here is about 4 times that and AFAIK UPS is still open 9 hours a day. Maybe not, but they still deliver a lot of packages. They even brought me packages a couple of times they weren't supposed to! They were supposed give them to the post office, who was then supposed to deliver them to me the next day if they felt inclined to do so, but UPS was like, hey we were in the neighborhood anyway, so here you go. And they are nearby every day.

And the massive amount of suckage from the postal service continues unabated. On Dec. 2nd my package from MechTech was picked up in KALISPELL, MT, Departed the Post Office, and Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility MISSOULA, MT DISTRIBUTION CENTER. It was "2-day" priority mail that was supposed to be here Dec. 7th. Hmm, December 2nd-7th. Yeah, that's 2 business days. I forgot about the 4-day weekend. But on Dec. 6th the post office said In Transit, Arriving Late, and my package was never seen or heard from again. I emailed MechTech today and told them about it and they called me back. They're sending me a replacement package, by UPS this time so I actually get it. If the other package ever shows up I'll let them know and they can decide what to do from there. Maybe they'll email me a UPS return shipping label. I don't mind driving 2 miles to the UPS Store to drop it off. This wasn't the only package they had that vanished into the aether at Missoula around that time. They don't know if someone hijacked a mail truck or what the heck happened but they're having problems with USPS too.

[Rastus]

I hate to hear that Frank.  Our mail lady calls us when we have a package and drives about 300 yards off the road to the house to hand it to us....or put it in the house if we're gone.  Our UPS driver does that too!  The FedEx guys....not so much...they will throw it down anywhere in the front yard which is about 100 yards deep from the gate so you never know where to look.

The mail lady and the UPS driver will get some nice Christmas presents again this year...

[Big Frank]

The one the post office shipped on December 2nd is still In Transit, Arriving Late, Delivery Date Unknown. And there haven't been any updates at all in the last 2 weeks. The one shipped by UPS Ground, the "slow" way, on 12/15/2020 has already been loaded on a local truck ready to be delivered tomorrow. They had it yesterday but it may have arrived after all the trucks left. If it wasn't for the weekend they would deliver it in 5 days when the post office can't get it here in 18 days. AFAIK ithe other one is still in Missoula, MT where it went on December 2nd.

[PegLeg45]

I guess I hit the jackpot this year. Everything I ordered was either on time or early from FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
The last to arrive was today..... a holster from Vedder Holsters in Florida..... it was a day early from USPS.

[TAB]

I guess I hit the jackpot this year. Everything I ordered was either on time or early from FedEx, UPS, and USPS.
The last to arrive was today..... a holster from Vedder Holsters in Florida..... it was a day early from USPS.

  i am still short 1 thing, but most of my stuff has come from amazon delivery, not fed up.

I know. I hated to do it, but when your on the road more than your home, its not much of a choice

[Sponsor]

[billt]

(Long story, but here goes). As far as receiving shipments, I can't bitch and moan too loud. Especially when it comes to UPS and Fed Ex......... Up until now. This past week I took delivery of 2 Westinghouse 9,500 watt generators, that I plan to parallel for a total of 19 Kilowatts, and be able to run my entire house on. (That's another story for another thread).

Today, because of all the bad weather in the south, and fires in California, along with their crappy power grid that either black or browns out every time the wind blows, not to mention people who are preparing for the apocalypse, generators are selling like crystal meth in a housing project. Both Lowe's and Home Depot have trouble keeping the more popular, larger models in stock. Because of that I ended up buying one unit from Home Depot, and another identical unit from Lowe's.

These units have a shipping weight of 250 pounds each. So they have to be delivered by motor freight, or Fed Ex Freight. (Both UPS & Fed Ex have a 150 pound weight limit for "normal" deliveries). The unit I ordered from Home Depot came by way of Joe Blow's Motor Freight. And took over a week to get here. But it finally made it in excellent condition, and the 2 guys who delivered it called 30 minutes before they arrived. And delivered it right into my garage.

The Fed Ex Freight delivery could have gone to Moscow and back 3 times, in the time they took to deliver it. And according to the tracking history, it bounced around Southern California for over a week, (9 days), going through San Bernardino TWICE in 5 days, with one "Emergency Delay" after another. (Both units were shipped out of Sparks, Nevada). It finally made it here in good shape. The guy driving was by himself, and my driveway is on a bit of an incline, so I had to help him push it up into my garage. Which I was more than happy to do. It also came strapped to a wood pallet I didn't want or need. But at that point I was just happy to finally get the damn thing. He was also a hell of a nice guy, and was around my age. I felt sorry for the guy, the way he had to bust ass, making these heavy deliveries without a helper.

But between the 2, Joe Blow had Fed Ex beat 11 ways to Sunday. I ended up busting up the pallet with a sledge hammer so I could fit all the pieces into my recycle bin. (That was more work than unpacking and assembling both units). With Joe Blow I only had to deal with the cardboard and Styrofoam the unit came packed in.

I started reading about Fed Ex Freight, and the drivers HATE it, and many are quitting. Fed Ex has cut their hours so they don't have to pay overtime during the holidays. And deliveries are suffering because of it. Mine sure proved that. Anyway, it all finally ended well. These are both units. And both started right up on both gasoline and propane on the first touch of the button. Putting the wheels and feet on was the hardest part, because I had to lay on my side and fumble around to do it. But so far I'm impressed with both of them.

 

[tombogan03884]

Bill, You are lucky to find one. Most are being sent up here after our 12 inch storm that turned into 4 feet.   

[billt]

I just now checked, and both Lowe's and Home Depot are both showing, "Out Of Stock" on this unit. I'm glad I bit the bullet, and bought them when I did.

[Majer]

Something to be aware of, Both FEDEX and UPS have stopped accepting packages because they are swamped and can't deliver then prior to Christmas, everything is going to USPS which is so overloaded they don't have the manpower to get them out in a reasonable time. My sister just retired from the PO and has friends there that told her about the mess they have. This is the worse they have seen in over 20 years and with covid they just don't have enough people to sort and deliver.

[billt]

Something to be aware of, Both FEDEX and UPS have stopped accepting packages because they are swamped and can't deliver then prior to Christmas, everything is going to USPS which is so overloaded they don't have the manpower to get them out in a reasonable time. My sister just retired from the PO and has friends there that told her about the mess they have. This is the worse they have seen in over 20 years and with covid they just don't have enough people to sort and deliver.

I just ordered some specialty electrical plugs for my generators, that Home Depot just got back in stock. When I clicked on, "Home Delivery", it came up, "Not Available", and defaulted to, "Store Pickup". Which for me isn't too bad. And I'm sure it will get there quicker because UPS and / or Fed Ex isn't involved. They'll most likely be shipped to the store on a Home Depot truck direct from one of their warehouses.