[dB Cooper]

One USPS first class package in the last week, sent from Baltimore outskirts the 17th, arrived Long Beach NY today. Not bad

[Philistine]

The claims on tracking number few checkpoints dont justify it vary according the ship price.

If you think it's just about tracking you've missed the point.  It's about ownership and customer service, if you use a service that is responsible for handling a package from when you drop it off to when it gets delivered to a final address in a timely manner - they take full responsibility and ownership for this.  To provide this level of service they have systems and infrastructure in place.  Respective country postal services hand off packages at their respective boundaries, as soon as a package sent from the US using USPS arrives in an overseas country they then, in their eyes, no longer have ownership.  If, for example, the package gets stuck in the customs process it's in 'limbo' and both postal services are then happy to blame each other for customs for any delays.  In addition the lack of tracking makes it difficult for the sender to find the exact package location and figure how to get it moving and who to contact/blame.  You just have to hope that it eventually pops out of the system and gets delivered.  It's further complicated that postal services are typically state run, so no-one has any incentive or urgency to provide good customer service.  Being commercial businesses FEDEX and DHL have an incentive to perform a service by delivering packages.   So tracking is just one element in the process, but indicates that the likes of FEDEX and DHL have all the systems and processes in place to perform.

[Mudslide]

We've had minor delays of a day or so.  It's really not a problem.  And I chalk it up to two things.  First, staffing.  USPS employees getting sick, just like the rest of the world, from Covid-19.  And replacement carriers also not knowing the routes and customers.  Second, MUCH more mail is being generated thanks to home quarantining and (Amazon, Costco, Target, Home Depot, etc.) orders from home bound people.

[genjamon]

I walked into my local post office a few hours ago to return an Amazon book purchase, and the extra cashier stations were chock full of packages. Yeah, I’d say they’re having trouble keeping up!

[SteveFord]

I heard from Canadian Post on Friday about the stolen guitar and sent them pics along with a statement from my Post Office that they did indeed deliver a box with no guitar in it.
I'll report back on that one.

For everything else it's business as normal. 
Anything that can get shoved into my giant mail box gets here just fine.

[charmerci]

USPS delivered a small package from GA to UT in 3 days and a box delivered from VA to UT in 4 days this past week.

[stonedeaf]

Buddy has been a mechanic on the sorting machines at the local main PO for awhile now -so I asked him ? His take on the sorting machine issue was it started before our esteemed leaders buddy became the boss: His PO would sort what was on hand - but they had extra machines that latter in the evening would take  what had come in from suburban PO's (this definition of local included mail from our state capitol 90 miles out)-and would break that down to what individual mail carriers got loaded for delivery the next day. Thing is this meant they had sorting machines that typically only ran 4-5 hours a shift-since the machines are well monitored -somebody before the current PMG-decided that they should run fewer machines -but run 'em as close to 8 hours a shift as they could get. So doesn't make it into the next days mail sack-it'll be sorted and sent out the next day. Result - what used to be pretty reliable local delivery the next day is now probably a three day service.
Use Priority mail either comin or going at least a couple of times a month -this appears to be pretty random and sometimes the tracking is pretty interesting?? -gotta believe some states are richly endowed with post offices that all mail needs to get thru on it's  way across them (lots of sorts) -this might add a day onto Priority mail. Shipments from Japan are hopeless right now -nuthin to do with USPS -it just doesn't get into their hands for 20 days or more. If I'm butin anything from Japan -I first enquire if they will ship DHL for the same shipping cost ? If so -we've got a deal! And Hong Kong air mail is still amazing -predictably 4 or 5  days and that's a big  damm ocean in between.

[I.Greyhound Fan]

My son ordered speaker cable from Bluejeans and it was supposed to be priority 2 day shipping from Seattle and it took a week to receive them here in MN after the USPS received them.

[stonedeaf]

Always check with the official USPS tracking site. Something I have run into repeatedly is being notified that a item has shipped -then when I go on the USPS tracking site -it shows as the shipping tag has been generated -but has not been picked up yet (sometimes days go by) -from talking to our postmistress -this is usually caused by someone who either isn't there when postman stops for pick up  and also hasn't bothered to drop the package/parcel off at a PO.

[mav52]

Ordered Blue Cables,  some IC's and XLR's, ordered on a Monday and they were at my house on a Thursday same week, and I live in FLA. Pretty surprised with USPS.

[beeah]

I sent a check to a vacation rental agency (NY to DE) on 7/27 and it hasn't arrived yet.

[cheech]

Over the last 2 weeks I have had issues receiving priority mail packages. The first one took 6 days versus the normal 3 and that was only after I filed a trace request. The 2nd the timing is TBD as I filed a trace request yesterday; tracking just keeps showing in transit to the next facility, however, it never the facility it is in as there's no departure date/time.

[Bill Baker]

In this area, the mail has slowed down. Shipments that were normally ddropped off by the daily mail carrier are now arriving via a separate driver later in the day.

[Mike B.]

It has slowed for us as well. Both shipping by Priority and receiving items. I had a scheduled delivery last Friday. Didn't get it till Tuesday. Just one example