I'm sure others have placed parts orders recently, only to find the package sitting in limbo. I have one that's been sitting in the Poughkeepsie Postal Center since the 14th. I've heard that last year the three major carriers processed 900 million packages. This year that rate is 3 billion packages.
I waited 16 days for a three day priority package to go 300 miles. From what the Post Office told me, they are swamped and have lots of people out due to covid, and the additional burden of spreading out their people. Frustrating - just another piece of sand in the gears of 2020.
I have a package in limbo for 7 days via USPS. I also sold some small things on Ebay and those packages went all over the midwest to come back to the east coast.
The last Ebay item I sold, I shipped via FedEx Ground and it took 3 days for the same price as USPS.
Yeah, my post office says Cleveland is a mess with truck lined up waiting to get in. My package has been there since Dec 2
Yep. I have 8 packages stuck all over the place. Mostly mailed between Dec 7th and 10th. I don't mind packages I'm expecting, but 5 of those are stuff I sold to people. 
I just sold another item. $10.82 for USPS or $11.51 for FedEx Ground. That was a no-brainer. FedEx is getting even more of my business.
My package was UPS...they took it to the USPS facility in Cleveland for the last leg of the journey as it is a very small package. I was told this happens a lot because UPS is so slammed.
I have been selling a bunch of lenticular apron cards, and it has been taking multiple weeks to get to US addresses. It has actually been faster getting them to Canadian destinations.
UPS just showed up and the driver was in his personal vehicle/ small silver Corolla.
This wasn't a Prime contracted delivery either this was a shipment from work via UPS.
What's even funnier is I ordered this part yesterday for Monday delivery and they are showing up early.
Private carriers are the way to go.
Never understood the meaning of the USPS term,"Package Acceptance Pending", when it also says "Accepted".
I waited for my wife at an appointment the other night in the truck. I was parked next to a P/O, and it was about 4:00PM. I was amazed at the volume of packages being brought in during the hour I was there. And this is a small town P/O. Nationally it must be overwhelming to the employees and the system.
Sent a Priority Mail envelope with a certified check from Ann Arbor to San Diego on December 9th. The tracking system lies began on the 12th (in transit, arriving late). It finally arrived on the 18th.
I'm wondering how much faster non-Priority Mail would have been at 55¢ instead of $7.75
There are four things going on right now to be aware of:
1) Most USPS delivery centers are up 30-40% in package traffic versus a normal year, and this is normally a busy time already
2) The pandemic has cut into staffing
3) Sorry to bring politics into it, but person who was put in charge of the USPS actively undermined it. Won't get into why or try and derail things, just a fact that equipment and hours and deliveries were slashed, and that's not helping
4) Other carriers like UPS and FedEx are moving their excess packages to the USPS system, contributing to the load
Things are backed up like crazy, and the postal workers are busting their asses to try and keep up, but it's gonna take a while to get back on top of it all. Be kind to your mail delivery person and try and be patient right now.
I got an order from someone today who wasn't in a rush, told them I'd get the mailing label on the box and then set it aside until after the holidays when it's not quite as crazy. Better chance of them getting it easier that way.
Quoted from Aurich:There are four things going on right now to be aware of:
3) Sorry to bring politics into it, but person who was put in charge of the USPS actively undermined it. Won't get into why or try and derail things, just a fact that equipment and hours and deliveries were slashed, and that's not helping
What was done was they made more capacity for packages by getting rid of enevelope sorting machines because packages is where the demand is.
Quoted from RyanStl:What was done was they made more capacity for packages by getting rid of enevelope sorting machines because packages is where the demand is.
It's not remotely that simple, no, but I'm gonna just leave it at that and people can do their own research if they care because it's impossible to talk about it without getting into politics, and I don't want to do that here. I only mentioned it because it's a part of the puzzle if you really want to understand what's going on.
For most people I think it's sufficient to say "they're busier than ever before during a tough time".
Quoted from Aurich:It's not remotely that simple, no, but I'm gonna just leave it at that and people can do their own research if they care because it's impossible to talk about it without getting into politics, and I don't want to do that here. I only mentioned it because it's a part of the puzzle if you really want to understand what's going on.
For most people I think it's sufficient to say "they're busier than ever before during a tough time".
Gotcha, I also hate and avoid politics on the forums I have joined. Happy holidays Aurch 
Typically I order from PBR on the weekend, get the email that it’s good and receive a tracking that Monday, parts at my door on Wednesday. Always USPS.
This time tracking sent on 12/9...
7A2B3FD5-D73B-4245-B3C7-1C69CA2B130C (resized).png
Stuck in NJ since 12/10, nothing but texts saying “it’ll be late”
Quoted from vid1900:I know 3700 people died yesterday from covid in the States, but all I can think about is the promptness of my pinball parts delivery.
Does that make me a bad person?[quoted image]
No. People die every day from covid and otherwise. People die of alcohol poisoning, DWI crashes and other alcohol related incidents every night but I’ll still have a beer on a Saturday night.
Unfortunately this year it seems we’ve been shamed into feeling guilty that suffering and death is a fact of life. Been that way forever but now we’ve turned each other against ourselves over it.
Quoted from vid1900:I know 3700 people died yesterday from covid in the States, but all I can think about is the promptness of my pinball parts delivery.
Does that make me a bad person?[quoted image]
Seriously? Most of us are adults here, we understand what is going on. We come here to distract ourselves from the every day life problems. Is my late game delivery or delayed pinball parts a real problem. Of course not. Are you going to post this when covid is over but instead complain about systematic racism? Human trafficking? World hunger? Government corruption? There are a million things more important than pinball, but this is where we talk about pinball. Grow up.
Quoted from EJS:No. People die every day from covid and otherwise. People die of alcohol poisoning, DWI crashes and other alcohol related incidents every night but I’ll still have a beer on a Saturday night.
Unfortunately this year it seems we’ve been shamed into feeling guilty that suffering and death is a fact of life. Been that way forever but now we’ve turned each other against ourselves over it.
Beat me to it. Lots died from the China virus that would have succumbed to the flu. I have a lot of other worries, but it would be damn nice to get parts to keep my machine running. We all need something to keep us entertained/busy.
Same story here. USPS is absolutely slammed. Every day dropping off packages the last two weeks and never seen them so busy, even around previous years christmas time. People queued up 20 long holding packages to be shipped out. Thankfully i got all my labels pre printed so I can just drop and go. Probably a good place to catch the rona standing in line at the post office for 30 minutes.
I have a package I am waiting on that is holding up work things big time so I feel you pain. It has been in Chicago two weeks. Plenty of emails about where is my package and tracking lately for my outgoing USPS stuff too. Some stuff gets through in a few days, others get stuck in limbo. Trying to be patient, but it is tuff. If a watched pot does not boil than I don't think checking the tracking a few times a day is going to help me either.
Quoted from mrm_4:Typically I order from PBR on the weekend, get the email that it’s good and receive a tracking that Monday, parts at my door on Wednesday. Always USPS.
This time tracking sent on 12/9...
[quoted image]
Stuck in NJ since 12/10, nothing but texts saying “it’ll be late”
Exact scenario on the Priority Mail envelope I sent out on Dec 9th to San Diego.
My mail has gotten to me as late as 9 pm lately because my mail carrier is slammed with packages.
Half of the packages require a signature so he has to get out of his truck and go up to the house.
This takes time, have some patience people.
Something we discovered which is totally counterintuitive: on OUR packages (small 9x6 envelopes), if we take packages and drop them off at the post office, they generally take much longer to get there and often wind up saying "pre-transit" for days if not over a week.
If we put them in our own mailbox, they go just fine. Always. It's completely bizarre.
Quoted from 0geist0:This takes time, have some patience people.
In my case it’s not lack of patience it’s just sharing in the scenario. I think more are just “wowed” with how crazy the situation is than inpatients
Quoted from RyanStl:Lots died from the China virus that would have succumbed to the flu.
Very true.
30,000 people die every year in the States from the flu
There are 319,000 dead from Covid.
And you guys don't even have the new super-contagious strain from the UK yet....
A reminder to all thread participants...Please keep all coronavirus talk to the Corona thread.
Thank you
'Enuf said. I've had 2x rural route deliveries in FOUR weeks. Plus they refuse to hand anything over at my PO since the stacks haven't even been sorted yet!! This disaster should be Story One for the MSM!!
Around here they ran a news story saying that there are 50 trucks of packages waiting to drop off packages inside of a post office sorting plant that is already wall to wall full. That explains why my Marco parts order hasn’t moved from “in transit” for 8 days and it already sat at a post office in Indiana for 4 days.
I get that there are crazy amounts of packages and shortages of workers, but what irritates me is that there is no refund if you paid more for faster shipping. I paid extra for priority 1-3 day shipping over first class mail. When it’s taking 2 weeks with no end in sight I feel like they shouldn’t be charging extra for non existent “faster” shipping.
Meanwhile I have ordered 4 different things from Amazon over the last week and UPS delivers them less than 24 hours after my order.
Quoted from Parkshow30:Meanwhile I have ordered 4 different things from Amazon over the last week and UPS delivers them less than 24 hours after my order.
I ordered an item from Amazon back in December 4. Amazon handed it over to USPS and it's been stuck in a Depot at Capitol Heights outside of Wash DC ever since. 
How is that my PBR order has been sitting in NJ for 2 weeks untouched but every day I get to throw out more and more junk mail???
Is Capital One, Giant Eagle, and Goodyear Tire padding the USPS’s pocket to make sure their adds get priority?
Obviously trying to get packages delivered before Christmas has jammed everything up big time with the shortage of workers at USPS. The lack of in person shopping has made this a huge mess too.
Took 21 days for my PBR order from December 2nd to arrive today but the one I ordered yesterday is due to arrive Monday (4 days).
Quoted from mrm_4:How is that my PBR order has been sitting in NJ for 2 weeks untouched but every day I get to throw out more and more junk mail???
Is Capital One, Giant Eagle, and Goodyear Tire padding the USPS’s pocket to make sure their adds get priority?
I think certain hubs are more understaffed and busier than others. Newark NJ being one of them for sure.
Not sure if Newark was where your PBR order is but mine sat there for 10-11 days before moving.
Oak Creek, WI hub is struggling really badly. It has become a punchline around here. Hopefully they can get it turned around.
I'm hoping to get some parts by Saturday and thankfully they were out for delivery this morning... But then they weren't and apparently arrived at the local post office *again* about an hour ago... How does a package go out for delivery and then end up back in the post office? What's even weirder though is that this package is arriving earlier than another package I ordered from the same vender a few days earlier. Definitely kind of frustrating when you want to order something that isn't Christmas related but still have to deal with the shipping delays caused by last minute Christmas orders.
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