Shout out to the USPS!

[Mr. Ed]

9/26/22 order from Spruce shipped via the USPS from Chandler, AZ and went through Phoenix to Memphis, arriving and departing on 9/27. Arrived Jackson, MS on 9/29 and departed the same day. Arrived Honolulu 10/1 and departed the same day. It is now 10/4 and the package seems to have vanished. The intended destination is SW Washington state, just north of Portland.

It’s almost like when my kids were in grade school and the class would give me “Flat Stanley” to schlep around the world for photo ops in far off lands. Brings back fond memories.

Nine days and counting! If I didn’t need these small items I’d be enjoying this odyssey even more. Compared to most of the world we have a fabulous postal service. This isn’t one of their shining moments…but it is kind of amusing.

Cheers,

Mr. Ed

 

[Richgj3]

Most of the time these things work flawlessly. When they go off the rails, they really go off the rails. A few years ago we sent a landing gear motor for a Bonanza for overhaul. The 12 Volt version which are becoming scarce. Sent by USPS and disappeared for five days. It eventually showed up.

Rich

 

[sj]

We are about to send out a lot of calendars again via USPS. We had really good luck last year, a disaster some years. It's really the only option especially internationally with the prices of Fed Ex and UPS being so high now.

sj

 

[Sam D]

I'm always amazed with Aircraft Spruce. 10 times out of 10, if my order is wrong, I've screwed it up.

 

[cubdrvr]

How does USPS ship overnight? I've never seen a USPS freighter at airports.

 

[cubdriver2]

How does USPS ship overnight? I've never seen a USPS freighter at airports.

I've heard they get to pay to use the extra space on FedEx planes

Glenn

 

[Randyk]

I've heard they get to pay to use the extra space on FedEx planes

Glenn

According to the USPS published 2022 budget, air transportation at $9.6B is the second largest expense after salaries and benefits.

 

[FdxLou]

Glenn
There is no "extra space" on FedEx freighters.....

Postal Service & FedEx renew contract - USPS

 

[Mr. Ed]

Good news! Six days after the package left Hawaii it showed up at my house. Total time in transit from AZ was 11 days.

 

[Sikorsky]

A group of MN college kids were going on an around the world trip quite a few years ago. Prior to leaving they “borrowed” a baby Jesus from a manger. Turned into a real ordeal with Jesus getting stolen. In each county they went, a picture was taken of baby Jesus in front of the notable sights, Jerusalem being one. When they got back Jesus was returned with the pictures…

It would have been fun to see the response when the pictures were first seen.

USPS doesn’t have much of a sense of humor but I’m pretty sure God does…

 

[Steve Pierce]

How does USPS ship overnight? I've never seen a USPS freighter at airports.

Airlines haul USPS

 

[Charlie Longley]

Airlines haul USPS

Yep what Steve said. The passenger haulers typically have spare room in the belly. USPS used to charter our DC-8’s during peak season. Not sure if they do that anymore.

 

[mvivion]

Back in the day, Reeve Aleutian was the only airline serving Cold Bay and the Aleutians. By definition, all mail came to us in Cold Bay via Reeve. Mail delivery was “intermittent” at best. I asked Susie Reeve (no relation) about this. Her response explained well:

Turns out the airline was contracted to carry the mail when it was delivered to them. There were also penalties for NOT carrying the mail, under the contract. So, the Postal Service recorded all the mail delivered to Reeve and sent that to the CDB Postmaster. Any mail that wasn’t delivered to CDB the same day it was delivered to Reeve resulted in a fine assessed to Reeve.

Problem was, Reeves freight rate was higher than the postal fines. So, by leaving the mail (which they were paid for), but not delivering it, and hauling freight instead, they still made more money…….Postal pay plus freight fee, minus small postal fine equals a nice profit.

Brilliant.

MTV

 

[YJLopes]

Airlines haul USPS

Yep, I see USPS boxes regularly on our belt loaders

 

[phdigger123]

We are really lucky that we have a good postal system in the United States. It is a real bargain. For 60 cents you can mail a check to anywhere place in the US and be comfortable it will arrive in 3 or 4 days. After living in a country where it took 30 to 45 days to send a letter across town, if it arrived at all, I really appreciate the bargain we have with the USPO.