Moultonborough Post Office doesn't have enough people to deliver the mail

[Wishbone]

I had a package I was tracking to be delivered today. Checked it at 4pm and got a message - "Unfortunately, USPS couldn't complete your delivery and is holding it for you to pick up. We're very sorry for the inconvenience."
I went to the post office to pick it up, and was told they were very shorthanded, not even enough people to deliver the mail, and weren't even sure I could pick it up tomorrow, as they had a "thousand" packages to go through.

Whatever happened to ""Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

What's next from this government?

[bobkatfly]

Does Newman work in Moultonboro?

https://youtu.be/17S0TOfaw3E

[TheTimeTraveler]

Originally Posted by Wishbone

I had a package I was tracking to be delivered today. Checked it at 4pm and got a message - "Unfortunately, USPS couldn't complete your delivery and is holding it for you to pick up. We're very sorry for the inconvenience."
I went to the post office to pick it up, and was told they were very shorthanded, not even enough people to deliver the mail, and weren't even sure I could pick it up tomorrow, as they had a "thousand" packages to go through.

Whatever happened to ""Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

What's next from this government?

This is a problem all over the USA. Thank you COVID.

But, it doesn't end at the Post Office. Think of all the restaurants that have either had to cut back their hours or close certain days of the week because of the COVID crisis.

Service is no longer in the vocabulary any longer.

None of this makes any sense, but it is what it is! It's the new normal.

[Newbiesaukee]

Agree it is a widespread, difficult problem . Over the 20 or so years we’ve lived here, the folks working at the Moultonborough PO have been kind and helpful to us despite the problems.

[WinnisquamZ]

Believer that both the Post Office and snail mail are becoming irrelevant in today’s society.


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[tis]

A huge part of the issue is Amazon and other mail orders. It is so different than it used to be. They have tons of packages to deliver.

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by TheTimeTraveler

This is a problem all over the USA. Thank you COVID.

But, it doesn't end at the Post Office. Think of all the restaurants that have either had to cut back their hours or close certain days of the week because of the COVID crisis.

Service is no longer in the vocabulary any longer.

None of this makes any sense, but it is what it is! It's the new normal.

It has nothing to do with COVID.
Ronald Reagan from the Rose Garden told you forty years ago this was going to happen. The collective voting pattern of the area just made it worse.

Reagan informed us that the number of workers for each retiree was going to shrink - and it did. Our voting pattern pushed more of the workforce out of the area.

[TiltonBB]

I have a different perspective.

There are many days when there is no mail delivery in Gilford and that delivery is run out of Laconia. I can leave outgoing mail in the box early in the morning and it doesn't get picked up and I don't get a mail delivery for two days.

The Postal employee has delivered my packages to an address 1/2 mile from my house as shown by GPS in the hand held scanner that they carry. After several calls and complaints, they sent a supervisor to that house and the recipient denied receiving the package. However, the shipper says it was delivered.

Growing up, my mailman of 25 years was the Union Steward for the local mail carriers. He walked like he was in a coma. He got overtime every day. One day I asked him if he moved right along on his route what time would he be done. He said between noon and 1 PM.

Have you ever noticed how quickly a UPS driver moves and keeps moving? That is the difference between government and private industry doing a job.

In my opinion, it is not a help shortage, it is an ambition and productivity problem.

[John Mercier]

UPS even with some impressive hourly pay rates had a strike and an increase in pay because they felt they were being overworked.

The extra money will calm nerves for a little while, but the workload will still lead to stress effects.

The efficiency of the system is what tends to make productivity gains.
I'm not sure what UPS is doing on that front... if anything.

[tis]

Tilton, we have the same problem, we never know when or if we will get mail. But I have a friend who works for USPS and when she had our route we got our mail at the same time every day and always got it. She finished and went on to do other things. She is the one who enlightened me to how many packages the USPS now has. I never realized it, I thought most of it was through UPS and FedX. I think you are right, it depends on the person and how hard they want to work. I think routes isn't a good idea. They need incentive to move faster. But isn't that government? I had another friend and he and his wife both worked for government and said they quit because they got bored being so idle-nothin to do.

[jeffk]

I would point out that the delivery services, UPS & Fedex & etc, in an effort to control their costs of "last mile" delivery, have all partnered with USPS to hand off the home delivery of their packages. That increased significantly the Post Office load. I'm sure the USPS thought that was a good deal, grabbing a piece of the pie of the package companies, however, the outcome, handing off from a high efficiency process to a low efficiency process has been poor and especially stressful for the USPS employees.

I have noted that USPS tracking has collapsed in the last year or so. You used to see each leg of the trip. Now, you see the package go out and may not see any progress until it is delivered. That probably was an effort to reduce the scanning of all packages at each stop. That kind of scanning is, by necessity, built into the package companies automated processes (packages are bar coded, machine scanned, and machine sorted). The USPS isn't as well automated and an increase in number of packages, increases work loads on PEOPLE. The USPS system is ill designed for expansion. The cost to do so would be enormous. They are stuck because the USPS management failed to have a vision of the future of "mail".

As the USPS collapses under its own, people heavy, weight, there will be a shift in what needs to be mailed. Many bills and legal notices will become email because that will be more reliable and laws will change to support what is a "legal notice" (now requiring a USPS notification). The vast amount of merchandise mail (that is mostly trashed) will dry up. Simple and easy to use devices will be in homes to allow people to receive email without the complexity of a full capacity computer. The USPS will be extinct.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

UPS even with some impressive hourly pay rates had a strike and an increase in pay because they felt they were being overworked.

The UPS union workers did not go on strike. The drivers authorized a strike but that was just a negotiating tactic often used by unions. There was no work stoppage. They currently make about $41.00 per hour and at the end of the proposed 5 year contract they will be at about $50.00 per hour. That does not include the cost of benefits.

One of the big wins for the drivers was air conditioning in any truck purchased from 2024 forward. Drivers had complained that temperatures in the back of the trucks reached over 135 degrees on a hot day. Don't be surprised if UPS purchases a substantial number of new trucks at the end of 2023 to save the cost of purchasing and maintaining air conditioning.

[John Mercier]

USPS drivers make what? Half of that?
And do all those vehicles have AC?

You have to imagine that if the UPS needs more workers in any given area, they would rather work for the higher pay.

[TiltonBB]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

USPS drivers make what? Half of that?
And do all those vehicles have AC?

You have to imagine that if the UPS needs more workers in any given area, they would rather work for the higher pay.

The average salary for a USPS worker is about $53,000. Some Supervisors, promoted from the ranks, make about $100,000.

The CEO of UPS estimates that their labor cost, including benefits, will be about $170 per hour.

[The Real BigGuy]

Originally Posted by TiltonBB

The average salary for a USPS worker is about $53,000. Some Supervisors, promoted from the ranks, make about $100,000.

The CEO of UPS estimates that their labor cost, including benefits, will be about $170 per hour.

To correct you, he said $170,000 per year. That number is for drivers only and includes overtime, pension fund payments, insurance benefits, & vacation time. Salary alone is about 92K. Part time employees (a very large % of total UPS employees) will get an immediate increase to 21/hr or a bump of 1.75/hr (existing rates vary depending on location) with the balance of the 7.50/hr applied over the 5 yr contract.

All trucks are supposed to receive AC by the end of the contract starting in the “hotter” areas of the country, as well as venting to improve air flow in the back of the trucks. Some drivers have reported temps as high as 135 in the back. (I would certainly hate to open the door to that!) All trucks are supposed to receive fans in the cab immediately. (I guess to blow the hot air around.)

A previous poster asked what UPS is doing to address efficiency. UPS is currently the most efficient package delivery service out there. They operate using routes or delivery areas so, it can work. It is normal for you to see several Amazon delivery trucks on the same residential street during a single day. You won’t see more than 1 UPS truck. UPS has the package delivery system down. They have somewhere in the area of 35% of the business in the US.

I’m just surprised that the USPS doesn’t spend more time evaluating UPS’s system and figuring out what parts they can emulate.


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[TiltonBB]

You are correct on the $170,000 per year. I misremembered. My apology

Efficiency? I knew someone who drove a "Brownie" package delivery truck. He said that they had to keep the truck door key in their left pocket so when they unlocked the sliding door they could be sliding the door to the right with their right hand as they put the key back in their left pocket, saving time. I would have liked to see the math on that, saving say 1.5 seconds per stop times the number of stops made by all UPS trucks across the country.

UPS estimates they save 10 million gallons of fuel each year by avoiding left hand turns. “A left-hand turn is also less fuel efficient,” said Jack Levis, UPS Senior Director of Process Management, “because your car’s idling longer, which is also not good for your vehicle.”

A company with a decent size fleet would be wise to hire someone who has worked in management at UPS just to learn all the efficiency steps.

[John Mercier]

I think it cost us more to ship UPS/FedEx than USPS.
To hire more drivers, they will probably have to pay more... and move their rates up.

But Amazon is catching UPS. Amazon is at a 22% market share with UPS being at 24%... that also seems to be a function of pricing.

[The Real BigGuy]

You are correct John in respect to cost. That is why UPS/FedEx turned to USPS for “last mile” delivery. USPS gave them a discount on shipping costs. Also why USPS is having trouble coming up with $ to pay their staff. You can’t drop prices to gain share if your lower price squeezes you financially.

With regard to Amazon’s share, you need to remember that in late 2021 they made a decision to internalize their deliveries. Their package delivery share is more a function of their huge online sales & market share than it is their package delivery capabilities. Their delivery business is a single source operation where UPS/FedEx have thousands of individual customers. (As an aside, I recently found out that a number of FedEx delivery drivers are independent contractors not employees. That surprised me.)

In any event, I still can’t figure out how 3 trucks passing by my house and 2 others making a delivery to me in a single day is acost effective, efficient, delivery system.


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[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by The Real BigGuy

You are correct John in respect to cost. That is why UPS/FedEx turned to USPS for “last mile” delivery. USPS gave them a discount on shipping costs. Also why USPS is having trouble coming up with $ to pay their staff. You can’t drop prices to gain share if your lower price squeezes you financially.

With regard to Amazon’s share, you need to remember that in late 2021 they made a decision to internalize their deliveries. Their package delivery share is more a function of their huge online sales & market share than it is their package delivery capabilities. Their delivery business is a single source operation where UPS/FedEx have thousands of individual customers. (As an aside, I recently found out that a number of FedEx delivery drivers are independent contractors not employees. That surprised me.)

In any event, I still can’t figure out how 3 trucks passing by my house and 2 others making a delivery to me in a single day is acost effective, efficient, delivery system.


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Hasn't the USPS also been weighted down by Congress insisting that they fund pension liabilities far in advance, thus sucking $ out of the system?

[John Mercier]

They changed the pension problem for the USPS.
Not that it didn't have some negative financial effect on them... but they still have a market lead.

The trajectory isn't great... but it seems to be in a range.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/24/ama...ping-fedex-ups

[ApS]

Winter or summer, USPS has parked their trucks and searched for my house to deliver parcels, like FedEx always has.

UPS just makes a big pile under my rural mailbox. Neighbors alert me by email to make the quarter-mile trek to collect them. UPS has never found my place, and tries to get me to drive to their office in Maine.

UPS once left a full-size computer on a neighbor's sun deck. That neighbor had been deceased many months prior.

I happened to see it from the lake.

[thinkxingu]

I don't mail/ship a lot on my own, but I've always ordered a ton of stuff through the mail and in ~35 years of using the USPS, I've not had a single item lost. Delays sometimes, for sure, but my stuff has always arrived. FedEx and UPS, on the other hand, have both damaged and lost things while also having periodic delays.

Also, 55¢ or whatever it is these days to send an envelope across the country is a steal.

The USPS might have some issues, and Moultonborough has always been the very worst of those I've worked with, but I still think it's a valuable organization/system.

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[rsmlp]

Wishbone, I had the exact same experience recently with Moultonboro po. I won't name any names but one of their deliverers isn't exactly on the ball. I called and it got resolved and I would encourage you to do the same.

[LoveLakeLife]

They should move the post office back to the second floor of the country store.


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[Descant]

Originally Posted by tis

A huge part of the issue is Amazon and other mail orders. It is so different than it used to be. They have tons of packages to deliver.

Wait until December. Holiday mail, packages and all those political flyers just before the primary. If they didn't deliver on Friday and Saturday, I could close the office from noon Friday to noon Monday.