I used UPS through paypal... basically the same price as USPS... For a driver with insurance it was actually slightly cheaper than USPS. Just print label and drop off at the store just like USPS except no lines and right now faster delivery.

One needs a UPS or FedEx account to get better pricing or like mgrin did you go thru your PayPal account on a link to an eBay sale.

Par4QC Do you have Walgreens in town? Up here, they do FedEx drop-offs. Smaller areas usually have a place where you can take FedEx packages.

Two Walgreens and one Dollar General are drop off points but do not give you any receipts. They just pile the packages up and wait for the Fedex dude. I am not comfortable with that.

    Sparky I've got a shaft coming from Doug Mael. It took 12 days to get from Langhorne PA to Philadelphia PA.

    And it only took 1 day from Philadelphia to SoCal. The weather is nice out here, makes sense.

      DonM Well the package from Rickochet to me took only 2 days. That's a day early, even.

      I also sent one to northern Ohio this week that got there equally quick. USPS almost overloaded me with email updates on both. I have no complaints.

        Eguller Time and date Place Message

        Sunday, Jul 26, 2020 12:00 AM N/A In Transit, Arriving Late
        Thursday, Jul 23, 2020 10:27 PM SAN DIEGO CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER Departed USPS Regional Origin Facility
        Thursday, Jul 23, 2020 9:59 PM SAN DIEGO CA DISTRIBUTION CENTER Arrived at USPS Regional Origin Facility
        Thursday, Jul 23, 2020 8:44 PM SAN DIEGO , CA Accepted at USPS Origin Facility

        STILL NOT HERE. Grrrrrr.....

          Apparently, USPS only sucks on certain weeks in various areas.

          scotts33
          Thanks for posting it, I can tell you are hesitant about doing it.
          Sounds to me as if the elimination of overtime is the reason. It explains the problem. The rest of the article is very low on facts and showcases one side’s political motivations. I’m surprised my postmaster didn’t offer any of these explanations to me. Same for my mail man who is very anti Trump.

            4 days later

            mgrin
            God that's horrible.

            I read another article about it. They are supposed to stop at the end of regular hours, leaving the unprocessed mail for the next day. Normally they would work overtime and end up with a clean room. What it sounds like is that at some plants they aren't doing first in first out. They must be just pushing the excess into a pile and starting over the next day.

                DonM I read another article about it. They are supposed to stop at the end of regular hours, leaving the unprocessed mail for the next day.

                Our mail normally gets delivered about 3PM. For months I see the carriers delivering mail as late as 7 PM. I have lived at this address for 35 years and I have never seen this happen. It would seem to be a personnel shortage not lack of over time pay. The USPS has had a big issue for years with a very top heavy retirement obligation.

                    mgrin A new record... 25 days to deliver a driver from Wisconsin to Michigan.

                    Not looking good for me. Waiting for a fairway wood to be delivered to Illinois from Michigan...only been 2.5 weeks so far. 🙁

                      Just shipped a putter from Lecanto, FL. It exited my post office 2 days ago.......got to Jacksonville this morning. It's a 2.5 hour drive. Shit.... ...

                      I ordered something from GW Monday. Tuesday it got Accepted at the Newark PO. Apparently it's still there.

                      Rickochet - they've changed routes and carriers in my hood so mail is now 'normally' delivered mid to late afternoon when it has been in my box by 10:00 daily, and usually at 9ish. Occasionally I'd see some suit and tie slowly following the carrier with I'm guessing a stopwatch and clipboard - an efficiency study, I presume.

                      I live on a small city park (3 city blocks x 1 block) ringed by approximately 30 homes. Before the changes, the carrier would deliver mail to those houses with packages first and then park his vehicle. He'd then walk around the park house by house. Now, the new carrier(s) are going to the door to deliver the mail to each abode, turn around, return to their vehicle, then drive the 75 yards +/- to the next address, rinse and repeat around the park.

                      I sense an intentional, silent work slowdown. The loss of the overtime has impacted paychecks and I'm theorizing the Service's employees (union) is hoping postal patrons flood Congress with complaints to get more funding, and fast. IMHO

                        Took a box to the P.O. late Wed. afternoon, 8/5, heading to FL.. It is now "out for delivery"!!!

                        But, on Monday, I sent 2 boxes to just across the border in WI via FedEx, and they took 2 days. Was supposed to be delivered the next day, but was held up by something they posted as "special exception", whatever the hell that meant.

                        On July 1st I sent out a flat box with two autographed pieces to an auction house in Phoenix from the western suburbs of Chicago by Priority mail two day delivery.

                        24 days later it still showed sitting here in Oswego where I dropped it off.

                        When I called they claimed that Phoenix was a hotspot and Covid had them down to bare bones workers and things were really slow.

                        I said, that is understandable, but the package is still showing 1300+ miles from Phoenix and your "slowdown".

                        They said, "Covid has far reaching implications" and that I couldn't pick up the package I shipped from my one-horse town over 3 weeks earlier nor put in a claim earlier than 30 days.

                        Yesterday, 36 days after shipping they called and said "good news, your package is heading in the right direction, it is in Indianapolis."

                        I asked her is she has a US Map nearby, she assured me that she did. I asked her to put me on speaker phone and to put a finger on Oswego Illinois and one finger on Indianapolis. Then.... kindly find Phoenix Arizona and tell me how the package that they have had for 36+ days is heading in the right direction when it went 3.5 hours southeast when it should be going WEST.

                        I ended up with a dialtone. hahaha