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Post by eh49 on Aug 19, 2015 16:07:55 GMT -8
Well, my package from Kliens showed up at my door today. I'm going to try UPS on my next order.
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Post by Brakie on Aug 20, 2015 3:29:09 GMT -8
What I found odd is how a Athearn boxcar from California and a P2K GP9 from North Carolina arrived on the same day..Both packages was sent USPS Priority one day apart.
According to the tracking number the California package was still in transit when it arrived.
Worst transit time ever is when DHL is used-8 days for two PS3 games from Florida even though the games was shipped the day after I bought them. The padded envelope was Priority. USPS takes around 3-4 days for the same envelope.
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Post by Brakie on Aug 20, 2015 3:35:41 GMT -8
Well, my package from Kliens showed up at my door today. I'm going to try UPS on my next order. You may wish to rethink that.. One of our local drivers was caught throwing packages on a porches from the sidewalk instead of walking up to the door. |
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Post by Great-Northern-Willmar Div on Aug 20, 2015 6:27:55 GMT -8
Well, my package from Kliens showed up at my door today. I'm going to try UPS on my next order. You may wish to rethink that.. One of our local drivers was caught throwing packages on a porches from the sidewalk instead of walking up to the door. I had ordered some parts for my 1969 Chevrolet Suburban ambulance from LMC Truck in Kansas. I was in my former service station working on the 69 Suburban(garage door was closed) when I HEARD MY PACKAGES SLAMMING ONTO THE PORCH of my home!. The driver must have stood at the bottom of the stairs and flung them onto the porch. The package has fine only because LMC used piles of peanuts. |
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Post by mlehman on Aug 21, 2015 12:02:46 GMT -8
I realize it's just one data point, but can report considerable satisfaction with both MBK and the USPS. I ordered some track around noon on Monday. MBK shipped my order Wednesday morning. It showed in tracking that afternoon and went to that infamous Baltimore facility some of you dread. It departed there Wed. evening and arrived here in the local distro center just after midnight today, 29 hours after leaving Baltimore. On my porch steps at 2:15 this afternoon in pristine condition. So a little over 4 days after ordering, I have what I need in hand. The LHS would likely take weeks to deliver the same item...just saying.
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Post by Paul Cutler III on Aug 26, 2015 17:16:13 GMT -8
Jim,
Were you a rural carrier? Because I know there are different labor rules between rural carriers (where you mostly drive your own car) and "city carriers" (which is everyone that's not a rural carrier...or a clerk). My suburban town of 16,000 is all city carrier routes, and something my dad did for years (he's getting his 45-year NALC Union pin next year).
Before he retired in 1993, my dad got overtime. A lot of overtime. Not only time and a half, but also double time when called to work holidays. In the 1980's, my dad was working 60 hours a week for the USPS; 10 hours a day, six days a week. And he was still getting help on his route every day. See, they built several new housing developments on his route, but they refused to break off any of it and hire another hand. Finally, a route inspector came onboard, and when it got to be 5PM and they weren't even half way through yet, he said, "Let's go home." The next route alignment cut my dad's route in half.
And the way overtime works is that the senior man must be asked first, then the next senior, and so on. My dad was 2nd man in his office, so he got all the OT he wanted.
My sister was a PTF (Part Time Flexible) carrier (non-union) in the same office back in the mid-1990's, working over the Summer for college money. She worked hard and got the routes done early. When she went back to the office, her reward for finishing an hour or more early? More work. "Here, go make the collections." Her co-worker and fellow PTF always did his job in the time allowed. When he got back to the office, he got to go home. My sister's solution was to continue to work hard, but take longer lunch break. This is all before bar code scanners, of course.
As for the USPS being strange, that's certainly true. It's always been a quasi-military management mindset. Very adversarial. In the "Postal Record" (my dad's NALC Union magazine), they describe some of the stranger situations. One of my favorites was the very short carrier who was fired because her strides weren't long enough. She was under 5-feet tall, so she took small steps but made them faster than her longer legged co-workers. That didn't matter to the USPS. She was canned. Only after a Union complaint was she re-hired after they proved that she walked her route just as fast as anyone else. Strange indeed.
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Post by Great-Northern-Willmar Div on Aug 27, 2015 5:13:04 GMT -8
Jim, Were you a rural carrier? Because I know there are different labor rules between rural carriers (where you mostly drive your own car) and "city carriers" (which is everyone that's not a rural carrier...or a clerk). My suburban town of 16,000 is all city carrier routes, and something my dad did for years (he's getting his 45-year NALC Union pin next year). Before he retired in 1993, my dad got overtime. A lot of overtime. Not only time and a half, but also double time when called to work holidays. In the 1980's, my dad was working 60 hours a week for the USPS; 10 hours a day, six days a week. And he was still getting help on his route every day. See, they built several new housing developments on his route, but they refused to break off any of it and hire another hand. Finally, a route inspector came onboard, and when it got to be 5PM and they weren't even half way through yet, he said, "Let's go home." The next route alignment cut my dad's route in half. And the way overtime works is that the senior man must be asked first, then the next senior, and so on. My dad was 2nd man in his office, so he got all the OT he wanted. My sister was a PTF (Part Time Flexible) carrier (non-union) in the same office back in the mid-1990's, working over the Summer for college money. She worked hard and got the routes done early. When she went back to the office, her reward for finishing an hour or more early? More work. "Here, go make the collections." Her co-worker and fellow PTF always did his job in the time allowed. When he got back to the office, he got to go home. My sister's solution was to continue to work hard, but take longer lunch break. This is all before bar code scanners, of course. As for the USPS being strange, that's certainly true. It's always been a quasi-military management mindset. Very adversarial. In the "Postal Record" (my dad's NALC Union magazine), they describe some of the stranger situations. One of my favorites was the very short carrier who was fired because her strides weren't long enough. She was under 5-feet tall, so she took small steps but made them faster than her longer legged co-workers. That didn't matter to the USPS. She was canned. Only after a Union complaint was she re-hired after they proved that she walked her route just as fast as anyone else. Strange indeed. I was a rural carrier warrior. During my time with USPS I killed off three of my personal vehicles. Blew the engine in one, next one the transmission went during the April food drive, the last electrical suicide. Then when I had the LLV(Long Life Vehicle) slid down a steep road in the snow and got stuck on my first day of training. I was threatened with being fired along with all my fellow subs that it got to be really depressing to go to work. |
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