If you mail people cards, be aware that one of the dimensions must be less than 6 1/8 inches or they charge you extra for postage. Also you should write parallel to the longer edge, or they will have a fit.
This message brought to you by your new, privatized, US Postal Service, which should not be confused with the old, cheaper and friendlier, US Post Office.
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Established: 21 November 2004
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7 comments
Try having a P.O. Box with the new, unfriendlier, privatized Postal Service.
Three years ago, though I had had the box since about 1994 or so, the “finance station” in which my box is located forced me to fill out a new information form “for security purposes.” Yeah, right. I took their letter to the counter and told them that all my information was unchanged since my move in 1995, of which I had long since duly informed them. They said that if I did not fill out a new form, my claim on the box would be immediately terminated.
The new USPS monopoly may lack many characteristics of the old Post Office, but they certainly have maintained the same high standard of bureaucracy.
I wrote software for direct mail in SoCal. Compared to the USPO, the USPS has gone above and beyond in bureaucracy and the obtuseness of regulations. They have cut staffing in the pursuit of “efficiency” to the point that all of those left are feeling harassed. The stress is palatable in the facilities and the older people are leaving as soon as they make the minimum for retirement.
While they have implemented some great new features via the ‘Net, they have screwed up their main point of public contact – the local post office. Like many industries they haven’t figured out that there are still a lot of people who are unwilling or unable to use the Internet.
Dear Sir or Madam as the case may be;
Our legal staff has noticed that you are using the word “letters” on your blog. Please be advised that this word is wholly owned by the USPS and any unlicensed use is strictly forbidden. For licensing information, please send a self-addressed stamped #3.14259265 envelope to the USPS office of obscure regulations.
Regards,
Your friends at the USPS
In order to mail a package over 13 oz, you need to take it up to a desk. Unfortuantely, those desks are understaffed
If you want obscure, try figuring out if you save money doing your own barcoding or presorting for carrier route bundles when you have several groups that may not exceed the 250 piece requirement for a 5-digit sort. The difference can be hundreds of dollars if you are sending out utility bills. Postal regulations are a real trial of computer skills, but keep in mind if the local facility manager changes, you are going to have to change your program to reflect the new manager’s interpretation of the regulations.
My local post office, for the first time in memory hired no part-time people for Christmas, Map. Talk about a mess. I go to a UPS Store now, because they also handle USPS shipping and they produce a printed official label.
And their new address scrubber program isn’t so hot, either.
Their concept of appropriate abbreviations doesn’t conform to the whimsy of many developers and the information on which they work is not up-to-date. There are a couple of better commercial programs out there, but normal people can’t afford them as the limited programs are in the thousands and the data you have to buy to use them cost both arms and both legs to cover a single 3 digit region, but they update frequently.