Size matters at the Post Office

[mecgp7]

I didn't really know where to post this, but I figured most visit here.
I went to mail a padded envelope with an N scale motor in it to Canada today. My envelope was rejected because it was too small. Apparently the new customs label has to fit on the front next to the address or the package will get returned at the border. I had to buy a larger envelope and put my already addressed envelope in it.
Thought I'd mention it to help avoid frustration for others.

[Albert in N]

   I recently shipped an N scale locomotive to Canada and USPS First Class (the cheapest rate at $15.50) has no tracking available US to Canada unless you step up to the $35 to $50 priority options.  Due to the light weight using air pack bubble wrap, I was able to do the short customs form.  Even USPS package rates here in USA are high enough that Amazon uses their own white vans to deliver their orders here in the DFW metroplex.

[mecgp7]

According to this P.O. there is no more short form. There is one form now for all packages.

[Showme]

   Years ago I was selling slides on the auction site. It might have changed by now, but back then I was charging $1.00 for First Class postage. I was packing in a small envelope cut down to just slightly larger than the slide. I was doing ok until one day I got a lady at the Post Office that said she couldn't do that because the packages were too small. I argued that I had been sending them for months with no problem. Fortunately, the Postmaster was standing there and told her to take them. Reluctantly, she did. I made it a point to not use her window after that.

Bob

[bman]

  Even USPS package rates here in USA are high enough that Amazon uses their own white vans to deliver their orders here in the DFW metroplex.

I've heard and kept an eye on this.  It seems to be confined to major metro areas where the delivery density makes it cost effective. I got the idea from reading several articles on this since it's starting that it has as much to do with control over delivery time for Prime users as the cost. And Prime can be delivered by UPS, FedEx, USPS, common carrier or a courier from what I've read.  USPS is the cheapest of those listed.  I do wonder how Amazon was/is tendering packages to the USPS though. That makes a big difference in cost per parcel.  But with the number of deliveries they have to have in a densely populated geographical area it does become cost effective to for them to perform delivery.  I read this quote a while back from an article from an expert out of Forbes, " The company believes that shorter drives and more packages on a delivery route will prove to be more profitable."  Well duh! I spent most of my career in LTL trucking and small package delivery trying to do this every day with shipments and stops per hour.  It's not a novel new ground breaking idea.  But all that aside, "shorter drives" leads me to believe that if you don't live in a major metro area, your not gonna see an Amazon delivery truck.  At least anytime soon.   I mean, unless you live near one of Amazon's distribution facilities and order something from them sometime in the future. Then maybe you will.   Amazon just opened up a center here in town.  I'll start keeping an eye out for their delivery vehicles.  Are they marked for Amazon or a contractor?

And size, was well as weight, has always mattered at the post office.  Machinable, non-machinable, etc etc...  oh the memories of running the sort each night are coming back to me.  Better grab the bottle of bourbon.  Where's Ed K?

[Albert in N]

Amazon trucks that I see in the Fort Worth TX area are solid white full-size cargo vans of various makes. There are no markings or signs. For what it is worth, USPS delivered AGM lead-acid batteries for my two cordless push mowers last year.  I ordered them from Amazon when the factory batteries wore out after 8 years. The battery sets (2 @ 12 Volts for 24 Volt mowers) were packed inside USPS priority mail boxes with "very heavy" labels. Yet, the shipping was normal priority mail rate for that box size.

[mu26aeh]

Amazon trucks that I see in the Fort Worth TX area are solid white full-size cargo vans of various makes. There are no markings or signs. For what it is worth, USPS delivered AGM lead-acid batteries for my two cordless push mowers last year.  I ordered them from Amazon when the factory batteries wore out after 8 years. The battery sets (2 @ 12 Volts for 24 Volt mowers) were packed inside USPS priority mail boxes with "very heavy" labels. Yet, the shipping was normal priority mail rate for that box size.

 

If it fits, it ships 

[Albert in N]

FYI, Amazon has a distribution center North of Fort Worth, so their own trucks make sense in this area.  Also, Alliance freight airport is near with huge cargo jets.

[bman]

Amazon opened a fullfillment center here outside of Columbus in July in Obetzonnthe cities SE side.  And Rickenbacker Int'l Airport not far from it.  And we're getting some data centers too.  They are not fair fooling around for sure.

[nkalanaga]

bman:  Sorting machinable mail isn't much different from sorting checks in banking, which I did for 30+ years.  Even the machines looked very similar.  If people hadn't quit writing letters at the same time they quit using checks I'd have tried to get a job sorting the mail.

[bman]

bman:  Sorting machinable mail isn't much different from sorting checks in banking, which I did for 30+ years.  Even the machines looked very similar.  If people hadn't quit writing letters at the same time they quit using checks I'd have tried to get a job sorting the mail.

The USPS also has 3 categories for parcels, machinable, irregular, and non-machinable.  I ran the sort for a company that sorted parcels by zip code then tendered to the USPS for final delivery at the local post office level.  Sorry for the confusion I wasn't specific.  Kinda similar to a sort machine at a FedEx or UPS sort center, but not as large. 

[Bill H]

If it fits, it ships 

FWIW, Amazon lost US$ 7,200,000,000 ($7.2 billion dollars) in 2016 between what they charged customers, and what is actually cost to ship the item. That conditions most consumers to believe that shipping should be free or very low cost. I chuckle when I hear complaints on this board that most of the small model railroader e-tailers charge too much to ship. In most cases, it is actually a loss for the average e-tailer. Of course Amazon made 14 billion on their cloud services, so I guess they really don't care and will just wait for most of the small businesses to go out of business because customers think the shipping costs are too high. Reminds me of the oil and steel robber barons of the 1880s...

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/true-cost-convenience-amazons-annual-shipping-losses-top-7b-first-time/

Sorry for the rant...

Kind regards,
Bill

 

[conrail98]

FWIW, Amazon lost US$ 7,200,000,000 ($7.2 billion dollars) in 2016 between what they charged customers, and what is actually cost to ship the item. That conditions most consumers to believe that shipping should be free or very low cost.

We're going through this exact same thing at work. One of our departments puts out educational materials and they take a loss on almost every order because of shipping,

Phil

[wmcbride]

  I recently shipped an N scale locomotive to Canada and USPS First Class (the cheapest rate at $15.50) has no tracking available US to Canada unless you step up to the $35 to $50 priority options.  Due to the light weight using air pack bubble wrap, I was able to do the short customs form.  Even USPS package rates here in USA are high enough that Amazon uses their own white vans to deliver their orders here in the DFW metroplex.

On things I have sent first class to Canada, the UK, and Australia, I have been able to use the customs number to track the package door to door.

[nkalanaga]

bman:  Package sorting rather than letters would be different.  I've never had any experience with that, unless spending nights in the retarder operator's office at a hump yard counts. They were, after all, mechanically sorting "packages" based on names and numbers.