No Wonder Why US Stamps Just Went Up

[jcgriff2]

I ordered a video card from Amazon. Origination was Baltimore, MD - which is 167 miles away from me. I see they shipped it across the country to Sacramento, CA - which is 2,847 miles from me. Why? Why not just mail it to me in New Jersey?

No wonder why the US Postal Service (USPS) recently increased stamp prices. They're subsidizing Amazon!

Shipped with USPS


Tracking ID *******
Wednesday, May 23 7:53 AM


Shipment departed from Amazon facility
Baltimore, MARYLAND US 4:53 AM

Package has left the carrier facility
Baltimore, MD US
Tuesday, May 22 10:15 PM

Package has left the carrier facility
Sacramento, CA US 9:58 PM

Shipment departed from Amazon facility
Sacramento, CA US

Package has left seller facility and is in transit to carrier

 

[BrianDrab]

And Amazon wonder's why they are losing money......so now they just ban people.

 

[Digerati]

No wonder why the US Postal Service (USPS) recently increased stamp prices. They're subsidizing Amazon!

That's Trump fake news. Shipping parcels is one area the PO makes money. And in fact, there is a law that says each service within the PO must charge rates to at least break even. So if the PO was losing money, they would be breaking the law and that is not happening.

FACT CHECK: Is Amazon Bankrupting the United States Postal Service? False!

Donald Trump Says Amazon Is Costing the Post Office. It'''s Not | Fortune Not even.

Is Amazon really costing the US Post Office billions of dollars a year, as Donald Trump suggests? | The Independent No.

It is losing money but not because of Amazon. It is much because too many old-timers are retiring.

 

[jcgriff2]

It is Trump's true news!

But why would an Amazon fulfillment center in MD divert a package to CA that is destined for NJ? That must have cost the postal service a fortune. I paid -0- shipping costs.

 

[jcgriff2]

And Amazon wonder's why they are losing money......so now they just ban people.

Wow!

 

[Digerati]

But why would an Amazon fulfillment center in MD divert a package to CA that is destined for NJ?

Are you seriously suggesting Amazon intentionally diverts packages (potentially delaying delivery to their customers) just to screw over the Post Office? Come on! :r1:

IF that tracking information was correct (and it is not as you are reading it!), and the package did originally come out of a East Coast warehouse, then it is clear that would be a logistics error, and not some evil plot to bring down the USPS.

But come on! Let's get real! Look at the tracking information. It cannot be true the way you are interpreting it!

Package has left the carrier facility
Baltimore, MD US
Tuesday, May 22 10:15 PM

Package has left the carrier facility
Sacramento, CA US 9:58 PM

Why doesn't it show when it arrived in Sacramento from Baltimore? Because it didn't!

And considering 10:15 PM in Baltimore is 7:15 PM in Sacramento, and it supposedly left Sacramento at 9:58 PM, that would mean it had to somehow get from the carrier facility in Maryland all the way across the US to the carrier facility in California in 2 hours and 43 minutes! Really?

2,727 miles in 2 hours and 43 minutes? 1003.80 MPH! Really? On a commercial/civilian airplane? Of course not! You are reading it backwards! Start at the bottom of your tracking time table and go up!

It originated from the Amazon Sacramento warehouse on the 22nd where it then was sent to the Sacramento carrier (some contracted air cargo carrier). Then it flew west to east and arrived several hours later in Baltimore where it then was put on a truck up to NJ, It then was delivered the next day to your house on the 23rd. It did NOT zigzag across the country.

I paid -0- shipping costs.

Of course you paid shipping costs. You just didn't pay extra for shipping.

More proof: No, the Postal Service isn't losing a fortune on Amazon | PolitiFact

Does Amazon get a discount from the Post Office? Sure. Just as all companies get "volume discounts" from other companies when they deal in large quantities. Amazon gets similar discounts from Fed-Ex and UPS too, just as Dell gets volume discounts on drives from WD and Windows licenses from Microsoft. Does that mean Fed-Ex, UPS, WD and Microsoft are losing money on those deals? Of course not. In fact, they make money just as the USPS is making money on parcel deliveries for Amazon.

Could the Post Office charge full price for each and every shipment? Sure! But then, of course, Amazon would ship through FedEx and UPS only and the USPS would go even further in debt.


**********

As far as the banning, yeah that is despicable. It was on the news the other day and the worse part is, in a lot of cases, it is not even Amazon doing it! At least not directly. Amazon and other companies have outsourced to 3rd party companies to monitor returns and it is them who determines whose returns will be accepted or not. Best Buy is doing the same thing.

What this means, of course, is Amazon and other companies are giving our personal information and buying habits to yet another company. I guess the solution is to buy only at brick and mortar stores like Best Buy, Sears, WalMart, etc. and pay in cash only!

 

[jcgriff2]

2,727 miles in 2 hours and 43 minutes? 1003.80 MPH! Really?

Maybe the US Postal Service acquired the CIA's SR-71 Blackbirds!

Amazon Prime is supposed to be 2 day guaranteed delivery.

If not for the diversion to CA, it would have been here yesterday.

It is now at my local post office here in NJ waiting to be delivered today (I hope)!

I have no idea whether the diversion was on purpose or not.

 

[Digerati]

I have no idea whether the diversion was on purpose or not.

Sure you do. It serves no one, not even Amazon to intentionally impose such delays.

By your posted tracking information, it originated in California, not Baltimore. But even if was diverted across country, it was by mistake, not design. No company, not even Amazon dictates the routes the USPS will use to deliver the mail.

 

[jcgriff2]

FedEx sends EVERY package to Memphis, TN - their hub -- even if the package/letter's origination and destination are in the same city a thousand miles away.

The tracking info came from the USPS - the horse's mouth so to speak and I do believe they sent it from MD to CA to NJ. It accounts for the 3 day delivery time.

The tracking times may be local time which would account for the SR-71-like flight time.

 

[jcgriff2]

Video card was delivered today by the USPS mailman.

Full tracking history - courtesy of USPS: (read bottom → up -- we all read post#1 from the top → down)

Shipped with USPS
Tracking ID *************

Thursday, May 24 1:00 PM
Delivered Belmar, NJ

5:06 AM
Package arrived at a carrier facility
Belmar, NJ

5:03 AM
Package transferred to USPS for final delivery
Belmar, NJ US

3:09 AM
Shipment departed from Amazon facility
Avenel, NJ US

12:16 AM
Shipment arrived at Amazon facility
Avenel, NJ US

Wednesday, May 23 7:53 AM
Shipment departed from Amazon facility
Baltimore, MARYLAND US

Tuesday, May 22 9:58 PM
Shipment departed from Amazon facility
Sacramento, CA US

Package has left seller facility and is in transit to carrier

Reading bottom → top, it appears that the item originated in CA; then went to MD; then to NJ.

That makes much more sense. (Although the stopover in MD probably could have been cut out. Maybe it is some sort of hub).

 

[Digerati]

Reading bottom → top, it appears that the item originated in CA; then went to MD; then to NJ.

That makes much more sense.

Right. Thanks for that. :smile9:

(Although the stopover in MD probably could have been cut out. Maybe it is some sort of hub).

Pretty sure the USPS does not have any USPS planes. US Mail goes in the cargo hold of regular airlines, or in chartered cargo planes. So the packages are handed off from the air carrier to USPS people at the airport, then sent to the USPS hub, sorted again and trucked to a more local regional distribution center, then out to the local PO, then to the delivery address. At least that is what I assume based on what happens here in the Omaha Metro.

we all read post#1 from the top → down

Well, actually, I didn't even read the tracking in your first post. It was not until you accused Amazon of diverting the package all the way across the country did I actually look at the tracking history and immediately noted in post #6 it was being read wrong.

And for the record, not even the CIA uses the SR-71 (or its cousins) any more. Now that we have a global network of maneuverable satellites that can quickly get "over site" any where on the globe without the risk of being shot down by advanced Russian and Chinese anti-aircraft weapons, even the last of the Blackbirds became obsolete. It is just way too expensive to keep one (and "one" would not be enough) "mission ready" and way too expensive to keep pilots properly trained in actual flight. Simulators are great, but no substitute for the real thing. There would have to be regular training flights to keep those skills finely honed. There is no place to do that unnoticed anymore.

Fascinating aircraft, BTW. I used to be stationed at RAF Mildenhall in the UK in the mid 80s and there were two SR-71s assigned there. When the hanger doors opened, word spread across the base like wildfire that a SR was about to launch. Everything else on based stopped. Anything between the hanger and the end of the flightline quickly got out of the way. Even other aircraft about to launch aborted takeoff and got out of the way. Planes in an approach pattern getting ready to land where suddenly directed to "abort landing and go around".

Every, regardless of weather, came out to watch as the plane rolled out of the hanger and quickly taxied to the end of the flightline. We watched as fuel leaked all over the place while the two-man crew went through final checklists. Then boom boom as the afterburners lit up and everything started to shake, and the plane was gone! Night launches were the best.

Recoveries (landing) were almost as entertaining. There would always be a couple "chase" trucks to escort the plane from touchdown, down the flightline and directly into the hanger where the doors quickly closed shut behind it. Then, typically in less than 2 minutes, another truck would pop out of a smaller hanger door and speed to the photo recon laboratory to develop the films.

Then just as quickly, all normal flightline operations would resume.

I was stationed there during the Falklands War. There were also several RC-135 and EC-135. Interesting times back then.

 

[jcgriff2]

I did know that the SR-71 has been decommissioned.

That is a shame considering it holds many records - like speed (mach 3.2 - 2,455 mph) and altitude.

I wish that Boeing and Airbus would fly that fast!

 

[Digerati]

Supersonic flight (whether military or civilian) just costs too much.