# Postal Service



## fordcowboy (Dec 27, 1999)

I received 2 bodies this week from a guy. Wrapped in a single paper towel, in a #10 business envelope. And they made it, no problem. I laughed my butt off, I couldn't beleive it.
-fcb


----------



## tjetsgrig (Nov 1, 2009)

Yep, same here......I have NO complaints with the USPS.


----------



## CJ53 (Oct 30, 2007)

Incredible.. Slotcarman sent me bodies in a box a year or so ago, Box was smashed and so were the bodies. Looked like they used the box for a chock block. 
CJ


----------



## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

Yup, I remember that one CJ.. I think their 900 pound gorilla used that box as a plaything...


----------



## buzzinhornet (Jan 20, 2000)

That is funny.:lol: I've received some packages that were pretty beat up but thanks to the good pack job most people do my stuff has been OK.:thumbsup:


----------



## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

First class is way less abusive than parcel post. Both are great value.


----------



## 1scalevolvo (Feb 5, 2004)

What is a good rule of thumb when pricing out shipping for resincast bodies according to # of bodies shipped ?

Neal:dude:


----------



## tjd241 (Jan 25, 2004)

*Cue up the violin music.....*

It's like that old saying... When they are good they are very very good... but when they are bad... they put whatever's left into one of these and deliver it. :lol:


----------



## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

I purchased a car off Ebay about 6 or 7 years ago. The USPS truck that had my money order in it was involved in a wreck, caught fire and burned the end of the money order I mailed. The seller was able to cash it anyway. I thought it was funny when he told me about it.

Randy.


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

a good rule of thumb is to acquire a digital scale and weigh potential shipments then use the online calculators at USPS.com to determine shipping costs. use USPS Shipping Assistant to print labels and get discounted or even free Delivery Confirmation and you can even arrange to pay the postage online. it is nearly identical to Paypal label services and quite easy to use. a reasonably priced digital scale can be found at many online and local retail locations and is a great investment. heck, you might even find yourself weighing your slot cars for various reasons.


----------



## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

Now if I could only get the Postal employees who deliver my mail to: 
A. Deliver magazines that haven't been torn, folded(like it had been in someone's back pocket for a day), and generally beat up.
B. Get my issues in a timely manner, not days after others get theirs.
C. Not leave packages out in the rain by the outside garage door; I have TWO porches, one has a big roof extension over it and the other is a 12 by 24 screened-in room, which is NOT locked, yet the mail person LEAVES packages OUT in the rain(they have been asked not to)........just lazy or worthless would be my guess.
D. Have the Postmaster at one of the branch offices here in W-S actually get her employees to work the counter instead of standing in the back B.S.'n and drinking coffee(she was in the group, too). I was waiting for the door to be unlocked at 9AM (which the Postmaster did) and then she went in the back and chatted with several other employees.(They thought they were out-of-view but I could see their reflection in an interior window) When she opened the door there were three people in line. One person finally came out and worked the counter at 9:12 AM. At that point there were 10+ people waiting to be served. Oh, some of the phone calls were not getting answered, either.
Our tax dollars at work!!!

Bob Weichbrodt
[email protected]
Winston-Salem, NC


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

the United States Post Office is not supported by tax monies. it runs completely on the postage it charges. I am not defending or minimizing your complaint. I have seen lots of what you are talking about. just sayin.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Still, if it fits, it ships.


----------



## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

fordcowboy said:


> I received 2 bodies this week from a guy. Wrapped in a single paper towel, in a #10 business envelope. And they made it, no problem. I laughed my butt off, I couldn't beleive it.
> -fcb


i visit my local gamers shop & get those card board "200" card-count boxes 4 shipping (about $.27 - $.38 per box)

for New-cars in "Clamshell-Cubes", use "250" card count......

just an FYI :wave: :thumbsup:

Bubba 123

Bubba's Slot Car Emporium :freak:


----------



## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

I have no major complaints with the USPS except that the tracking numbers they provide with purchases seem to be useless every time I've been offered one. Does it ever work?


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

My dad worked for the PO for 30+ years, 
I watched them go from making no money, to getting unionized and making a very good money. If you look at many unionized companies and the GOVT, you will see things go down hill! Nothing against the worker but they work and the union bosses get rich. Then u have public sectors unions? huh

they make deals with elected officials then those elected officilas get campaign donations from the union???????????? sounds like a kick back to me.

I have also gotten crushed boxes from fed X and UPS


----------



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

alpink said:


> the United States Post Office is not supported by tax monies. it runs completely on the postage it charges. I am not defending or minimizing your complaint. I have seen lots of what you are talking about. just sayin.


Now there's a novel concept...:freak:

... a guv'ment agency that pulls it's own weight. 

I'll forgive a few crush-a-lated parcels if that's the case.

With a few exceptions, I have to give our local branch a pretty good customer service rating.


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

it no longer a gov agency
it an independent agency as of 1971.
but it does borrow money from the Treasury to pay it debts.
so technically, if they do not start to make money again, then they partially using taxpayer dollars


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

if it is NOT a United States Government Agency then why do they NOT have registration plates on any of their delivery vehicles? did you know that in the United States of America there are only two types of vehicles that always have the right of way? one of those types of vehicles is a vehicle with foreign diplomat plates, they are not held to account for laws in this country. the other vehicle is a postal vehicle. that is federal law dating from the days of the Pony Express which always had the right of way. compare the Postal Service in this country with the postal service in any other country in the world. you will find the level of service from the United States Postal Service is second to none. the corruption is very low. the rate of delivery is very high. and the lost packages and destroyed packages are reasonable. not every one believes that when their package has just gone missing or appears to have been run over by a truck, but, please, find a better postal service?


----------



## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

Slott V said:


> I have no major complaints with the USPS except that the tracking numbers they provide with purchases seem to be useless every time I've been offered one. Does it ever work?


I've tried it and it works. I've had good luck with the postal service. Sad to say, but the truth is the postal service has been running in the red the last few years. Taxpayer money helps them out.

E-mail and electronic money transfers have hurt them, as well as operating cost.

For your money, they are a good service.

Randy.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Slott V said:


> I have no major complaints with the USPS except that the tracking numbers they provide with purchases seem to be useless every time I've been offered one. Does it ever work?


I think that term gets misused with them. It's really delivery confirmation.
In every one I've ever used or been given, the information only shows after it's been delivered.


----------



## DaleFan (Aug 2, 2003)

Delivery Confirmation is only as good as the people who scan the packages at each stage of the process. You get your package scanned at the time you pay for it. It should be scanned when it reaches and leaves each sorting facility along the way. It should be scanned when it is received by the post office of the person you are sending it to. It should be scanned when the package goes OUT for delivery, and you should see DELIVERED or ATTEMPTED once your carrier takes the package on his/her route.


----------



## slotcarman12078 (Oct 3, 2008)

I've seen it work at it's best, and at it's worst too.. I had a package take a 700 mile long detour, and followed it step by step through it's journey. It all is based on scanners picking up the bar code. Some, like the ones at the counter have to be done manually, and if they neglect to scan it, or if the shipping is one of those print at home deals, it may not show up at all. That will depend on the mail carrier scanning the parcel. Others, I believe, are integrated with the automated sorting equipment. Those can be hit or miss...


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> if it is NOT a United States Government Agency then why do they NOT have registration plates on any of their delivery vehicles?


the laws that existed before it became an independent agency still exist.

here is a snipit:




> The USPS is often mistaken for a government-owned corporation (e.g., Amtrak) because it operates much like a business, but as noted above, it is legally defined as an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. § 201) as it is controlled by Presidential appointees and the Postmaster General. As a quasi-governmental agency, it has many special privileges, including sovereign immunity, eminent domain powers, powers to negotiate postal treaties with foreign nations, and an exclusive legal right to deliver first-class and third-class mail. Indeed, in 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the USPS was not a government-owned corporation, and therefore could not be sued under the Sherman Antitrust Act.[23] The U.S. Supreme Court has also upheld the USPS's statutory monopoly on access to letter boxes against a First Amendment freedom of speech challenge; it thus remains illegal in the U.S. for anyone, other than the employees and agents of the USPS, to deliver mailpieces to letter boxes marked "U.S. Mail."[24]


----------



## Hornet (Dec 1, 2005)

edit.


----------



## RcBigJohn2 (Jan 10, 2011)

tjd241 said:


> It's like that old saying... When they are good they are very very good... but when they are bad... they put whatever's left into one of these and deliver it. :lol:


Hi all,

I work for the postal service as a mail handler. We call that a body bag. For most part we treat letters and packages good. 

Thank you all for using the postal service. 

later, 

John


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

Hornet, out of courtesy, most people give the right of way to funeral processions and at times law enforcement even assist by blocking side streets of intersections, but it is not law. emergency vehicles, including police cars, do not automatically have the right of way, even when using all the lights and sirens.


----------



## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

alpink said:


> Hornet, out of courtesy, most people give the right of way to funeral processions and at times law enforcement even assist by blocking side streets of intersections, but it is not law. emergency vehicles, including police cars, do not automatically have the right of way, even when using all the lights and sirens.


yup... BUT ....U.S. MAIL-VEH....DO!!:freak:
1 of our "Freaky" Fed. road laws...

:wave:

Bubba 123


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> I work for the postal service as a mail handler


Do you get a good discounts on guns? :freak::tongue:

Sorry could not resist!
used to tease my dad about that


----------



## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

I love this place...

...lookee at all the stuff ya never knew 

"Body Bag"....LMAO!


----------



## RcBigJohn2 (Jan 10, 2011)

slotking said:


> Do you get a good discounts on guns? :freak::tongue:
> 
> Sorry could not resist!
> used to tease my dad about that


Nope, We don't even get a discount on postage.  

Later, 

John


----------



## A/FX Nut (May 28, 2004)

alpink said:


> Hornet, out of courtesy, most people give the right of way to funeral processions and at times law enforcement even assist by blocking side streets of intersections, but it is not law. emergency vehicles, including police cars, do not automatically have the right of way, even when using all the lights and sirens.


If you get into an accident with an emergency vehicle and his lights and sirens or on, you'll find out they have the right of way. They do in Michigan and Indiana. YOU WILL GET A TICKET! If the police have someone pulled over you have to slow down and/or move over. It's the law in these two states. 

Randy.


----------



## bondoman2k (Jan 13, 2003)

As far as I know, they have the right of way in Texas too.
Ron


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

it is good to know that in Texas, Indiana and Michigan state laws trump federal laws.


----------



## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

You can stay in Pennsylvania if you want.


----------



## alpink (Aug 22, 2010)

NTxSlotCars said:


> You can stay in Pennsylvania if you want.


yes, I CAN, yes, I MAY, but probably I WON'T!


----------



## plymouth71 (Dec 14, 2009)

just stay outta my country.... please!

(Just Kiddin!) No Really...


----------



## AfxToo (Aug 29, 2003)

> The United States Post Office is not supported by tax monies. it runs completely on the postage it charges.


In theory, yes. In practice, no way. The USPS has posted billions in deficits and these deficits are offset by "borrowing" very heavily from US Taxpayers to run the USPS. According to US tax laws to be a viable business you have to make a profit, or at least break even. Otherwise it is considered a hobby. The USPS is a very expensive hobby for the US government. Maybe this taxpayer funded hobby money would be better spent on slot cars!


----------



## 440s-4ever (Feb 23, 2010)

Well I am very happy the govt has a hobby of delivering mail. 

Because we have the cheapest and most reliable mail system in the world. Anybody who says otherwise hasn't mailed things in europe or south america.

If folks don't agree with the post office as it relates to politics, UPS will send everything you wanna send, it's simply going to cost more. Thus I recommend boycotting the post office. But please do not complain when you're spending $50 a month and getting the same quality of service you used to get for $3 a month. 

The postal system is one of the great things about America. We got that one right.


----------



## slotking (May 27, 2008)

> it is good to know that in Texas, Indiana and Michigan state laws trump federal laws


federal laws are for federal issues
local cops and fires etc are state issues

remember each state is a separate country
the fed gov provides basic international treaties, defense, interstate commerce.
Yes they do a lot more now, which is outside of the constitution. but that is the basics


----------



## beast1624 (Mar 28, 2009)

alpink said:


> yes, I CAN, yes, I MAY, but probably I WON'T!


I don't know, Al. I was visiting my daughter and her family in Hershey back in October of '07 and was really impressed! The traffic wasn't bad and the people were every bit as nice (or more) than here in the Dallas area. Scenery wasn't bad either.


----------



## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

OK I take it back- the tracking # is actually working this time. Shows all the stopping points :thumbsup: Now I am distracted at work because I know the package has arrived at home. Darn anxiety generating tracking numbers....


----------

