USPS Hours

I visited one of my local post offices this week and noticed that they are now closed for a lunch hour. The new hours have not been posted on the USPS website as of today. Don't know if this is a trend r just this particular location. Just a heads up for people that build a route around post offices that they might call ahead about hours.

MC

MissChele - Shopping KY, IN & OH
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Especially now that they are "hard and fast" on that half hour after opening, half hour before closing. I'm assuming it applies to lunch closings, too.

I had a rural post office shop to do, and it turned out they were only open ONE HOUR. Well, how do you avoid the either half hour after opening and half hour before closing? LOL!!

it's everywhere. Post offices are closing early, taking an hour or two for lunch. It's sad that a 200 year old institution is being wrecked.

Zero issues at any Post Offices where I shop. I have been to at least 30 in the last month. Business as usual. None are closing early. None are closing for lunch, except the small ones that have done that for years. Much ado about nothing.

I have visited 20+ in the past month. This was not a rural PO and it is a medium sized location. There are always customers there when I go in. The lunch hours were not well advertised - just an acrylic sign holder on the counter that stated the date and time that the lunch closing would start. The location is on my usual (when I can get it ) route and sometimes I visit in that window. Glad yours are business as usual.

MissChele - Shopping KY, IN & OH
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Post Office did it to themselves. They have relied on taxpayer bailouts for decades while losing billions every year. When they got the Amazon contract they didn't charge Amazon enough and since they only deliver 1/2 the mail due to the increased use of electronic mail, they should have already cut residential customers to every other day service. Then there is the excessive union benefits that have to be controlled. Any other business entity would have already slashed costs but not when we pay for any losses.

Excuse me. The USPS hasn't received tax dollars since the 80's, maybe the 70's.

@ceasesmith wrote:

Excuse me. The USPS hasn't received tax dollars since the 80's, maybe the 70's.

From the US GAO report: USPS has lost 69 billion dollars over the past 11 fiscal years, including $3.9 billion in fiscal year 2018. USPS total unfunded liabilities and debt is $143 billion at the end of fiscal 2018 and has grown to double its annual revenue.

The USPS lost $8.8 billion in fiscal 2019 and is on track to lose $7B for 2020.

The 2020 budget provides funding of 250 million dollars to the USPS for an ongoing operations. The Federal government is funded with taxes so the USPS does get taxpayer funding.

Well, well, well. One website proudly claims the USPS hasn't received taxpayer dollars since the 70's or 80's....and another claims US citizens support USPS with l8 million dollars a year.

I don't know which is true, or if neither is true.

I doubt, actually, if USPS knows!!!

Question here. The guidelines say midnight and 8 hours. So, if I'm running a route that's 12 hours long and they're in BFE without reception, anyone have experience with having them in by midnight but outside the 8 hours???

"Let me offer you my definition of social justice: I keep what I earn and you keep what you earn. Do you disagree? Well then tell me how much of what I earn belongs to you - and why?” ~Walter Williams

@iShop123 wrote:

Question here. The guidelines say midnight and 8 hours. So, if I'm running a route that's 12 hours long and they're in BFE without reception, anyone have experience with having them in by midnight but outside the 8 hours???

Midnight is the deadline and if it's even 5 minutes late, it's late no matter what the reason.

The death blow for the USPS was the 2006 requirement to pre-fund pensions 75 years out. It had to cough up around 70 billion for that. It's been a slow death since then and Louis DeJoy and his conflicts of interest haven't helped.

@tstewart3 wrote:

Post Office did it to themselves. They have relied on taxpayer bailouts for decades while losing billions every year. When they got the Amazon contract they didn't charge Amazon enough

they should have already cut residential customers to every other day service

The Amazon contract is a moneymaker for the USPS, despite what someone famous who hates Jeff Bezos keeps claiming. All they do is deliver the "last mile" -- from the post office to the home. Amazon drops the packages off at the local post office. You may recall that a task force was set up to investigate that contract, and we never heard the results, just like the task force that was set up to report on voter fraud. Because in neither case did the facts match what they wanted them to be.

As for cutting service, do you recall the outcry when they proposed going down to 5-day delivery? It wasn't pretty.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/09/2020 06:37AM by MisterBill.

@callinectes wrote:

The death blow for the USPS was the 2006 requirement to pre-fund pensions 75 years out. It had to cough up around 70 billion for that. It's been a slow death since then and Louis DeJoy and his conflicts of interest haven't helped.

That is exactly the basis of their financial problems. Without the pre-fund requirement (and I think it's for medical as well), the post office would have been profitable for most (all?) of the past decade. It's an easy fix that the GOP has refused to make.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 09/10/2020 02:17AM by MisterBill.

In 2006 the Republican controlled Congress made up an abstract rule that the USPS has to fund the retirement pensions for 75 years in advance. No other branch of the Government nor any private company anywhere is required to do this. Up until President GW Bush signed that bill, the USPS either completely covered their expenses or turned a profit EVERY year. And they have had to ask for help and permission to increase the postage EVERY year since then to meet the requirements.

All you post office knowledgeable people, does anyone know whether during this debacle with the post office they have plans to continue their mystery shopping program. I asked my scheduler about it several weeks ago but she never replied. It seems to me if they are cutting cost they may be cutting us right out of the budget. I have been hoping to see next quarter shops posted but not so far.

Sandy,

I'm hoping right along with you that the program gets renewed! They are still wrapping up the end of quarter and end of fiscal year shops right now. I wouldn't expect to see new shops until late this month or even early next month.

Keeping my fingers crossed!

"We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl -- year after year..."

I know their fiscal year ENDS Sept 30th and the new one starts Oct 1st. So if any of us see shops in Oct that say FY21 Qtr1, that will be a very good sign!!!

Good news. I heard from my scheduler that they will still have the post office shops next quarter...

Re: 8 hour/midnight rule.

I did a rural shop (no cellular coverage) at 11:30 AM. At 5 PM, I was still 150 miles from home. I texted my scheduler for an extra half hour -- until 8 PM, to get the report in.

She said under no circumstances could the 8 hour deadline be extended. Not even by 15 minutes.

I pushed the submit button at 7:26 PM.

But if I had been stopped for speeding...

Which company is doing the USPS shops now? I know Bare did them a few years back

@hampton6410 wrote:

Which company is doing the USPS shops now? I know Bare did them a few years back

We cannot tell you that. You have been registered here on the Forum for 8 years. Hopefully you have read enough that we cannot give out the name of the MSC in a thread where the Client has been named. If you do enough searching here on the Forum, you will be able to find out who the MSC is.

@tstewart3 wrote:

@iShop123 wrote:

Question here. The guidelines say midnight and 8 hours. So, if I'm running a route that's 12 hours long and they're in BFE without reception, anyone have experience with having them in by midnight but outside the 8 hours???
Midnight is the deadline and if it's even 5 minutes late, it's late no matter what the reason.

Does that apply even before midnight? I misplaced the box receipt and started submitting before 8 hours but actually submitted it around 8 minutes late. Are they going to reject it?

Ugh I see another post said no. I guess I'll find out next week. At least the shipping was the cheapest so if I have to do it again, the fee will cover it. I probably should have eaten the cost of the box, so I could submit it before the 8 hours were up.

Update -- my shop was accepted even though I submitted it a few minutes after eight hours. I do not recommend experimenting to try for yourself, just happy that this one is being paid.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 11/13/2020 02:18AM by MisterBill.

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