Mail Delivery vs Covid 19

Yes I have the same problem.
I have items held up since late March.  According to the tracking they are being held at departure in the following.
2 in Germany
2 in France
1 in Italy
1 in Russia
2 in UK

Originally it was because New Zealand had closed the borders to all but essential items but has since lowered that restriction.
From what I have been able to ascertain the problem now is available international flights from those countries.
I am receiving mail OK but much slower from the US, Canada, China and Australia.

I try not to worry that some of this will end up in that place where lost mail goes

Took me over a month to get that cylinder head from Australia. Just arrived a couple days ago. It’s moving, just slowly.

I mailed a Fox .15-X thrust plate prop washer to New Zealand by 1st class international mail in a small padded envelope. It took 3 months a year ago, before Covid-19 hit. Just wasn't worth sending by other means as the parcel rates to other countries is ridiculously high. US Postal Service said in their information that it would take a couple weeks, so much for that.

I've made 10 purchases through Ebay over the past month. Four of the ten have been lost and tonight makes it 5. If you purchase on Ebay you will note that the actual delivery date is now weeks later vs a few days. I've waited so long for some of these items I could've walked to get them. I've never had a issue with USPS.  I just can't buy the Covid excuse.  I personally don't give a hoot what the excuse is, I want what I purchased.  No one can tell me where the packages are, tracking shows out for delivery and no one knows where it is. I've contacted the sellers and they tell me to contact the post office.  I have no time aside from lunch time to make a phone call. I did manage to call the post office and the treatment was not a pleasurable experience.  So for those in this similar position, I highly suggest when prompted to select the option Do you want the item or a refund, take the refund.  You order something and in my opinion, it's the seller's duty to insure it makes it to your residence.

Sorry Ken, that does sound horrible. No seller should just blow you off and say deal with the carrier. They should put some effort to track the item on their end. They probably get the same runaround you do when you inquire. USPS really should do a better job. They have been in trouble for a while and COVID is an easy crutch to lean on.

Ken Cook wrote:I've made 10 purchases through Ebay over the past month. Four of the ten have been lost and tonight makes it 5. If you purchase on Ebay you will note that the actual delivery date is now weeks later vs a few days. I've waited so long for some of these items I could've walked to get them. I've never had a issue with USPS.  I just can't buy the Covid excuse.  I personally don't give a hoot what the excuse is, I want what I purchased.  No one can tell me where the packages are, tracking shows out for delivery and no one knows where it is.  I've contacted the sellers and they tell me to contact the post office.  I have no time aside from lunch time to make a phone call. I did manage to call the post office and the treatment was not a pleasurable experience.  So for those in this similar position, I highly suggest when prompted to select the option Do you want the item or a refund, take the refund.  You order something and in my opinion, it's the seller's duty to insure it makes it to your residence.

Ken: next time you need something Cox, ask me first. I only have Cox .049 stuff, and a tee dee .010 with a “bad” piston and a tee dee .020 that won’t run, but if I have it and can help you PM me. Remember no .09, .15, or non-Cox engines except my dads Enya marine .19 water cooled head.
Oh and a few Atwood .049-.051 marine parts, wenmac .049 and testers .049.
Happydad

I don't understand the meaning of "lost" mail. According to the Lavoisier's law of conservation of matter, anything can't be lost. . Really what is the meaning of "lost" mail?

Ken, this is very disturbing. I decided that to not buy anything by mail from now on. I want to wait the end of pandemic days.

It just seems to me that there's just a lackadaisical attitude towards the items being lost. The seller told me they were already reimbursed for the item and the post office didn't seem to care. I requested that I wanted the item still but the seller refunded my money the next morning. I absolutely despise going to my post office. I would think that the tracking was indeed a way to follow the items from supplier to consumer. Every tracking record I received shows the item just stopping. The seller made a inquiry and contacted me via e-mail. "Sorry, the package is lost and it's whereabouts cannot be verified". I was very pleased with this seller as they were the only one  more concerned than myself as to where it was.  Another seller told me they provided a tracking number. I found that very insulting as if I'm too stupid to figure that out myself. It just proved to me that they never looked at it due to it stopping and when it stops, so does the time and date. Therefore, unless the tracking is updated it just becomes a dead end.

Levent Suberk wrote:I don't understand the meaning of "lost" mail. According to the Lavoisier's law of conservation of matter, anything can't be lost. . Really what is the meaning of "lost" mail?

"Lost" mail might very well be stolen mail, we have had that problem lately. Parcels that looks like they contain mobile phones for instance, have a tendency to get lost more often than others...

I think it may be related to Ken living in a suburb of a major city in the state. That city got trashed during the riots. I live in a small town of 42,000 people, nearest major cities are Amarillo and Lubbock both in Texas 95 miles away. Amarillo has like 150k and Lubbock 330k people respectively. These are larger cities but not the mega metropolises of Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, etc. We heard about Antifa presence in our city, but apparently if there was, it would have not gotten too far in this rural farming community.

So far, all my E-Bay purchases have come though, including ones from Charlotte, North Carolina and New Jersey. However I select sellers that have at least 99% good feedback, sometimes slightly lower than that if their feedback comments have some that seem maliciously unfair. (Have on a very few occasion had a few with high feedback more concerned with their feedback scores than making things right. Learned to scrutinize, be careful on photos posted lack of posted along with the descriptions for clues not to buy. There are people of all types, makes you wonder sometimes.)

We have received news of a few unscrupulous individuals who have been going door-to-door in other parts of our small city and nicking packages from doorsteps not belonging to them. Albuquerque has been having a notorious time with these.

43 years ago while in college, I took Greyhound buses from Los Angeles to Altoona, PA to visit my parents. I could only stand 2 days without sleep, so I stopped at Saint Louis, Missouri and rented an inexpensive older motel. It was very clean, sheets and bedding worn, but still well maintained. The surrounding city appeared to be mostly black, but still seemed it good order with the poorer neighbourhood houses and yards still well cared for, quiet, people seemed friendly. (Greyhound stations aren't necessarily in the best neighbourhoods.)

I am surprised to see how much what were once nice neighbourhoods are now in essence 3rd world countries.

Also, I was a member of the National Guard and Army Reserve in various states (moved a lot in my younger years). Being section or squad leader and a few times platoon sergeant, I got to attend meetings at higher headquarters. The NG's of all states already have operational orders in place with emergency roster protocol. Members of the NG sign letters that they are able to deploy in less than 4 hours, 8 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, etc. depending on their family and work situations.

All those governors had to do was upon moment notice of unrest, call their 24 hour military department emergency response centre. They could have had several thousand Guardsmen already in place under state active duty, more if needed, to respond to rioters. Rioters upon seeing such numbers in force, most would have turned tail and run. Others would have been arrested. A few violent ones might have been put down. But there would have been minimal amount of property damage, injury and loss to life. It would have been nipped in the bud.

Those governors along with those mayors who refused to ask for help are the traitors, who did not do their job to protect their citizens. The media and certain politicos will spin this to their hearts delight, but I see this as in essence the truth.

Like Ken I have never had a problem with USPS other than that smashed rather rare Aurora SE-5 control line airplane reported about here a year or so ago. That with hundreds of items delivered (I have this model plane/model train obsession. )

But Fedex/UPS another story. The latest, a pressure washer from Amazon delivered to a neighbors house. I had to hump it off his porch to my ATV and lug it home. Now, I have a box with Fedex on one side and UPS on the other with an arrow pointing to my house that I put by the street on delivery days.

Liked your hijack George, in the name of good bad things can happen.

USPS send international parcels by sea. Need to wait a little more. Perhaps Canada Post send the mail in same way. USPS says:

"COVID-19 CONTINUITY OF OPERATIONS UPDATE  

International Service Impact Alternate Transportation: Air to Sea Diversion in Effect  

The Postal Service will utilize sea transportation to address the issue of limited air transportation resulting from widespread flight cancellations and restrictions due to COVID-19. This option will remain in effect until sufficient air transportation capacity becomes available.  The first sea transport departed from the JFK International Service Center on April 20, 2020 and is estimated to arrive at the Rotterdam (Netherlands) port on May 7, 2020. Sea route arrival dates are not exact and may vary depending on weather related events and queuing at port of arrival. The vessel is carrying 6,036 receptacles in 5 containers weighing 32,768 kilograms. It is serving mail destined to:   

Austria  Denmark  Hungary  Poland  Sweden  Czech Republic  Finland  Netherlands  Spain  Switzerland"

Levent Suberk wrote:The Postal Service will utilize sea transportation to address the issue of limited air transportation resulting from widespread flight cancellations and restrictions due to COVID-19. This option will remain in effect until sufficient air transportation capacity becomes available. The first sea transport departed from the JFK International Service Center on April 20, 2020 and is estimated to arrive at the Rotterdam (Netherlands) port on May 7, 2020.

Hmmm .... 2-1/2 weeks, perhaps the USPS is a bit over optimistic? Any track records to help confirm?

I attempted to upload an animated GIF of a guy on the shore skipping a rock to a slow moving ship in the harborway, hits the ship and it blows up, but the upload engine converted it to a non animated JPG.

Here, I gather that USPS still charges air rates even though by sea?

I hope they bring back sea mail. Although it was slow, it was much cheaper than air. May be we can get those Taipan engines from Australia and New Zealand without spending an arm and a leg in shipping. May be even make Hobby King orders overseas more practical.

Random thoughts as a former school trained logistics guru :

normally the shear column of mail is staggering.....200+ countries..7 billion + people.....300 million+businesses

totally amazing every black Friday and Christmas they can keep up

COVID has exponentially increased the volume and average weight.....3 cases of dog food is freaking heavy as is most Ikea you build it furniture.....I had a 220v very large AC window unit delivered....2 man lift 186 lb package....my UPS guy hates my butt

fact ....cargo air flight exceeds passenger air flights
be amazed to see, right now today, how many aircraft are in flight:

https://www.flightradar24.com/31.21,-98.01/10

COVID is real, folks are sick....if fevered you stay home.....AMAZON, FEDX, UPS, USPS, DHL are not immune...all are hiring right now

unemployment with extra fed bucks is a serious disincentive to return to work

12~14 hour days in a mask ....seriously....some places drivers are threatened with loss of job if not wearing....

My postmaster is frequenting of tired of every phone call....I would be...he did not invent CORONA....

just Fred pontificating

fredvon4 wrote:fact ....cargo air flight exceeds passenger air flights; be amazed to see, right now today, how many aircraft are in flight

Perhaps I am wrong, but I gather that passenger airlines take on a certain amount of cargo to make up for lack of weight in passengers and their baggage. Mail bags fit conveniently in the cargo hold. Without the passenger flights, USPS must resort to other means.

fredvon4 wrote:COVID is real, folks are sick....if fevered you stay home.....AMAZON, FEDX, UPS, USPS, DHL are not immune...all are hiring right now

True, but I think a lot miss the point. Yes, the true Covid-19 appears to have left some respiratory scarring in some individuals after getting over it. However, there are a lot of other nasties out there that people need to be aware, just as much or even more of a hazard.

What I find even more disconcerting is how the data gathering is skewed with significant data errors unlike the government data gathering of years ago, MSM interjecting their own skewed opinions and figures, remember the saying about liars figuring? Because of the continuous whine of the MSM repeating the same story over and over and over, I have purposely not watched TV news, it is ad nauseum.

The masks do not prevent you from getting it. Covid-19 is 1 micron in diameter, N-95 mask filters to 3 microns, go figure. Cloth mask filters out zilch except for sneeze and cough spray droplettes from the person wearing. Masks don't protect eyes. Distancing and location venue are more important. Air dilution is important (like outdoors, gyms using ceiling fans, etc.)

fredvon4 wrote:just Fred pontificating

I hear you Fred, pontificate as much as you want, but I won't refer to you as the Cox Engine Forums Pontif.

George brother...before I check in to rid myself of this dastardly alcoholism...I dearly would love to sit and have a beer with you for an evening

in fact many of my dear CEF neighbors...even the ones who no longer imbibe in adult beverages

rsv1cox wrote:Liked your hijack George, in the name of good bad things can happen.

No problems, Bob, I find it kind of hard to sit still and not say anything to the brethren here who share similar opinions.

fredvon4 wrote:George brother...before I check in to rid myself of this dastardly alcoholism...I dearly would love to sit and have a beer with you for an evening, in fact many of my dear CEF neighbors...even the ones who no longer imbibe in adult beverages

Fred, I'd love to hear you out, others too I am sure, over a meal or camp fire or flying field may be when this Covid-19 stuff comes to a close. I'd forgo the alcoholic cold one though but take another, have sworn with the Salvation Army not to imbibe because they deal with a lot with people suffering from substance abuses of one type or another.

And regarding the comment on airline passenger service, just wanted to add it would not surprise me if some astute airline execs are converting passenger planes to cargo by removing and temporarily storing the seats, putting in tie downs to keep afloat business-wise.

When I worked for Douglas Aircraft 30 years ago, we had a DC-10 variant called the MD-11 Combi. It was set up to allow for a portion of the aircraft to be easily reconfigured from passenger to cargo by having easy to remove seat sections so it could carry both cargo and passengers mainly for 3rd world countries. Load servo control software I modified was used in the static testing of an aircraft as proof to FAA that the new larger 111" rear cargo door opening used to remove these seat sections was strong enough to withstand loading in this configuration.

Douglas is long gone, but we might see manufacturers and certified contractors modifying other planes to handle changes in requirements due to Covid-19.

I returned home from work just now to find a package in my door. It looked like it has gone around the world for how dirty it was. I don't recognize anything on the package aside from my name. Here it's a tool I ordered the 2nd week of April. I was refunded the money for this item. I call the manufacturer and to my surprise I had a person to talk to which utterly amazed me especially for a Saturday. I explain I received the package and that I was refunded the money. This is a $50 item and I would like to pay for it. I was told, DO NOT send it back and DO NOT pay for it as you will totally screw things up on their end. They were reimbursed through insurance when the package was originally missing. I was told to enjoy it and consider it a gift for being frustrated and they thanked me for my honesty. Not too shabby, 2 1/2 + months to get from Florida to Pennsylvania.

At last good news Ken

I want my toy engine parts badly. No tracking update any

My very at risk ass climed on two AA flights today to visit a dear ailing Army buddy in Alabama

Embry Air 145....47 pax
No service, no alcohol,,,,period!

In airport mandatory mask....same on plane

I have a photo but will let others describe a Embry145 Regional jet seating......so much for distancing...

So George from my view they are still at max Pax and not hauling additional cargo....of course this is a sample of two flights domestic....so anecdotal worthless yammering,,,,sorry

fredvon4 wrote:So George from my view they are still at max Pax and not hauling additional cargo....of course this is a sample of two flights domestic....so anecdotal worthless yammering,,,,sorry

Fred, you probably will not see combi type aircraft configurations in 1st world country flight service. The MD-11 Combi was specially certified by FAA for doing combined service. Think of the movies Raiders of the Lost Ark or Flight of the Phoenix. That type of service is where Combi would have been appropriate.

The proofing aircraft that we did the test on, can't remember the tail designation because it was so long ago, colors of a white aircraft with green and red striping. It was destined as far as I know for an African country. In Testing we never saw the final configuration. Aircraft was completed structurally and exterior was painted but interior was unfinished. Test was done on a weekend to not interfere with manufacturing schedule.