It is a stupid process when the purpose is defeated. That part of the process is called the 'Last mile'. I would think UPS or Fedex will only use this Last mile if they do not actually deliver to that part of the territory. As you see, USPS is obligated to deliver everywhere by law, profitable or not, but both UPS and Fedex don't have to so they hand over. Anyway, The point is, I am contesting your "until they hand it to USPS"part. The delay still is on the process not the delivery. USPS if they process a package from start to finish also experiences delay, I admit, but more accidentally, not some stupid corporate decision/money saving move

Fedex with their Surepost and UPS with their Smartpost use USPS as delivery options. The process is all Fedex and UPS. At the very last segment they deliver their packages to the USPS delivery stations (not the Processing centers or anywhere else in the mail stream process). The delivery stations are the small stations where the mailmen are. Packages cannot sit in these stations because mainly of space concerns and tracking evidence of action. If there is further delay, the mailman gets in real trouble because there is no more automation/sorting to blame. Usually the delay is due to sorting processes not delivery.

Track the letter...Im pretty sure USPS did their part. How's Poste Italiane? I send letters to the Philippines and USPS will promptly send it out but as soon as it gets on the plane or the destination country, it's a totally different story

3 things: the package was handed to a carrier who delivers it promptly to destination.
the package was handed to a messengerial service contracted by businesses to handle their mail and scanned delivered by the PO even if the messengerial service employee is still physically in the PO premises
the package was handed to a carrier who has a special bin usually designated for people/businesses receiving numerous mail on a daily basis, scanned the piece as delivered at the time he includes that certain piece to that bin. The bin will be delivered in its normal sequence of delivery.

The 'gray area' is when it arrives the recipient. Does mail get processed and sent to proper departments right away by the mail room clerk? Is the mail room clerk sick and is w/out replacement? was it misdirected? If scanned, the USPS holds the last employee heavily accountable. It would be easier for the carrier to say I didn't get it.

Thanks!

thanks!

I started in March, 2009. I still have my site in Wix.com running.

thanks!

good thing you told me. it's been 7 mos. thanks

thank you

A sample photograph in a set I shot at dusk last year in May. I was somewhere in the dunes of Monterey. Never picked up my camera after then..simply lost the passion

now you're thinking like a realist.

'Going Postal' is such a convenient catchy phrase. We cannot actually say 'Going Mike's Hardware Store' or 'Going State University' or 'Going Retail' to describe workplace violence because 'catchiness' is lost. Here's a fact, and I quote:

Researchers have found that the homicide rates at postal facilities were lower than at other workplaces. In major industries, the highest rate of 2.1 homicides per 100,000 workers per year was in retail. The next highest rate of 1.66 was in public administration, which includes police officers. The homicide rate for postal workers was 1.48 per 100,000.[14]

However, not all murders on the job are directly comparable to "going postal". Taxi drivers, for example, are much more likely to be murdered by passengers than by their peers.[citation needed] Working in retail means one is exposed to store robberies. In 1993, the United States Congress conducted a joint hearing to review the violence in the U.S. Postal Service. In the hearing, it was noted that despite the postal service accounting for less than 1% of the full-time civilian labor force, 13% of workplace homicides were committed at postal facilities by current or former employees.[15]

Reference is from 'Going Postal' in Wikipedia

That, my friend, is the best approach to all these. The USPS is but an option. If you want to use it, it's there. If not, use the other messengerial couriers. It is not in our best interest to eliminate an option esp. if that option offers the lowest prices and is the one that keeps the others from raising their prices. Otherwise, if you want to send a letter to your aunt using anything other than USPS, pray that your aunt is not in rural America where those other couriers prefer not to deliver; and, stuff your letter in a large packet and pay, say, $5. Have you heard of the "last mile delivery"? US and FEDEx dump their packages at the Post Office to be delivered by the Postal carriers. They will now accept parcels for everywhere in America because they can rely on the USPS to deliver the last mile. already Made the money...

very accurate. Also, since 2006, the USPS in its attempt to counter the burden started raising prices from somewhere around $0.29 for 1st class mail. Can you imagine what could have been w/out it? The recession didn't of course help but it did better than the banks and car companies who had to be bailed out. 4 out of the 5 yrs in that recession, The USPS did good but by 2011, the prefunding proved to be too much.