With everyone being stuck at home and with more free time on their hands, the number of online orders and packages being sent has exploded. This boom has caused significant delays in the United States Postal Service (USPS). The sheer number of packages being processed by the USPS has resulted in exceptional delays and, in some instances, packages being completely lost in the commotion.
“It’s pretty frustrating and annoying, especially if items are needed quickly or I’m looking forward to them. I ordered a new phone because my old one broke, but I was stuck without a phone for two months,” freshman Hamza Abbas said.
Many people are stuck waiting extended periods of time for things they ordered months ago, and if it’s a high priority item, like a phone, it can be a serious inconvenience.
“Quite a few of my family’s packages have been delayed and stuck in transit. I haven’t had the best experience with the delay, as the delay has caused me to receive my birthday gift five days after my actual birthday. Two of my family’s gifts were stuck in Baltimore for over a week. There was a lot of waiting and suspense as my family and I waited for gifts to arrive,” freshman Kasey Hawk said.
In many cases, Christmas gifts arrived well after Christmas, leading to many people getting disappointed and anxious about their presents.
Packages can get delayed 30+ days before getting delivered. Other packages get lost and never even make it to their intended destination.
One would think that expedited shipping would work as intended, but that is sadly a common misconception. The only difference is that expedited packages can be delivered on Sundays, while normal ones have to wait until Monday to be loaded onto the postal truck and sent out for delivery. With so many packages to deal with, the Postal Service will often lump the expedited packages along with the normal ones, as it would take more time and energy to sort through. Expedited shipping is also drastically more expensive than the regular method. One could pay upwards of $35 for a 6oz package to be shipped the next day, only for it to arrive, more often than not, a week later than intended in these circumstances.
Accidentally receiving someone else’s package is another problem, and more common now as the USPS employees are scrambling to deliver all the packages. There are many ways for the current system to be improved inorder to accommodate for the influx of activity.
“A better algorithm for the delivering of packages and a more sophisticated way to package the goods would make the service better for people and give the USPS a better reputation,” freshman Visu Vasa said.
Bug fixes and better path-finding mechanisms in their system could improve their efforts to get packages organized more efficiently.
The USPS’s slow deliveries have been stressful for many. These delays mean that sometimes people would be receiving something for an event or gathering well after it has taken place. In these unprecedented times, unexpected obstacles will occur now more than ever. The USPS’s system is extremely overloaded, but it seems to be getting better after the passing of the holiday season. Their system should eventually return to normal capacity and get packages sent out within a reasonable timeframe, but until then, students will just have to be a little more patient.