We live on an acreage in a rural area. For the most part, I have had nothing short of excellent service getting my parcels here and on time and right on the doorstep. This is important to me as I can’t drive right now due to two hip replacements . However I’ve had a few exceptions one being a few years ago I ordered an iPad for my husband for Christmas and whoever delivered it just must’ve flown it out the window to the end of our snow covered driveway and it landed in the ditch in the snow . Luckily we got home before the snow started again and I was able to spot the package and had to slog through the already deep snow to retrieve it. Thankfully it wasn’t damaged . And as I said for the most time packages come right to the door which is great but the odd time if I haven’t made it to the door fast enough they will take the package and drop it at the post office for me to pick up This is a huge inconvenience for me because I have to get my husband to pick it up on his way home from work which also means he has to leave work early as the post office closes before he would normally get there .

Interesting. Looking at Google maps on my desktop, the cars on the surface roads are there but hard to see due to the 3D effect. The interstates are completely empty (impossible in Atlanta). The cars that show up best on surface streets are stuck at stoplights. An occasional car stopped on the shoulder shows up too. I looked at Google maps on my both iphone and ipad, and there I can see cars both on the road and on the interstate. The satellite view is also much more recent on the iphone (but there is no 3D Google Earth effect in that app). I see cars and trucks on the interstate in the Apple map app as well. It looks like they do something to get rid of movement.

Yes. UPS often send my packages from Amazon to the USPS for final delivery. I hate it because my mail carrier never delivers my packages, I always have to go pick them up. UPS always delivers. I wish I could choose which carrier they use when they ship my order. I would never pick USPS, not now anyway.

The USPS has been handicapped by too much politicization (especially in the last 4 years), underfunding, and an employee union that hinders change, cost rationalization moves and flexibility. And poor management. Like other government-related services (yes, I know it's quasi-independent), you get what you pay for and don't get what you don't pay for. I'd bet that the union would come to the table and negotiate better terms on a win-win basis if a commitment were made to boost subsidies. The savings that could be wrung out of thoughtful restructuring of operations plus providing added funds could substantially improve service. It's like far too many governmental and other non-private sector organizations - poorly managed, bloated staff, not the best employee base, limited ability to dismiss or discipline poor performers. For now, USPS seems to have too many unmotivated and underperforming employees who in addition need to deal with organizational problems. Better management, better oversight, could do wonders. It's an essential service that needs to be better. Like potholes in a busy highway, we can't continue to do nothing as problems mount. Oh, and they need to fire all the cheaters and liars, the kind who say they've left a delivery near a gate when everyone can see it's near the front door. ;-)