USPS International mail temp suspension

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ka3jjz

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From the latest World of Radio- transcription errors are entirely mine..

The US Postal Service (USPS) has temporarily suspended international mail acceptance for items addressed to certain destinations due to service impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This situation could result in the return or loss of mail, such as QSL cards, addressed to affected parts of the world. The USPS has posted a list of affected countries, which is updated regularly. The Postal Service will, upon request, refund postage and fees on mail bearing a customs stamp that’s returned due to the suspension of service, or the sender may re-mail returned items with existing postage once service has been restored. When re-mailing under this option, customers should cross out the markings “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender.”

International Postal Service Disrupted

Mike
 

ScubaJungle

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Wait, so theyre suspending mail now? Why not back in February? I dont get it.
I know that things are still bad(perhaps worse), but I don't see why the decision came out months after this started.
 

DanRollman

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Wait, so theyre suspending mail now? Why not back in February? I dont get it.
I know that things are still bad(perhaps worse), but I don't see why the decision came out months after this started.

International mail to various destinations has been suspended for months.

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/pdf/temporary-service-suspension-040120.pdf is an announcement from April 1, for example. USPS has been regularly updating this issue at International Service Alerts - Newsroom - About.usps.com.

Seems all that is 'new' here is World of Radio picking up on this issue.

USPS itself hasn't suspended anything. But the mail services in a lot of international countries have been suspending inbound mail, which of course prevents USPS from bringing mail originating in the US into that country for delivery by the (suspended) foreign mail service. Unless we want the USPS to set up its own delivery routes in Botswana, I'm not sure what else the Newman's of the world can do about it.

Expect more of this, not less. Remember that COVID has been very active in the US for several months now, but in many places (especially in the third world) it is just getting going. So when those countries tell USPS they won't accept mail because they've shut down their own local mail systems as Covid ramps up in their country, USPS passes the word back to its customers here.
 

RFI-EMI-GUY

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International mail to various destinations has been suspended for months.

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/pdf/temporary-service-suspension-040120.pdf is an announcement from April 1, for example. USPS has been regularly updating this issue at International Service Alerts - Newsroom - About.usps.com.

Seems all that is 'new' here is World of Radio picking up on this issue.

USPS itself hasn't suspended anything. But the mail services in a lot of international countries have been suspending inbound mail, which of course prevents USPS from bringing mail originating in the US into that country for delivery by the (suspended) foreign mail service. Unless we want the USPS to set up its own delivery routes in Botswana, I'm not sure what else the Newman's of the world can do about it.

Expect more of this, not less. Remember that COVID has been very active in the US for several months now, but in many places (especially in the third world) it is just getting going. So when those countries tell USPS they won't accept mail because they've shut down their own local mail systems as Covid ramps up in their country, USPS passes the word back to its customers here.
It is pretty silly. They could quarantine incoming mail for a week and there would be zero chance of a live virus on the mail.
 

DanRollman

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It is pretty silly. They could quarantine incoming mail for a week and there would be zero chance of a live virus on the mail.

That's not the issue. The issue is there is no "they" there. The issue is local quarantine and staffing issues, not any concern about a virus on the mail itself. Movie production isn't closed just because they think the virus can be transmitted through the digital media in the camera systems. Rightly or not, Covid is creating a lot of staffing and transportation issues that are broader than just the potential for the transmission of the virus on the particular product at issue. Frankly, I am surprised mail has been continuing to work as well as it has given so much mail typically moves around the country and the world as cargo on the plethora of commercial passenger flights that aren't flying right now. It is really hard to get a single letter or parcel to a foreign country where we few planes are going.
 

hamstang

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"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds ". But a virus in a distant country that would probably never get transferred via the mail causes them to whimper and hide.....
The USPS isn't whimpering and hiding even though thousands of USPS employees have tested positive for Covid 19. Sadly around 70 USPS employees have died from the virus so far.
 

JDrisc3480

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International mail to various destinations has been suspended for months.

https://about.usps.com/newsroom/service-alerts/pdf/temporary-service-suspension-040120.pdf is an announcement from April 1, for example. USPS has been regularly updating this issue at International Service Alerts - Newsroom - About.usps.com.

Seems all that is 'new' here is World of Radio picking up on this issue.

USPS itself hasn't suspended anything. But the mail services in a lot of international countries have been suspending inbound mail, which of course prevents USPS from bringing mail originating in the US into that country for delivery by the (suspended) foreign mail service. Unless we want the USPS to set up its own delivery routes in Botswana, I'm not sure what else the Newman's of the world can do about it.

Expect more of this, not less. Remember that COVID has been very active in the US for several months now, but in many places (especially in the third world) it is just getting going. So when those countries tell USPS they won't accept mail because they've shut down their own local mail systems as Covid ramps up in their country, USPS passes the word back to its customers here.
This actually makes a lot of sense. It is basically a ripple effect. Think of it as an airport being shut down due to severe weather. That causes flights coming in from other airports to be cancelled, which causes flights from more airports coming in to those other airports to also be cancelled and the effect keeps growing. In this case the individual countries are suspending mail service causing mail to back up to the point they cannot accept any more, thus causing other countries (including the US) to suspend outgoing mail to that country.
 

kc4jgc

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XYL ordered something April that she didn't realize until later was coming from red China. Last check it was stuck at a USPS facility in Zhejiang (sp?) for well over a month.
 

chrismol1

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XYL ordered something April that she didn't realize until later was coming from red China. Last check it was stuck at a USPS facility in Zhejiang (sp?) for well over a month.

I've got radio parts coming out of china sent first class packet a few days ago coming out of Guangzhou, tracking says it departed local sorting center and now arrived at regional sorting center. waiting for a departure from the country. hope it wont get stuck or I've got to order from the US at 4x the cost. china post always did pretty well getting it out of the country then it takes another week to get to jfk and customs
 
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