I honestly can’t say that I am bothered with the junk mail that I don’t even look at before I toss it in the paper recycling being delayed. I do get annoyed with the erratic delivery of publications I subscribe to. I used to get my USA Sports Weekly faithfully on Wednesday.

I think the point is the junk mail is the only thing that’s easy to prove… because everyone has that attitude toward it. But because Bulk Mailers are such a big business for the P.O. systems are in place to track their mailings- where as they aren’t with regular first class mail and periodicals.

In short with First and Periodicals it’s not Express Mail, and you aren’t doing the volume of mailing with the P.O., so you don’t have as much clout with them as the Bulk Mailer does.

Talk with anyone that used to work in at the Airport Annex in Cville who now works in Richmond and they will tell you that Richmond’s priority is Richmond’s mail, whenever they get extra time then they’ll run/process Cville’s mail.

The Sandston plant is short on the equipment and staff needed to process all that additional mail volume they now have. But hey mail is a dinosaur now so who really cares anyway.

What do I mean?

Third Class Mail – Bulk Business Mail- the life blood of the USPS business since almost no one uses first class mail anymore has been egregiously delayed as a result of the USPS move to Sandston.

3rd class mail is allowed to be delayed *within reason*. These delays are not.

The next time you get that catalog in the mail, or the sales circular – check near where your address is listed on that item, and look for dates. Specifically “Requested In Home Delivery Dates.”

First week of July the USPS delivered a Schewel’s furniture sale advertisement which was dated with a Requested Delivery Date that would’ve been the first week of June. They delivered a bunch of other similarly dated materials but the Schewels was the recognizable local business.

This week the USPS delivered a Belk’s Sale’s circular that was dated 2 weeks ago, and a Toys R Us advertisement that was just as old. Again there were a few others, but these were the recognizable local businesses.

And this doesn’t take into account the sales materials that aren’t date at all, that are arriving a month later than the business intended it to.

The Sandston plant being in Richmond, is focusing on getting Richmond’s mail out on time first. Sandston is having a problem keeping up with the volume of mail, so Non-Richmond mail takes a back seat.

Delaying the mail is a felony. If an individual was doing this, and that individual was the person who delivers your mail, then you’d be reading about them in the local paper facing a jail sentence because they were unable to keep up with the 3rd class mail volume.

Because it’s occurring in Sandston and because it suits the USPS everyone is looking the other way. And nobody locally it seems has noticed it yet. If it’s approved by management it must not be a crime.

Yes Charlottesville the move to Sandston has delayed your mail. But not so that you’d notice… much.

And a tip for anyone that cares to try and look for it… You will get the most 3rd Class mail on a Monday and Tuesday. Mail that arrives on a Monday or Tuesday is most likely to contain the mail that has old/expired “in home” delivery dates. Later in the week you will notice the majority of your mail will be primarily Magazines and first class letters with an occasional catalog.

This is my first last and only post on this.