Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/04/20
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]On Apr 20, 2007, at 12:20 AM, Tina wrote: > I overheard a conversation at the PO yesterday when a guy was > inquiring when an expected letter would arrive from Hilton Head - > that's Hilton Head, SC, about 200 miles from here. He thought it > should take a day, maybe two. The USPS employee said, "Well, > actually from Hilton Head it will go to Savannah, Georgia, and from > there to Columbia, SC, and then to Charlotte, NC, before it arrives > here in Rock Hill, SC. It will take at least a week to 10 days. Our > government efficiency at work! Most USPS mail is collected from local post offices, sent to a regional distribution depot, sorted for geographic area, bulk shipped to the regional depot closest to the destination, then distributed to the local post offices. If the origin and destination post offices happen to be near the same regional distribution depot, USPS mail service is fast and reliable. If it must travel through several regional distribution depots, even first class and priority mail can take a week. In my area (upstate NY), mail sent along the Atlantic coast usually arrives within a day or two. Mail to the Midwest or West Coast may take much longer. I was told that its not the distance, just the fact that there are more highways, rail lines, and a higher frequency of airline flights along the Atlantic corridor. Still the fact that a first class letter can go from my local hamlet to an equally small hamlet in Southern California for $0.39 is a tremendous bargain. In the days of the pony express, a half ounce letter cost $8 to make the trip at a slower pace. Correcting for inflation, the pony express postage would be $208 today. Larry Z