New Customs Forms From The USPS..i Hate 'Em!

Well yesterday my local post office finally ran out of the traditional customs for packets under 16oz. - the single sheet with the green tab on the left side. Well, the replacement is a triplicate form. A mini version of the large custom form if you may. This form is pure horror:
1. You have to press down with Hulk-like strength to write hard enough to be barely visible through to the third sheet (which by the way is the one that goes on the outside of the packet which one can barely read). If you have tendinitis or arthritis pop some meds first.
2. The section for the address has been shrunk down to maybe 1/3rd or less space than the previous form. Try writing out that uber-long address from Turkey, Japan or Great Britain (what is with the UK addresses anyway? ).
3. Time....it take a lot more time. Instead of dropping them off at the post office and running off, the postal clerk will have to take each one individually, hand cancel each sheet of the triplicate form, then apply the one to the cover and give you one as a receipt. You and the postal clerk just get older in the process and the line grows behind you.
4. Waste...one sheet to three sheets equals a waste of paper. Isn't the post office trying to cut costs? You wouldn't know it.

I just wish the post office would just follow K.I.S.S. Life would be better for all of us. My U.S. Scott 301.
Will

now I know why I love the forum

Now where would you get that silly idea? No, they are trying to reduce service expenditures (cut mail delivery, layoff postal workers...) not to reduce overall expenses, but so they can redirect expenditures to executive bonuses/compensation. Yeah, they get executive bonuses/compensation. How many government workers do you know that get bonuses?

The top 5 USPS executives earned $244K to $735K in 2009 when b/c is included. The poor executive in the #6 spot only got $100K. I guess he's only in charge of polishing the rear-view mirrors of the top 5. In all fairness, PMG Potter got no bonus last year, so he wasn't able to add onto his $735K. Of course, the top 3 executives have an annuity/pension package worth over $2M.

Now if a counter clerk, say, came up short $5000 after inventory, they would get probably get fired. What is the lesson to be learned? The stupid clerk should have came up short at least $100,000. That way, they could get a fast-track promotion to upper management -- future USPS executive pool!

Seriously. What happened to the days when managers would get fired for losing money? Now I realize that USPS is facing an uphill battle because of the internet. But I cannot for the life of me understand why Congress permits the 9 USPS executive officers to earn so much. There is a legislative salary cap (obviously way too high), and relative salaries of the other executives are supposed to match the salary ratios of the comparative marketplace. Why do USPS executives get this privilege when no other civil servants do? It's easy to blame the internet for the problems with USPS; and of course, we all like to poke fun at some of the postal workers (revenge for all the Sharpie attacks). But a big part of the problem are high-paid executives who aren't getting the job done; these bigwigs come up with some lame-brain ideas and rules/regulations, then expect an under-trained postal workforce to carry out these impractical ideas. Instead of laying off postal workers, they should start cutting at the top. It's amazing that it's easier to remove elected public officials than it is to force changes in the USPS leadership.

k

look K has come back :)


now if someone will point me tot he direction where usps I hiring. I need a 6 figure job.

My local post office was hirning someone to work on Saturdays, but it was for $9.45/hr.

spock, their not hiring, I tried. Sorry to break the news to you. Speaking of forms to fill out just try answering/filling out the forms online for a federal job. Do you have 2 hours to kill to fill out a federal job request.

The new form you are using is one of the "stimulus package forms." It was designed by an out-of-work American executive who now makes $135K, printed for $1.23 a copy by a company who was going out of business, shipped by USPS at their secret "make up for lost time" rate, and finally, put into use by a PO clerk making union wages and with a state employee attitude that says "I've got my 2.1 million in retirement benefits, so to he11 with you."

Please don't write my advertisers - that was just a joke!

Time to dig up an old thread. Apparently, I need to have more frequent auctions as I've been out of the loop for a bit. I recently had a large order (11oz. in weight) of covers I sold through Delcampe. The shipment was sent to France and of course anything 4oz. and heavier requires a customs form. I filled out the 2976 form as I've done many time. However, since I primarily mail items at the letter rates which require no forms I've missed a recent change.

Back in August of 2016 a new customs form has hit the fan at the post office, 2976-R. Take a gander at this lovely form - https://about.usps.com/forms/ps2976r.pdf

It replaces all the previous customs forms and is now required after a grace period I completely missed. Make sure to press down with all your might as it's four copies thick. This form is different from all the others in one major way - it has no barcodes. Instead you'll get to spend quality time at the post office as the clerk prints up to four bar codes just for the form. Are you done yet? Nah...the clerk will print a fifth bar code for your shipping envelope. Done yet? Oh, no. The clerk will then have to enter all the info from the form into their computer and then print out another label about half the size of the customs form to place somewhere on the shipping envelope - probably the back. Hope your shipping envelope is large enough, and don't even try it with a letter-sized envelope. No longer does one attach a piece of the customs form itself to the shipping envelope. I can't imagine trying to mail multiple shipments with these forms. The P.O. will be an all day affair and I'll be looking for online options quick. I'll break up a 4oz. shipment into two smaller ones just to avoid the customs form (and parcel rates).

Again, things just never get easier.