My buddy lives in the town/zip code one over from me. His house is a 1/2 mile from mine. He received his Journey with Olds last Tuesday. I still have not received mine. This goes on every freaking month. We both have Standard Mail delivery. We both live in a heavily populated area. I tried complaining to my local post office. I filed complaints online. Does my magazine sit in the corner of my local post office until they feel like delivering it ? Every month I get mine at least 10 days after my buddy. What gives ?

 

It takes forever to get mine too. I get A email from OCA saying I can look at it, but I don't actually get it in the mail for about 3 weeks later.

 

Still waiting on January's issue. Getting to be old after awhile, been a member for for over 25 years, probably not going to renew.

 

I was one of the first to go digital-only for JWO. They delayed transmission until they felt the hard copies sent first-class were in members' hands.

Now they send out the digital copy faster than a sneeze through a screen door.

 

I don't know how the OCA mails them, but I would think they would all be at the same time; thus any time delay is USPS not OCA.

 

That's the reason I went with a digital only membership this year.
Cheaper, and I don't have all those magazines cluttering up the house.
I can always go to the online library to re-read old copies.

 

"Standard Mail," which I think is also known as Bulk Mail, is delivered on a "Time Available" basis. I received my December issue at the end of January and actually AFTER I received my January issue. The fact that you and your buddy are in two different zip codes is probably the answer to your question.

JWO is not a "time is of the essence" publication, which is why you're willing to pay the lower rate for "standard mail." You'll get it when the post office gets around to delivering it, and that probably depends on many things when it comes to the lower classes of mail.

As noted, you can always read it online. I do that, and when the paper copy comes, I just put it on my shelf as it has already been read. When I next renew my OCA membership, I'll probably just get the electronic-delivery option only.

 

I get the digital copy as well, I gave up collecting magazines years ago.

 

So it’s possible, or actually true, that Standard Mail/Bulk Mail can sit in the corner of my local post office for 10 days or more, and then the post office manager decides when it’s been lying around long enough and it’s time to move it ? Makes you wonder what would happen if Elon Musk tried to tackle post office efficiency. Probably has a better chance of getting to Mars - by boat.

 

You misunderstand. The slowness of bulk mail is BY DESIGN. It is not a flaw in the system, and Elon Musk would have no effect.

The whole point of bulk mail is that the sender gets a discount in the postage rate IN EXCHANGE FOR slower delivery of the mail. Non-profit organizations use this all the time to save money.

Have you ever noticed on a piece of junk mail that you receive, in the upper right corner of the envelope where the stamp would be, it says "Presort" or something similar?

Here's the envelope from a mailing I received today, actually, from the AAA offering life insurance or something. I get these about once a month. Note what it says in the upper right.. "PRSRT STD US POSTAGE." In order to get the lower postage rate, the AAA presorts the mail its sending out by zip code and delivers that bundle of mail to the post office already sorted.





So using bulk mail actually creates MORE WORK for the sender because the sender has to do the presorting. In exchange for that presorting and for the slower delivery, the post office gives the sender a discount. When the sender is mailing hundreds or thousands of mailpieces, that discount can add up. There is a minimum number of mailpieces that must be mailed each time to get the bulk mail service. Last I heard, it was 200 mailpieces.

You paid for a bulk mail subscription to JWO, and that's what you're getting in terms of delivery. There's no one to get mad at here. There's no point in raising hell at the local post office. All they'll do is say you're getting what you paid for. If you want faster mail service, pay for first class.

I've often wondered why the OCA offers the bulk mail option at all because it makes MORE WORK for them. The OCA, or whomever they're paying to print and mail the magazine, has to presort the bulk mail magazines before taking them to the post office. If the OCA is paying the publisher extra to do this for the bulk mail subscriptions, it's actually costing the OCA more to mail the bulk mail subscriptions than it does to mail the first class subscriptions. But they charge less for the bulk mail option. Makes no sense.

 

No offense Jaunty but it is you who doesn’t understand my gripe. My buddy lives 1/2 mile from me and 1 zip code over. He received his magazine on 2/11. I still haven’t received mine. We both pay the bulk rate. It’s a simple question : has my.magazine been sitting in a post office or postal storage facility for a week or so ? OR was my magazine sent out later than his by the company that the OCA is paying to presort and mail the magazine ? Was his magazine presorted before mine and sent to the post office ? I doubt it because the OCA President told me that all the magazines are sent out on the same day. Does each individual post office have a “Bulk Mail Day ?” Would be nice to be able to track the magazine and this would be put to rest.

 

I'm sorry, but it's you who doesn't understand how bulk mail works. Your buddy's experience has no bearing on your experience or anyone else's. The fact that all the magazines were mailed on the same day means absolutely nothing.

 

 

 

And so….can someone in the know explain why there are “major USPS mailing delays?”

 

 

The price of a stamp could be $5.00 and the USPS would still be a disaster.

 

I received that email, too. I'd guess that, since the original warning about delays came out in early December, it was due to the usual Christmas rush. Why this particular December was worse than any other, I don't know.

But overall, I don't go too hard on the post office. They're in a tough spot and have been ever since the internet came along. So many pieces of communication are now done online what with everyone using paperless delivery and paying their bills online, getting bank statements online, and a million other things, they've lost lots of business. So they have to raise rates just to keep service where it was. But that just causes more customers to turn away from them or disappear altogether. We were just recently talking about the demise of Hemmings Classic Car and Hemmings Muscle Machines. You can add to that a non-automotive magazine I've longed subscribed to and loved that just disappeared, Maximum PC. It went to all online about a year ago, and then it ceased publication altogether just a month ago. I know these are just a drop in the bucket, but it happens all the time. So rates have to go up again to cover the loss of customers because people expect the same level of service even thought the post office is handling fewer mailpieces. It's a vicious cycle.

I don't like the long mailing times any more than anyone else, but I can understand why they happen.

 

All of this discussion is why I went to E-membership only when I renewed this year.
I can still access past issues through their library,.
And I don't have all those magazines cluttering up my house.
And I saved $15.

 

Interesting thread...my copies seem to always arrive in a timely manner. I just received the March issue today.

 

You must live across the street from where they're mailed.

 

I plan to do the same thing at the next renewal, but this is exactly the problem the post office faces. The more things are moved to online-only, the more revenue they lose.

Then again, it's not my job to prop up the post office.

 

I don’t know anyone who works for the USPS. But they desperately need to come up with an innovative way to generate revenue. Accountability across the board would be a start. Have we really come a long way since The Pony Express ?

 

You need to look into moving in with your friend so you don’t miss out of any hot news

 

Hahahaha. Thankfully I do receive the digital subscription as well so the Olds Nationals info was received. I was looking forward to going to The Nationals and wanted to submit my paperwork asap. I never did receive my magazine.

 

Just got my Feb issue Friday, March 14th!!. I guess I never really knew or cared how late they were, except this issue had the Nats details.

 

Just received December and January, this last week. I had Marsha and Ken send me both 3 weeks ago.

 

The April issue was delivered earlier this week. The March issue was just delivered today.

 

Just got my April Issue yesterday.

 

Interestingly enough, I just got my September 2025 issue yesterday. Cool!

 

Awesome! You're in a dimension where time is a variable to be manipulated. Check the stock market and report back to us.

 

I did!

The advice is to buy low, sell high!