Let's talk about the post office and pipe bombs

One question I keep seeing repeated is how did Sayoc's packages get delivered to so many places without sufficient postage?

Only two possibilities come to mind:

1) someone at the post office helped him get the packages into the system, or

2) the post office is such a mess, underpaid parcels get through all of the time.

So at what point does postage amount get checked in the system?

I went looking for an answer, but didn't have much luck so far.

If PC postage is any indication, I'm guessing the process is very broken.

Shortpaid PC Postage Parcels

PC Postage is a service offered by the U.S. Postal Service that allows customers to print U.S. postage stamps with their own printers...

In September 2013, we reported that the Postal Service’s internal controls for PC Postage parcels were inadequate and the Postal Service estimated $[redacted] million in shortpaid postage (postage that was either underpaid or not paid). We recommended corrective interim controls and automated systems. The Postal Service disagreed and instead decided to review its automated verification capabilities....

What the OIG Found

The Postal Service has implemented limited controls for identifying and collecting shortpaid PC Postage parcels since our September 2013 audit. Such efforts have included information sharing between the Postal Service and the PC Postage providers and manual assessments by the Postal Service. These efforts, however, have had very minor impact, as estimated shortpaid postage for these parcels has grown to $[redacted] million in FY 2016.

Any postal worker online who might care to comment?

ETA: btw, lots of interesting things to read here: www.uspsoig.gov...

a reply to: loam

I'm going with such a mess because it has been losing money for a long, long time. It likely would be even if it were well-run, but this is government we're talking about. There's a reason why anyone who can afford it uses either FedEx or UPS.

The photos that I have seen of the packages all had stamps on them, not printed PC postage.
And the ones that I saw did not have any postmarks.
For some reason I cannot upload a picture right now, but the picture at this link shows 4 separate packages, all with stamps and none with a postmark.
kadn.com...

That seems to tell me that they never made it through a handling facility.
The one with the handwritten note of postage due might have been partially processed and found not to have enough postage but I doubt the handling facility would do it that way.
I am a mail carrier and don’t work at a handling facility, so I have limited knowledge of that part of it.
In my experience of delivering mail, I very rarely see a package with stamps that looks like those.
Normally everything is home PC printed postage, business printed postage or post office counter printed postage....they all look different, so you can usually tell how the postage is printed.

a reply to: RazorV66

even the fbi is using the unpostmarked photo www.fbi.gov...

I ship tons of stuff USPS.

There is nothing broken about them. They process million of things a year. One thing is for certain tho.

You are not getting an un-postmarked package through the system from there to there.

Everyone is super super gullible.

a reply to: SR1TX

I've received mail with uncancelled stamps. I've thought about reusing the stamp, but that's a crime.
viewfromll2.com...

I am going to guess that the postal service is a mess. I've been hearing about it before this MAGA bomber. There also could be a network of people working together, and some of them hand-delivered a package or two.

a reply to: loam

Yeah this is another part of the Constitution that needs to be modified or repealed. Back in the latter half of the 1700's thru the 1900's the post office made sense. However today not so much. Congress in their infinite wisdom routinely set the post office up for failure.

I understand why the Constitution requires the federal government to have a postal service. However, given today's technology, is it really needed to the extent we have it now?

Doesnt anyone else find it unusual that these packages made it to different parts of the country without proper postage and without the stamps that are used to invalidate the postage applied to the letter / package so the stamps cant be reused.

If all packages went thru only 1 facility then maybe its plausible. These packages had to go thru several different facilities to reach their intended destinations, where not one of those USPS facilities acted on the lack of postage or stamped the packages to invalidate the postage stamps.

It doesnt really seem to make sense. There might be a valid explanation for it however I have not seen one offered as of yet.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: SR1TX

I've received mail with uncancelled stamps. I've thought about reusing the stamp, but that's a crime.
viewfromll2.com...

Agreed, as have I (received unprocessed mail). I do not believe in 8+ coincidences though (I think 8 were actually delivered).

originally posted by: SR1TX
I ship tons of stuff USPS.

There is nothing broken about them. They process million of things a year. One thing is for certain tho.

You are not getting an un-postmarked package through the system from there to there.

Everyone is super super gullible.

That is pretty much the point I was trying to make as I was half asleep.
You might get random letters that slip through here and there without postage but not small parcels like that and certainly not 4.
Maybe those we stopped before being processed.

a reply to: loam

I believe only one was insufficient postage. The one to Joe Biden was returned to sender (in this case not the real sender) I think the others were over paid on postage which funny enough is also a red flag.

a reply to: RazorV66

They were confiscated at a sorting facility and had not been post marked yet . That is done last just before it leaves your post office for home delivery.

a reply to: RazorV66

They all had six forever stamps. Equal to three bucks worth of postage. For some reason Joe Bidens required more but the others were over paid. At least that is what I've gotten.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: RazorV66

They all had six forever stamps. Equal to three bucks worth of postage. For some reason Joe Bidens required more but the others were over paid. At least that is what I've gotten.

I regularly ship items in those same envelopes. $3 is not enough to send that package anywhere.

The United States Postal Inspection Service has screening procedures (including x-ray) to detect hazardous materials, illegal drugs, contraband, and bombs. They will even irradiate mail to destroy biological agents.

However, they don't have a system in place that screens all the mail that goes through, so ultimately the person receiving suspicious mail is responsible for identifying something like a pipe bomb. Maybe the USPS should make clear that you are responsible for identifying that kind of threat, esp after the so-called MAGA Bomber (a useful connotation for the socialist Democrats right before mid-term elections) made the news.

The ineffective screening process seems obvious though when you consider how much mail gets through without proper postage paid. Apparently they lose a lot of money on mail delivered without any postage at all.

originally posted by: Sillyolme
a reply to: RazorV66

They were confiscated at a sorting facility and had not been post marked yet . That is done last just before it leaves your post office for home delivery.

8 of them were delivered. Keep the facts straight.

Ok. Having worked for the post office, I can tell you right now these weren't delivered by them. After the Anthrax issue, they put too many security checks in place. On top of the fact, when they're sorting out th parcels, the people handling them do not practice safe care of the parcels. Basically, they're getting tossed 15-20 feet into sorting bins. Stuff gets broken all the time. I was able to figure out what was in most soft packages by feel alone. Tons of sex toys.
I can tell you right now, this wasn't USPS. They wouldn't want this on their shoulders after the Anthrax incident. I've pulled many parcels from my route and sent them to the Marshall for inspection due to suspicious activity.

a reply to: loam

I feel I may be qualified to answer your question as I work in shipping, FEDEX, UPS, And USPS. When it comes to the US postal system, stamps are not always metered out (the lines to show they are used). Those packages are odd shaped and would not fit into the 'machine' that puts those lines through the stamps. So I would weigh it instead, pretty much it comes out to a stamp for every ounce the package weighs. Note that at least one package shown in the news had a note that stated 'postage due'. They did not have enough stamps to pay the postage. At that point the package would be returned to sender, or, billed to sender. Deciding which to do would be up to the carrier. At least one was returned to the post office. I personally would have questioned anyone bringing these in for drop off, because one look and I know the postage is insufficient. Then there is who they were addressed to. I believe they were placed into a drop box, that avoided any confrontation with a postal worker. The postage would have been billed back to the senders, and he would not be seen INSIDE any facility. If he put them into various boxes, that would lessen the attention to the packages looking similar, and addressed to officials. I deal with homeland security in finding those who attempt shipping to terrorists, it happens at least once a week that a fool comes in to ship phones, electronic equipment, or cash. After a while, suspicious packages become easy to spot. I would have spotted these and called them suspicious. But he handled it in a way to avoid that by using drop off boxes. Edit to add this statement: I do feel he had knowledge of these processes, I also feel he had someone directing him. Maybe the person who took all the pictures of him at trump rallies?

I used to collect stamps. It wasn't unusual to find stamps not canceled, even on regular letters. Sometimes the machine misses the mark, but odd packages like those would have been hand stamped, but often have found hand stamped letters that missed the mark as well.

In what way were these devices to be detonated if they were to be? Pipe bombs don't just go off right? No timers?