Is Amarillo Postal Service About To Get Slammed?

I do a lot of shipping thanks to my sports card addiction. Trades, sales, you name it. I'm always at a post office somewhere in Amarillo, Texas because of it. I'm also always watching tracking numbers making sure items are where they're supposed to be going.

The United States Postal Service has made some changes in general across the country. One of the big ones for me was there is no longer "first class" shipping, it's now called "ground advantage".

They said it was just a bit of a name change, but it's been more than just that. I'm convinced it's a slower service from start to finish. Packages I used to send first class would arrive typically to its recipient in about three days, no more than four.

Now, it's taking a good five days, or even more, to reach where its going. Not to mention the tracking on the package? It's leaving a lot to be desired. It used to get scanned every time it ended up somewhere, but now it's definitely not.

I've had packages that didn't even get scanned in at the Amarillo post office, then all of a sudden, it's in a random city three days later. Packages are also being routed in strange directions and places, and not going directly to where it should be, which probably is what's causing all the delays in getting there.

I mention all of this because there are discussions being had right now about whether or not they should relocate outgoing mail operations from Lubbock to Amarillo, and they're seeking opinion from the public on the proposed change.

Well, consider this my very public opinion. No. Don't do it. Simply put, the Amarillo post offices seem a bit inundated these days as I'm watching my packages take longer to even start moving. Bringing something like this here is only going to lengthen the amount of time it takes for things to get moving.

A meeting was held last Friday in Lubbock, and residents of Lubbock voiced their concerns very loudly over making this change, so it's good to see I'm not alone in my thinking.

The obvious concern here is that it'll take Lubbock longer to get their mail, and Amarillo will be overwhelmed and take longer as well. Do I think it's a good idea? No, especially with the struggles I'm already dealing with here.