The Economy

Probably because, although they differ in many, many other ways, both Trump and Biden are protectionists regarding trade.

 

Quotas and tariffs are part and parcel of global business, trade war or no trade war. And multiply that times 1000 for other countries. Germany for decades protected its automotive industry like it's the Virgin Mother. And tariffs don't begin to account for subsidized industries in the U.S., from aviation to cotton. I have played a lot of golf on Cotton Inc.'s tab.

 

I ordered a book from Amazon eight days ago. Was supposed to arrive Dec. 3. On that day I got a message that it was delayed, with delivery expected "between Dec. 4-8."

USPS tracking 10 minutes ago says this:
"Your item departed a shipping partner facility at 1:52 am on December 4, 2021 in JACKSONVILLE, FL 32221. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date."

WTF does that mean? It departed a shipping facility in Jacksonville --- a two-hour drive from my house --- three days ago, but the USPS still does not have it.

 

U.S. exports -- and imports -- reach record highs.

U.S. trade deficit sinks 18% in October as exports surge to record high

"Shipments of industrial supplies, including U.S.-produced oil, accounted for about half of the increase in exports. The U.S. also exported more aircraft, soybeans and autos, among other things.

Imports of autos and cell phones rose ahead of the holiday season when they are in strong demand.

Those increases were largely offset by declines in chemicals, computer chips and aircraft.

The trade gap in goods with China, meanwhile, fell by $3.2 billion in October to a seasonally adjusted $28.3 billion, but through the first 10 months of 2021 the deficit with China is running well ahead of last year’s pace."

 

FedEx and UPS will sometimes offload some of their deliveries to the Post Office to smooth out volume, even though it still registers under their tracking numbers. Maybe that works both ways.

 

There have been times in the past where the tracking never updated, and the item just arrived anyway.

 

It might have been handed off to a last-mile shipper like LaserShip by now, too.

Amazon bets big on last mile delivery service improvements

 

I process between 10-30 device orders a day and have to follow up with the shipping, plus any returns. I’ve seen some things man. You’d be surprised how many delivery drivers give absolutely no shits and will take any shortcut necessary to get the package off their truck and out of their life. If it arrives intact at its destination, that’s a nice bonus.

 

I'm assuming there is a 'hub' closer to your place than Jacksonville? If so, then that's where it is likely going, and depending on the workload and staffing there, it's probably sitting in a container with X other packages, waiting to be scanned in and steered into a small-but-still-huge grouping of packages (X-Y) toward another post office facility.

 

Canada would sooner give up The Cup than stumpage fees.