When “Guaranteed Overnight” doesn’t mean “Guaranteed Overnight”

It constantly amazes me why so many U.S. voters seem perfectly comfortable allowing new and expanding government programs running various aspects of their lives. Via LeanBlog comes this reminder of government idiocy courtesy of that fine federal institution, the U.S. Postal Service:

Saw this post on The Consumerist blog about how the United States Postal Service does NOT guarantee overnight delivery of “guaranteed” overnight documents…. IF you place the package in a drop box instead of handing it to an agent at the counter.

Here’s the full report from The Consumerist blog, linked by LeanBlog. Excerpt:

Dorothy found out that the USPS’s guaranteed overnight delivery doesn’t apply if you use their Express Mail boxes, because “Letters get stuck up in the top of the box all the time. Sometimes, it takes days or even a week before we find them.” Hey post office, maybe you should try to check the top of the box every day. Problem solved!

As LeanBlog points out:

Checking the box every day would be a form of inspection — that’s waste.

It would be better if the USPS could design a drop box that prevents letters from getting stuck. It’s called “error proofing” (or “poka yoke” if you insist on the Japanese term). It’s not really a new concept. How hard is it to design a box that works perfectly?
—————————————————————
Consider yourself warned. Does FedEx have this problem? Or DHL?

Exactly.