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Futile SPM Requests

Packages with barcodes are tracked from acceptance until delivery.

SPM is supposed to track letters and flats similarly. A mail piece is selected. Sometimes by carriers from blue boxes, sometimes randomly from bulk mailer drop offs.

Those selected mail pieces are followed to the delivery unit. When the carrier reaches it's destination a prompt to scan that item is sent. Then the time from acceptance to delivery is obtained.

Nobody is supposed to know in advance that an item is being tracked. It's so that item cannot be pulled from curtailed mail to expedite it's delivery.
 
Packages with barcodes are tracked from acceptance until delivery.

SPM is supposed to track letters and flats similarly. A mail piece is selected. Sometimes by carriers from blue boxes, sometimes randomly from bulk mailer drop offs.

Those selected mail pieces are followed to the delivery unit. When the carrier reaches it's destination a prompt to scan that item is sent. Then the time from acceptance to delivery is obtained.

Nobody is supposed to know in advance that an item is being tracked. It's so that item cannot be pulled from curtailed mail to expedite it's delivery.

I've had an SPM come up on several occasions for addresses that have no mail, therefor I'm assuming that in those instances the system has failed! And that letters or flats that was suppose to have been there didn't make it on time.
 
Let's get Digital...I wanna get digital...let me hear your scanner talk

As part of the Postal Service’s efforts to better use data and information and to improve customers’ experiences, the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC) in Order No. 4697 approved the replacement of the External First-Class Measurement System (EXFC) with an Internal Service Performance Measurement System (SPM). The EXFC will be retired on September 30, 2018 and starting on October 1, 2018 the Internal SPM will be the official system of record for service measurement and reporting.

Internal SPM, which has been running in parallel with EXFC since 2016, uses data collected from real-time scans of mailpieces at collection and delivery points and combines it with data from the live scans of billions of pieces of mail processed in the postal network. The USPS says this will benefit the internal operations of the USPS and will increase mail visibility to its customers.

USPS Vice President of Enterprise Analytics Isaac Cronkhite said, “Internal Service Performance Measurement allows the Postal Service to move from an outdated measurement method to one that is more robust and uses data that is more accurate, reliable and representative.”
 
"Supposedly" they're about measuring the time it takes for mail to get from point A to point B... many peeps (us) feel it's just another way that they're looking over our shoulder... likewise, many peeps feel "Already Passed" and "No More to Scan" = the 1-finger wave back to them... ? (pick your own finger)... ?
 
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Let's get Digital...I wanna get digital...let me hear your scanner talk

...

USPS Vice President of Enterprise Analytics Isaac Cronkhite said, “Internal Service Performance Measurement allows the Postal Service to move from an outdated measurement method to one that is more robust and uses data that is more accurate, reliable and representative.”
He left out the most REAL reason... the old system was contracted out at a cost of $$$ Millions... they're paying us basically nuthin' now to do it in place of the contractor... ?
 
Their program of informed mis-delivery isn't all it's cracked up to be... many days now, mine just says...

"Mailpieces that we do not have an image for are included in todays mail"

Duh... thanks that was real helpful... :confused:
 
I agree with what you are saying, that address is always on my route! The question should ask is there mail for this address today? The answer would be No because its on hold.
In actual practice... the squawking usually goes off AFTER that box because you've (I've) skipped it due to the hold... so I usually just do an "Already Passed"...

But it is stupid... because, if this is really about monitoring mail going from one place to another... then they know there was mail for this address in today's DPS... I still think this whole thing is suspect...
 
In actual practice... the squawking usually goes off AFTER that box because you've (I've) skipped it due to the hold... so I usually just do an "Already Passed"...

But it is stupid... because, if this is really about monitoring mail going from one place to another... then they know there was mail for this address in today's DPS... I still think this whole thing is suspect...

I'm usually driving past that address so fast that the SPM alarm never goes off!
 
In actual practice... the squawking usually goes off AFTER that box because you've (I've) skipped it due to the hold... so I usually just do an "Already Passed"...

But it is stupid... because, if this is really about monitoring mail going from one place to another... then they know there was mail for this address in today's DPS... I still think this whole thing is suspect...
Always felt the spm requests were used to average out our total mail volume. Today, day after a Monday holiday, with a very heavy volume, I got 0 spm requests. Continuing a pattern i have been following. Light days, 4-6 requests, heavy days few, if any requests. What does it mean, not sure, but im a conspiracy theorist and feel it does note bode well for us
 
I'm suspect of it, because, imo, as Face mentioned above... why not just count all of the mail in DPS as "delivered" that day... we know they obviously know of all of the mail in DPS, because they're sending us pictures of it in the Informed Delivery nonsense... so why do we have to scan it all again, when it was already scanned by DPS machines??? This tells me, it's about checking up on carriers, not about monitoring how long it takes mail to travel... jmho...
 
Another reason I believe they are using SPMs for other purposes, besides tracking mail... is because of where I get pinged on them... often, especially during their mapping efforts I was getting SPMs at about all of the boxes right before intersections.... this led me to believe they were somehow using the scan location to calibrate where the intersections were... it also seemed to me that they were selecting pings to check on vacant boxes... so color me skeptical that it's all just about tracking mail... some of it is about tracking mail, but I think they're using it for other stuff too...

Oh, and there were a few times where I did like some crazy U-turn, then BOOM... SPM alert... like, hey we saw that.... has this happened to anybody else out there??

They say it's only paranoia if it's not real... ?
 
They say it's only paranoia if it's not real... ?
[/QUOTE]

I believe we all have this symptom paranoia its a disease that festers and grows worse the more years you have in at the PO. ?Just letting you know you're not alone.:LOL:
 
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