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I've shipped thousands of USPS packages from both Alaska and Hawaii. In most cases the shipping time is the same as shipping from one mainland city to another. Because of our location everything but media mail and some types of "parcel select" go by plane whereas they would go by truck on the mainland. From Hawaii, Express Mail is 2-day delivery, not "overnight" and they usually meet the service guarantee.
In my experience, "First Class" mail from Hawaii only averages a day longer than shipping Priority Mail. I've even had First Class and Priority Mail go to the same city on the same day and have the First Class mail delivered a day earlier than Priority. The only reason I mail Priority is if the package is over 13 ounces.
I've never had a piece of domestic mail "lost" by the USPS that I was aware of.
I think Media Mail goes on the barge. It usually takes about 6 weeks to get to the destination.
Not trying to nitpick, but first class mail is now 16oz. And I agree on everything else you said. I think we're somewhat "lucky we live hawaii" because all first class and priority ships via air versus air/truck used on the mainland, and shipping can be extremely fast. Like Hawaii to new york in 2-3 days. lol
Just a quick update on my previous post: The last (9) of our "Retail Ground" packages arrived at our home on Kauai today, April 12, which was 5 weeks after they were shipped from St. Louis on March 9. Was it worth it to wait that long? For us it was, as we calculate that we saved over $400 overall by using Retail Ground instead of Priority or First Class for the larger, bulkier items that wouldn't fit in the Priority flat rate boxes. We knew we didn't need these items right away, but we didn't expect to wait 5 weeks for delivery. The worst part was wondering if they would EVER arrive, since the post office had estimated we would receive them long before now.
Bottom line from our experience is that USPS Priority Mail delivery was very reliable, on time, but expensive for items that don't fit in the flat rate boxes. Remotely fragile items should be VERY carefully packed, as a couple of our things arrived broken even though we thought we did a reasonable job using bubble wrap. The boxes just take a beating. Retail Ground is a reasonable lower cost alternative if you can wait. And wait.
"The worst part was wondering if they would EVER arrive, since the post office had estimated we would receive them long before now."
I don't know if it is still true, but when we moved here we shipped a lot of stuff "Parcel Post". The USPS has branded that service into other things now but when it arrived after 5ish weeks, the boxes all beat to hell, the lady at the USPS told us that Parcel Post traveled by barge, and since barge service to Hawaii is by volume they wouldn't ship a container out until it was full. Also it was stacked floor to ceiling.
So basically one would have to package their box assuming that it was going to be sitting on the floor and on top of it, would be stacked layer after layer of boxes each weighing up to 70 pounds all the way to the ceiling. And if your box was the first one on the barge, it would be the last one off. If the container wasn't full and it missed that week's sailing, it would wait until the following week. Repeat each week. If the USPS heavens were smiling on you, there was always the chance that your box was the last one and would arrive to the barge on the day it was sailing and it was tetrised on top of all the others next to the door. In such a case, your box could get here in 10 days or so. But the first one on... that could be 6 weeks.
if you're also operating under the assumption that the boxes they're unloading out of the containers are lovingly cared for and treated, and not simply thrown into the container or thrown out of the container onto the loading docks, then you're mistaken. I used to work in a warehouse before, and my opinion is that unless the package can survive being drop kicked down flights of stairs intact, then it shouldn't be shipped via parcel post.
Even businesses like amazon will ship large items like refrigerators via air because the risk of getting damaged is too high. You know how I've seen people unload refrigerator sized boxes before? Ram the forklift legs into the bottom of the box, scooping it up, then reversing, pulling the big box out while all the other smaller box comes crashing down around it.
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