Thanks Postal Service... Not

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

Just a quick rant. This holiday season, our small Local "adpoted" an Army Unit in Iraq. We each gave 25 bucks and matched that out of treasury. We were able to buy a lot of stuff. The thing that makes me slightly irritated is the cost in shipping. THIRTY Dollars a box. Thankfully, a local VFW Post offered to pay the shipping for us. So instead of having to pay more then half of what we alloted, we were able to send 12 boxes of goodies. You would think there would be a way to send items such as ours to the tropps a little more reasonably. Am I off base here?

[hwoods]

Absolutely not Bro. Shipments going to our troops shopuld be handled at a rock bottom rate. No Question. And a tip O' the Helment to you guys, your Local, AND the VFW. Happy Holidays.

[PlattsFire1]

When I was serving in the desert any mail sent with an APO address was free. It has been this way since WWII as far as I know. You may want to check into it.

[PlattsFire1]

Another tidbit of info. You always hear about those associations or groups who send christms cards or letters to the troops overseas for Christmas? We got ours in July. Was walking into the chow hall in 130 degree heat and there was a box full of Christmas cards for the troops. :rolleyes:

[ChiefReason]

Another tidbit of info. You always hear about those associations or groups who send christms cards or letters to the troops overseas for Christmas? We got ours in July. Was walking into the chow hall in 130 degree heat and there was a box full of Christmas cards for the troops. :rolleyes:
Yeah?
Well, Tom Hanks used FedEx and look where he ended up! ;)
Mikey:
When we were getting ready to send stuff to my nephew(he got my cool Harley shirt and bandanna), we found out about the high cost. I guess the USPS is entitled to profit, but man; you'd think if nothing else, you could get the goodies to an agency that could get them loaded on a military plane for a FREE RIDE to its end destination. Hats off to the VFW.
And a salute to you and your guys for a great effort on the troops behalf.
CR

[gunnyv]

The USPS definitely is not making $ on the deal. The rate they charge is based on the APO/FPO you are sending it to. For Iraq, that is New York. So you are being charged for it to be delivered to NY-there is no add'l cost for the rest of the trip.

The USPS will even send you a kit with boxes, labels, and shipping tape for FREE if you tell them you are sending them to troops overseas.

As far as sending it on a military aircraft, the amount of mail being sent overseas is beyond the ability of the USAF to carry, they are struggling to keep up with military logistics.

One of our members was in Iraq last year. I collected over $1200 from the brothers, and we sent him a PS2, about 20 games and DVDs, magazines :D , footballs, chow, phone cards, etc. I packed it in 2 boxes, about 80 lbs altogether. Cost $75 including insurance, and he got them in 3 weeks.

A great gift that costs very little to ship are phone cards. Go to http://www.aafes.com/ and you can have them mailed direct. You don't have to be a servicemember to do this, you only need an address of a servicemember to send them to. The AAFES cards give them the best bang for the buck, many of the Sprint, Sams or Costco cards have surcharges on overseas calls that eat up the minutes.

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

Platts, we went to several Post Offices and it was all the same. We arent cheapskates, but I would rather have my money go towards the men and women in the field then paying the government over 50 % of what we allocated to get it over there.

[skyraider]

Platts, you're partially correct. It's free postage if you send APO to APO, but not if you send from a non APO to an APO. (Used to be that way, anyhow...I've also been out of the APO loop for a few years).

Just mailed off a package to an APO address today...it was only $7 for a 6lb package. I sent two to German addresses...$21 & $35. I sent one to AZ & CA...they were $15 each. NOT CHEAP....about more than the contents. I'm in VA, so the price to NY is cheaper for me than it would be if I mailed it from CA.

My point: APO was the cheapest. Like Gunnyv said, they price APO packages as if they were coming from NY and that's the price we pay. But I completely agree w/ you, Mikey...there should be some provision for stuff going to our troops.

BTW...those interested in sponsoring a care package for troops (without you having to do the work!), you can go to http://www.usocares.org/src/uso_home.htm. They're $25 each and include a shaving/toothbrush kit, CDs, goodies, phone cards, letters sent in by the public through the website, etc. Shipping costs for these things aren't cheap either, but they're shipped 500 per pallet and in a weekend we can put together about 10,000 kits or more. (A lot of effort for everyone, I tell you what!). I volunteer to put the packages together and the folks that run the program are former soldiers and family members who are just great!

[captjab]

Just a quick rant. This holiday season, our small Local "adpoted" an Army Unit in Iraq. We each gave 25 bucks and matched that out of treasury. We were able to buy a lot of stuff. The thing that makes me slightly irritated is the cost in shipping. THIRTY Dollars a box. Thankfully, a local VFW Post offered to pay the shipping for us. So instead of having to pay more then half of what we alloted, we were able to send 12 boxes of goodies. You would think there would be a way to send items such as ours to the tropps a little more reasonably. Am I off base here?

Mikey....next time you do something like that...contact a local Military base and talk to the post office there or contact the Base XO...We did this a couple of years in a row and found the same problem with shipping. The base placed the boxes on a military flight through their shipping channels...They loved the idea and help us out the following year...Good Luck and Merry Xmas

[CALFFBOU]

Just quickly scanning over the other postings, I am going to guess the fuel cost to fly over there was a factor?

[PlattsFire1]

One more to add to the list of things to send. Try baby wipes. Even the cheap ones. Most of the bases with hard facilities, and all of the bases with a tent city are short on water supply. Where I was at, you had three minutes of water for a shower, frequently called "combat showers." This is not much time after a twelve our day in the hot sun, and with sand blowing all over. And when water was really short, (tanker truck broke down) you may not shower for two or three days. So baby wipes were always a godsend. Plus, they're cheap and lightweight. :)

[MIKEYLIKESIT]

We got a list from the Units C.O. We got a bunch of stuff for them. Everything from cell phones to cigarettes to duct tape to candy, slim jims, dice, dvds, deodorant, magazines, books, powdered drink mix, just to name a few of them. It was really a pleasure doing it. The VFW members were impressed with our haul. They even got two of our females to attend the post New Years party :D

[MalahatTwo7]

Something you may want to try is taking a visit to the nearest base (hopefully there is one for you) and sending from there. Back home if you drop parcels etc to a military post office, the stuff goes free of charge. That's back in Canada, but it might be worth checking into - I would imagine its the same here. (I think thats what Sky said....:) )