In this time of Covid19 many things have adjusted for all of us in very short order.  This is true for me here at Oldawan too as we experience the changing restrictions and limitations of delivery of supplies etc.  I continue to make efforts to remain open and shipping as best as possible.  

Shipping services are picking up earlier in the day so cut off times for shipping are currently 2p Eastern time on the days I am shipping.  Orders placed after that time will ship on the next shipping day.  For example orders placed after 2p Eastern on a Friday through 2p Eastern the next Monday will ship that Monday.  Orders after 2p Eastern on that Monday will be shipped on Tuesday etc.  I am not shipping on Saturdays or Sundays.

USPS domestic deliveries affected by COVID-19

On Friday April 17th 2020, USPS announced that due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on transportation availability, some services will experience delays beginning April 17, 2020. Below is what you need to know.

• USPS Priority Mail Express: This service will not experience any delays at this time.
• USPS Priority Mail: Local 1-day delivery will not experience delays. However, the 2-3 day delivery window will be extended to 3-4 days.
• USPS First-Class Package Service: 2-3 day delivery windows will be extended to 3-4 day delivery windows. 

USPS will still do its best to deliver packages as quickly as possible. We will continue to update our COVID-19 info page as more information becomes available for all of our domestic and international shipping partners. For the most up-to-date information around USPS service changes, please refer to their website directly

 

Customers are asked to refrain from entering items addressed to any of the below countries into the USPS system. The below list of destinations are suspended as of April 10, 2020:

 

1. Angola
2. Benin
3. Bolivia
4. Bosnia and Herzegovina
5. Botswana
6. Burundi
7. Cameroon
8. Cayman Islands
9. Chad
10. Cook Islands
11. Costa Rica
12. Cuba
13. Curacao
14. Democratic Republic of the Congo
15. Ecuador
16. Fiji
17. French Polynesia
18. Gambia
19. Guatemala
20. Guinea Bissau
21. Guyana
22. Honduras
23. India
24. Kenya
25. Kiribati
26. Kuwait
27. Kyrgyzstan
28. Laos
29. Lebanon
30. Lesotho
31. Libya
32. Madagascar
33. Malawi
34. Maldives
35. Mauritius
36. Moldova
37. Mongolia
38. Mozambique
39. Nepal
40. Netherlands Antilles
41. New Guinea
42. New Caledonia
43. Panama
44. Papua New Guinea
45. Paraguay
46. Peru
47. Republic of the Congo
48. Rwanda
49. Samoa
50. Saudi Arabia
51. Senegal
52. Seychelles
53. Solomon Islands
54. South Africa
55. Sudan
56. Sri Lanka
57. Tajikistan
58. Tanzania
59. Timor-Leste
60. Tonga
61. UAE
62. Uganda
63. Uruguay
64. Vanuatu
65. Venezuela
66. Zambia
67. Zimbabwe

 

Other notes of importance around these locations:

 

• These service disruptions affect Priority Mail Express International® (PMEI), Priority Mail International® (PMI), First-Class Mail International® (FCMI), First-Class Package International Service® (FCPIS®), International Priority Airmail® (IPA®), International Surface Air Lift® (ISAL®), and M-Bag® items.
• For already deposited items, other than GXG, Postal Service employees must endorse them “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender” and then place them in the mail stream for return.
• For any returned item bearing a customs form, the Postal Service will, upon request, refund postage and fees on mail returned due to the suspension of service.
• For all other returned items not bearing a customs declarations form, the Postal Service will, upon request, refund postage and fees on mail returned due to the suspension of service, or the sender may remail them with the existing postage once service has been restored. When remailing under this option, customers must cross out the markings “Mail Service Suspended — Return to Sender.”

 

USPS continues to have a temporary suspension of the guarantee on Priority Mail Express International destined for China and Hong Kong, which has been effective since Monday, Feb. 10, 2020, due to widespread airline cancellations and restrictions into this area.

 

March 28, 2020: USPS is making a change to its policy around delivering mail to businesses that are closed. Current policy is to indicate the date the mail is first returned to be held at the delivery facility, and hold for 10 days. In order to accommodate businesses during this challenging time, USPS will now extend the hold period to 30 days before returning the items to the sender.

 

Once the business reopens, delivery should immediately resume unless other arrangements have been made. If the business fails to make alternative delivery arrangements or does not submit a request to hold or forward its mail after 30 days, the process of returning mail to the sender will resume.

 

Customers may see delays in mail and packages destined to China as well as from China, as well as to and from European countries subject to restricted passenger airline travel.

 

On March, 23 2020 USPS announced suspension of Priority Mail International service’s guarantee to certain European countries, which include:

 

• France
• Great Britain
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland

 

The following countries have suspended certain mail services:

 

• Romania: CN Poșta Română SA has advised that it is currently unable to send letter-post and parcel-post items to an increasing number of countries both within and outside the European Union. Therefore, it is no longer accepting letter-post and parcel-post items for international destinations to which transport capacities are unavailable.
• Kazakhstan: The country has declared a state of emergency until April 15, 2020 which may result in delays of inbound shipments.
• Denmark: Post Danmark (PostNord Denmark) has suspended signature on delivery. Delivery will be conducted via methods that limit human contact, with immediate effect.
• Grenada: Grenada Postal Corporation, has advised that the Government of Grenada has declared a limited state of emergency for 21 days effective March 25, 2020. Outbound and inbound mail delivery services and other services will be affected.
• Nepal: Nepal Post has advised that the Government of Nepal has extended the suspension of all incoming international flights to Nepal until April 15, 2020, and the country is in lockdown until April 7, 2020. These measures are adversely affecting the collection, transmission and delivery of mail items.
• Colombia: Servicios Postales Nacionales S.A. 4-72, has advised that, owing to the emergency resulting from the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), there will be significant delays in all of its international inbound and outbound letter-post, parcel-post and EMS services.
• Bolivia: Agencia Boliviana de Correos has advised that effective from March 22 to April 15, 2020, it is temporarily suspending all mail services.

 

The Postal Service will continue to accept and process mail destined for the aforementioned countries. This mail will be held within their network and will be delivered once mail service is restored.