Let me address just one of the issues and clear that up first before tackling the others.

I made a test transaction on your site (picture attached) and I see USPS Parcel has a lower rate than USPS Priority, not the other way around.

Disable all quote methods other than USPS and turn on the quote debug display at admin/store/settings/quotes/edit. Then you will be able to see the response from the USPS rate server, which contains all the services and rates that the USPS server is returning to Ubercart.

You can determine the exact USPS rates to expect by going to http://ircalc.usps.gov/ and entering the appropriate information. I can't tell what the store ZIP is so I can't compare the quote I get from your site to the one the USPS tell me. From your test site, I get quoted rates that are much higher in all respects than I would expect, so I assume you're applying a rate markup. I would turn all adjustments off so you can compare the quote determined by Ubercart with the quote from the USPS web calculator.

If you can give some specifics about a particular quote you think is wrong (source and destination ZIP, package weight, complete output of the debug messages you turned on above) it should be easy to verify whether the USPS server is returning the wrong information or whether the shipping module is processing that information wrong.

I have run many test on the USPS quotes as I've set up my store. I have a set of actual orders from my old site which I've entered into my new Ubercart site - I use these as tests to compare the USPS shipping cost charged to the shipping cost I actually paid for that order. (This tests not only the rate quotes but also my product weights and assumed packaging weights, and lets me fine tune my markup to cover my shiping costs.)

I have not found any difference between what the USPS server returns and what I actually paid for a specific package.

FYI, I'm using the latest Bazaar code (741) and am not having any issues with USPS, which is the only shipping method we use ATM.

If anyone doesn't want to show transit times

Comment out lines: (343,347) in uc_usps.module.

I'm looking through code to see why it's getting messed up.

Express Mail service commitments are based on drop-off times. Normally 12:00 afternoon or I think the lastest is 3:00 p.m. I made the post a little before 9:00 tonight.

Understood, but it also says Priority is 2 days the same as Express "Not right". I'm in DE "ship from address" and and I put a CA delivery address. No way it takes 2 days Priority when it's 3000 miles away.

2 days Priority - $10.55
Express 2 Days - $24.50

The Quotes are right for me just the delivery times are not. If I put in a address down the street from me it still says 2 day express or 2 day express to 90210 in CA. The Post office is 2 miles from my house.

One more thing I noticed: Sorry

Tell me if I'm wrong but shouldn't there be an option for the Express commitment time

There's nothing there for USPS to know the commitment time right?

Match what your seeing in Ubercart to what USPS website is saying. See attachment. I used the same zip code for ship from and ship to. TR: It's 10:55 and says overnight to most areas not 2 days

I still stand by my bug theory :>)

I just went to the USPS server and asked for the quotes again for the same zip codes. All shipping methods except Express mail are 2 days except for express mail where there is a link saying overnight to most areas. So I clicked on the link for and went through the commitment section and was told two day delivery if I took it to the PO tomorrow.

As I type, I am uploading beta 1 rev 748. Some work was done in these areas. I'll report back later on my testing.

Another small bug I'm noticing in IE 7 is when you fetch a shipping quote it doesn't show in the Order total preview until you left click the pane. It works fine in FireFox.

Beta 1 rev 748 doesn't change anything on this problem.

It's only a bug if Ubercart displays something other than what is in the reply from the USPS server. If the USPS says 2 days, then that's the answer.

From the perspective of customer relations, I agree it might be better to not present the transit times. For several reasons. First, if your customer gets guaranteed 1-day or 2-day, that obligates you to get the package out the door before the cutoff time. That might not be possible, especially if you've already had your pickup for the day! Second, as you've noted, different methods might have the same transit time, so the quoted time can be a little deceptive. (There are other reasons to choose Express though, like the tracking number and signature confirmation). It's easy enough to comment the transit times out and hardwire in an estimated transit time for each service. It probably would be better if the module had a checkbox which you could use to turn off the transit time quote.

I'm approaching this from the perspective of someone who had no hand in writing the uc_usps module. I've personally shipped almost 10,000 packages via USPS over the past 6 years - mostly Priority Mail but a large number of First Class, Parcel Post, and Express as well. From my point of view, seedseller's quote times of 2 days for Express, Priority, and Parcel between Monroe, WA and Milton Freewater, OR, seem perfectly reasonable. (I'm in WA too, and do a lot of business in OR, so I'm familiar with the transit times.) I often advise my customers in Oregon not to bother paying the extra for Priority or Express because it's not going to get there any faster. So from that perspective, it HELPS the customer , and they really APPRECIATE it, if they can avoid spending the money for Express and still get it in 2 days!

Perhaps the behavior of the shipping quotes is easier to understand when you read the USPS web services documentation: Express Mail is the *only* service USPS offers that has any sort of guaranteed delivery time. All other services are just *estimates*. To quote the web services docs, what they return in an XML request is:

Priority Mail®
"You get an average delivery standard for two- or three-day service."

Package Services
"Provides estimates on delivery between 3-digit ZIP Codes for Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter, Library Mail and Media Mail."

Express Mail Service Commitments
"Receive our guaranteed commitment between any two 5-digit ZIP Code™ for Express Mail®."

<CommitmentTime> is returned empty from the USPS server - nothing Ubercart can do about that. I assume that's because USPS doesn't guarantee it by any specific hour.

Also, it appears that the USPS web site doesn't use the same quotes as the XML interface (I've known this for a while.) The only information on the USPS web site that is completely accurate is the Express Mail commitments you find by clicking through on the "overnight to most areas" link - clicking through gets you to a page where you enter more information and get the actual time which should agree with what Ubercart gets from an XML request. The times for Priority Mail and Parcel Post are average transit times, and don't take into account the hour of the day that you're getting the quote - they will return the same transit time whether you quote at 8am or 8pm. USPS only spends the extra CPU cycles to give you an accurate number for Express because they have a money back guarantee for that service.

What would you change about Ubercart, given that Ubercart is just reporting back what the USPS server says?

TR:
Have you seen this possible bug above?

tr,

I agree with the things you are saying. I haven't had the experience with as many USPS transactions as you, but it is over 2000 in the last 3 years.

If Ubercart is simply telling us what the response from the USPS server, I can't ask more. What I do expect from Ubercart is the correct shipping charges as it comes from the USPS server plus the appropriate markup. For my site, the Parcel Post quote is obviously wrong. I think this is a bug.

The idea of a checkbox to turn off transit times is a good one. It would also be nice to be able to enter my own comments beside each shipping type selected. This could include suggested transit times, to discourage nearby customers from spending too much on shipping, or whatever else I might wish.

Another idea is the option to have a bit higher markup to ship via express mail. If I have to bust my butt to get something out to a customer outside my regular shipping cycle, it would be nice to have them pay for a bit of butt repair.

I'm working to go to a server with PHP5. I hope that cares for the simplexml errors. I don't imagine it will fix the incorrect parcel post quotes.

Here's another simple thing that could be confusing for customers. If a order is over 70 LBS with USPS a warning message will show.

Warning - The package weight cannot exceed 70 pounds.

You should have at least 2 shipping methods so this doesn't happen. I added the weight rate and UPS. If a customer buys 2 drum sets for example that almost 100LBS. I added check total weight in workflow_ng.

The warning probably show say:

Sorry the max package weight for USPS is 70 LBS, please select another shipping method... etc..
a usps image would also help.

So by saying:

Warning - The package weight cannot exceed 70 pounds might make the customer think that there order can't be shipped.

Thanks Lyle