USPS Server Meltdown

m2pc writes "The US Postal Service is experiencing major server issues for its shipping API web services. After spending about an hour debugging my own eCommerce software for a client, I found the problem was with the USPS shipping servers being unavailable. Further research showed that message boards for OS Commerce and other e-Commerce packages are filling with posts from angry users who are experiencing crashing Web store applications and frustrated customers. Developers are scrambling to find interim solutions, from hard-coding fixed price shipping, to 'rolling their own' shipping calculation APIs based on the USPS Fixed Rate Zone Tables, to disabling the USPS option altogether. One user reported yesterday that a call to USPS yielded the response 'we expect it to be down all day.' As of 9:20 AM PST the service is still unavailable."

Comments

Re:Healthcare?

[je ne sais quoi]

Here's a link from wikipedia, which is a little less biased than the rabid conservatives at the american enterprise institute. From the wikipedia article on what private carriers can carry for time sensitive material:

These letters must either cost at least the greater of $3 or twice what First Class (or Priority) mail service would cost, or they must be delivered within strict time limits or otherwise lose value.

Last I checked, it cost about $14 to use FedEx Supersave to send an envelope, which is a far cry from $3. Private industry is nowhere close to even competing with the USPS for the lowest cost option.

Re:That's what you get....

[hesaigo999ca]

Try explaining it to the scrooges at the top who are only in it for the money

"Non sense, we don't need parallel bridge just in case, if it breaks we fix it...."

except when you aren't the one who is broken...sort of.