V-8 Times
 

Why is the Times always over a month late?

Re: V-8 Times
 

IF your V8 Times is late 95% of the time, If you open your front door and see the person that puts it in your mail box…..pretty good visual bet WHY!!! Once your magazine leaves the publisher, The Early Ford V8 Club has NO control
Of when you get it!!!

Re: V-8 Times
 

This is the reason why most clubs and publications have gone to email and online subscriptions.Personally i still like getting the actual material in my hands

Re: V-8 Times
 

Respectfully, I disagree somewhat. I have had my share of disappointments with the USPS but do not feel this is why magazines are a month late for some folks. I believe that all of the issues do not leave the printer at the same time. I was always most interested in the classified advertisements. I was one who continually received my issue later than the guys "down under." I quit my subscription for this reason. Also, I do not believe it is the carriers fault. There are too many people ahead of the carrier in the process. Most problems are the fault of poor management.

Re: V-8 Times
 

I respectfully disagree with you.
I have a USPS account that allows me to see pictures of my daily delivery. Every day that there is mail delivery, I get an email with what is supposed to be delivered. Many, many and one more time, many times what is sent to me in the advance photos is not what shows up in my mailbox. I have gone to my local Post Office and complained. Waste of my time and effort.
So, I know that 3rd and 4th class are not priority delivery and can sit at the local post office until the carrier or who-ever decides to deliver. The TIMES is 3rd class. (and also, not forwarded).
And by way, I am still waiting for my Dec 21st 1st class delivery.

I will agree with you that there is a management issue --- but with the Postal Service.

Re: V-8 Times
 

Late by what measure? If you use the two months listed on the cover, then you will be disappointed. As an example, the March-April edition of the V-8 Times has not yet been written, never mind proof-read, printed, put into the mail and delivered. I received my Jan-Feb issue last week and it's made it to Australia already.
I belong to a railroad club and they decided to take the month and year off the cover and only use Volume and Number. My subscription is by Volume, not year, so if it takes two years to get a years worth of magazines out, then my train club subscription will last two years.
One reason it takes so long to put an issue together is that the membership is very slow and reluctant to provide content. The editors job is to format what we members provide. No submissions by you, then we print blank pages, or wait for content.
Be patient and wait for your issue to arrive. While there are occasional Postal issues, it's the exception rather than the rule. Also please remember that the magazines sent in the Postal system as media mail and the Post Office can, at their discretion, hold the magazine for up to 4 weeks before they deliver.

Re: V-8 Times
 

Ive been a member for close to 25 years now. The magazine is first class and Im glad they continue with the print edition.

Going 100% digital has had a detrimental effect on a number of clubs. I know of two national clubs that watched their membership plummet by well over 50% in a year. In one case, the requests for refunds almost bankrupted them.

USPS is not the same as they used to be but I’ll patiently wait, because it’s worth it.

Re: V-8 Times
 

1) "There are too many people ahead of the carrier in the process." This is NOT true. The rough draft is sent to proof read, once it clears that process, it is sent to the publisher. As in all print publications, there is a strict deadline to be met to make the scheduled bi-monthly mailing.


2) "Most problems are the fault of poor management." Utterly preposterous. The V8 Club (and Shannon "curretnly) has done the V8 Times for 59+ years at least. The process, on the clubs behalf as well as the publisher has only changed for the better with the emergence of the computer making things quicker to send to and from as well as refine and improve the print/overall quality of the magazine. Otherwise, the process has not changed for the distribution of the magazine. As for the publisher, it makes no sense/cents for them to piece-meal print the V8 Times and send 1000 this week, 1500 the next week etc etc.....once they are in process, they are ALL printed, packaged and delivered to the Post Office all at once.....the clubs control of when the Post Office decides to distribute 6000ish magazines is none!!!! I for one would love IF you reconsidered your position on getting the magazine/re-joining the club.
I find that the majority of the people who put more "faith" in snail mail DON"T rely on them on a "daily" basis for business like I do for my business.....to send invoices, checks and receive my accounts receivable checks. I "routinely" have invoices returned to me by the local PO as "UN-deliverable" from customers we have done business with for over 50 years (We've been in business since 1951). I have had invoices show up to customers 25 miles away, 4 months later. I have had customers 3 blocks away, never get my invoices!!!! Mind you, this happens weekly, monthly and yearly!!!!!
Shannon does a fantastic job getting the V8 Times assembled and to print in an expeditious fashion.....IF there is ANY problem from the "Clubs" side of the V8 Times is that "NOBODY" is sending in materials to print!!!! Remember, the V8 Times and the V8 Club is a member participation driven organization.....which means "YOU" make it work....OR not!!!! It is NOT the fault of mismanagement from a club perspective that your magazine is late!!!! IT is, however, mismanagement on the U S Postal Service's behalf!!! That I would agree.


MY $ .02 worth

Re: V-8 Times
 

The current issue is the best I have read in a very long time. No old re-used filler just good stories by owners about their cars. There are still lots of grammatical, stuff like, the one story, with, an unbelievable, excess, of commas,. Unless you are Captain Kirk, see how hard that is to read? I'd like to see less internal ads for V8 club merch (one page listing all the books is enough) and expand ads to cover non-V8 vendors that the membership might find useful. Not talking liquor, medical or the like but how about loosely related things of the time like Lionel train dealers, real estate with large garages, vintage clothing to wear to shows or something I could use but have never heard of because they have previously been barred from advertising?

Re: V-8 Times
 

The Art Doctor


" I'd like to see less internal ads for V8 club merch (one page listing all the books is enough)"


Once again, The magazine only exist because of "Member's" stories....IF no one sends anything in, the club cannot print anything!!!!!

Re: V-8 Times
 

WHOA WHOA rockfla, cool down!!! You misinterpreted everything I spoke of! You were dissing on the poor guy that was bringing the magazine to the mailbox. Everything I said was directed at the management of the USPS. I made no reference to the folks attempting to put out a good magazine. Any GOOD manager knows where the "buck stops."

Re: V-8 Times
 

34Fordy


I am cool, man....Like the underside of a pillow. I guess I should have clarified myself....when I said "the man delivering your mail" I meant the "establishment" he works/represents (in general) not him personally. Cool as a cucumber here my friend!!!!

Re: V-8 Times
 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Re: V-8 Times
 

You are 100% correct. It is a fact that these magazines do not have to be delivered in any certain amount of time. In real life, if the regular carrier doesn't feel like lifting them, he leaves them for the substitute to deliver them. Then, another "real life" thing... the substitute doesn't care to do it and he leaves them. A total circle je--.
Also, regular carriers are becoming fewer and farther between. That equates to fewer and fewer carriers that give a sh--.
The postal service (an oxymoron for sure) is in an apparent freefall. They continue to raise their prices and provide worsening services. Not a good business plan.

Re: V-8 Times
 

There you go again Pete, speaking the TRUTH ! The whole darn thread after the first post is HYPERBOLE, including the rants from "yours truly!" My Dad always said "Silence is Golden." If only I had heeded his advice. Gonna try now.

Re: V-8 Times
 

Late? As long as it shows up about every 60 days plus or minus a few days I’m happy. �� The date of the publication on the front cover doesn’t matter. Magazines don’t have an expiration date,….. not like a gallon of milk that turns sour…..

Re: V-8 Times
 

USPS delivers first class mail maybe a few days late at the worst, sometimes, but usually not.

It’s packages that they can be bad with. However, I have never had a package arrive so much later than expected that, had it been a magazine, I would have had a problem with it, or the classified ads would have been out of date.

If something is truly “over a month late”, and consistently so, sorry, but it’s not the USPS.

FWIW I received my issue of the Jan-Feb Times around the beginning of March.

Re: V-8 Times
 

You probably won't get your March-April issue until mid-April. This issue is not completely together yet and still needs more work, proofing, printing, compilation, sorting for bulk distribution, a trip to one or more Post Office regional sorting centers, a trip to your regional Post Office location, then to your local Post Office and then to your mailbox. It all takes time but hopefully the final product is worth the wait.

Re: V-8 Times
 

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/attac...p;d=1773634094

This is the Cover of the Jan-Feb 2026 V8 Times.
My copy arrived "down under" on March 12.

Re: V-8 Times
 

You must be living in a "sweet spot". Pretty much the rest of the country experiences terrible service from the USPS.
The local sorting center has been on national television due to its long history of HORRIBLE service.
They have consistently a number of tractor trailers FULL of mail that go unloaded for days, even a week or more at a time.
Mail passing through there is often delayed a couple of weeks or fairly frequently lost.
I doubt that's the only sorting center with issues.

Re: V-8 Times
 

Sorry Pete, to beat this dead horse......Kube....ours is so bad our Federal Representative has called for a whole "Federal" audit of the one here!!!!

Re: V-8 Times
 

This thread started with the question "Why is the Times always over a month late?"

A month later than what? There is no promised delivery date of the V-8 Times. The only measure of time is from when the digital file is released which is about when the Post Office receives them from the printer to the time you received it. Since it's shipped via Media Mail which the Post Office, by contract, can wait for 4 weeks before beginning to move them from the first distribution center, you just have to wait.

Re: V-8 Times
 

I hate to say it, but the digital version is always on-time or more accurately ahead of time if you compare to the mailed version. So, if you are worried about missing a car in the classifieds you get the same crack at it as the rest of the membership. Personally (as the classifieds are the last place I need to be looking) I prefer the paper version and wait for it to be delivered.

Re: V-8 Times
 

I switched to digital, it’s cheaper and on time. The P.O. has its own problems, I found out the manual sorting that was done in Albany NY is now done in Connecticut somewhere. It probably explains why the Christmas card my sister sent arrived two months late it was postmarked Dec. 18th. The handwritten address looked very readable to me.

Re: V-8 Times
 

The Art Doctor nailed it. If your membership includes The V8 Times (some do not), you also have access to the digital edition. You should receive an email notification when the latest issue is posted, allowing you to browse the classifieds and articles online before the print copy arrives.

It’s a great way to keep up with the classifieds in particular. That said, I still enjoy having the paper magazine in hand—it remains the best Early Ford publication out there