Handwritten addresses are the hardest for the USPS readers to scan and sort.. sometimes the envelope gets shunted for a human to interpret or hand sort.. That can slow the speed of delivery..
In all honesty I personally have not have any issues for quite some time now. USPS has been good to me.
I mail First Class correspondence every week and haven't noticed problems. Maybe 4-5 days to the west coast.
.. I sent four letters Airmail to Norway on June 17th, and they arrived the first week of August. 6 weeks! The postal service over there only delivers mail three days per week.
That seems ridiculous.
- Art