Carol, I have had many boxes of live plants take 4-7 days, when they shipped 2 or 3 day Priority Mail. That's the only way I ship plants.
I am not sure about the "local issue". Do you mean local here in Starkville, local as to my buyer's town/city, or somewhere in between? Here is another example, and this happened just last/this week.
I shipped two large boxes of orchids to VA, with the shipping costing over $33, and they went out my usual Priority Mail. According to USPS tracking, they shipped out 2-day Priority Mail. After all, VA is not that far from MS. The boxes were picked up on Wednesday, Dec. 3, and went to Jackson, MS (only 125 miles from here) and left Jackson on Friday, Dec. 5. So far so good. The USPS shows delivery was scheduled for Monday, Dec. 8. Well, that's not quite 2-day shipping but its acceptable. My buyer called me Monday and said the plants did not arrive. I rechecked tracking and sure enough, Monday was supposed to be the delivery day. I asked him to immediately call his post master and have him/her do their own tracking. Guess what, the post master did not know where the boxes were? He/she said the tracking simply showed "In Transit". The buyer called me again on Tuesday - no plants. We're talking about $500 + in orchids! He said he contacted his post master and he/she still could not tell him where the boxes were. There was nothing I could do but hope and pray. What was I going to do about $500 worth of plants lost in the mail? File for insurance? Good luck! The two boxes arrived on Thursday, Dec. 11, eight days after they were picked up for shipment. I could have ridden a bicycle to Virginia in less time!
Carol, I am glad you have had such good luck with our USPS. My shipping results tell a far different story.