[Utica, Michigan, July 20. Image via Nuxx.net]
Surprisingly, the infrared thermometer inside was not damaged.
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For some good reading go to unitedpackagesmashers.com
i seriously doubt there is any difference between UPS, FEDEX, and DHL on issues like this. but if you need to justify something…
We once received a box of cds for the office I work in that was so mangled, I was surprised it was still holding together. Even the tape was all bunched together and not even attached to the box in areas. It was really sad. However, I think that was delivered by UPS.
@Hawkins:
So because someone improperly packs something, that gives the shipper the ok to use it as a football?
Why does damage occur?
Let’s start with the basics.
Each major UPS, FedEX etc package handling facility may cover several football size buildings. The boxes travel via conveyors throughout the facility at fairly high rates of speed. (hey, if you must handle a few million packages per year, you would want the conveyor to crank along at a high rate as well). Some of these conveyors will raise and or lower the package from one level to another in order to tranfer the package to the appropriate department. According to an ex-FedEx employee in the Memphis FedEx air freight hub the largest change in elevation is 3′, with many, many much smaller changes.
Very small packages will be placed in plastic carriers. Most packages will travel the conveyor system on their own.
An UPS employee talked about 0.05% acceptable rate of errors. Seems reasonable. For 99+% of the packages handled, the conveyor system works quite well.
But loose tape, string packing or exposed box edges can and will get caught in the conveyor system.
I will NOT blame UPS, FedEx etc for these failures. Remember 99+% of the packages do travel the system very well.
Packages that travel the conveyor system will accummulate at the bottom of the conveyor system in a que waiting to be transfered to the next system (much like airline luggage). Packages sitting at the bottom of the que can and will be struck by other packages entering that segment of the conveyor system.
Now, up the road from me is a company that makes some sort of high grade steel bits and other stuff for oil drilling industry. Their packages are HEAVY. Little 6x6x6 cubes that weigh 30 pounds. Most of their packages weight 50 to 150 lbs. And they ship dozens, maybe even hundreds of thes packages every day. I am sure that there are more companies just like this one through out the country.
Trust me when I say that these packages will damage anything they contact.
So, with regards to the conveyor system, these little 30, 50, 100, 150 pound bullets are bouncing around just looking for something to contact.
Way too many people are blaming the package companies. How about blaming the proper party to this issue?
I ordered specialized shelving several years ago. Heavy, stiff metal poles wrapped only with string tape. I can imagine one of those poles going through just about any thing they meet.
Then there are the delivery trucks and short haul trucks. UPS, FedEx etc do not palletize their packages. Instead the trucks are hand loaded, and offloaded, and transfered and loaded and hand loaded again.
When I was in college, there was a UPS hub that was hiring my fellow college students to perform tasks at the hub. Tasks as in grunt work loading and offloading trucks by HAND. That was 30 years ago. The companies still perform the same tasks by hand.
When I look at the package industry I am surprised that any package makes it through the system. Most do.
Let’s just remember what our packages when through and pass the blame unto the responsible parties… the shippers.
I used to be a trucker. I can say with confidence that “Fragile, Handle with Care” is a running joke in 70% of warehouses…
@StevieD: The factory I help run is very much a conveyor-driven system just like a courier dispatch would be. Conveyors are wonderful in that everything moves at a constant speed. Packages would never collide at high speeds if the design of the system was proper. If they are going from a low-speed loader, to a high-speed conveyor, they must put a low-speed offloading belt, sometimes a double belt to slow down twice. When these places neglect to put the proper belt system to slow down the parcels, you get a real shitstorm of damage and collisions. It’s not the customer’s fault if FedEx doesn’t downstep speed with multiple belts, and there is no reason a customer should pack his 2′x1′x6″ box in anticipation of a collision with a 4′x4′x4′ box filled with metal traveling at 100kph.
I work part-time in a UPS sorting hub. It is definitely hard work but the education and health benefits are worth it. I work a four hour shift and during that shift I will handle 1,300 to 1,500 packages an hour(more if I am dealing with small and light packages, less if they are heavy). Those packages can range from a simple letter to a 70 lb. box (in our hub, anything from 71 lbs. to 150 lbs. are handled differently and anything over that is not shipped with the other packages. During my four hour shift, we usually process around 100,000 to 160,000 packages (more during the holidays). Another commentor explained the basic belt driven lay-out, which is pretty accurate. We see alot of shippers pack items extremely poorly, but we do the best we can with what we are given. do not blame us for something that is the shippers fault. If you do not want your package to contact other packages then it would take a month for you to get your package. If what you are shipping is even remotely fragile, protect the hell out of it. there is no such thing as overkill when it comes to protecting your package. Our semi’s come in loaded floor to ceiling with boxes stacked on top of each other so there’s no telling how many boxes were on top of it or how much weight was on it. Of coarse we are not going to put a 5 lbs. box on the bottom but if your 40lb. box isn’t packed right then when it’s placed on bottom it’s going to get crushed.
If you are caught stealing something, no matter how small or inexpensive, UPS will fire you and have you arrested on the spot and prosecute you as much as they can. UPS cannot afford to have people think we are going through their stuff and as such, vehemently protect their image. so do not worry about anyone stealing your stuff.
If a manager or supervisor sees you toss or mishandle a package you better believe you will be ripped a new one or even fired if it is serious enough. Now what people do in those little UPS and fedex stores, that’s up to them. I always thought they were just licensing our name and not subject to the same oversight we are, but I do not know. either way, it’s just another place the UPS driver comes to pick up packages.
Writing “Fragile” or “This way up” does nothing. The only thing we look for on a box is the address. That’s all we care about. Think about it, with all the packages i handle an hour, all I have time to read is the shipping label. I literally spend 2 seconds looking at your package before I place it on another belt and I am on to the next one. And on that note, please write clearly and in large bold letters. If I misread your handwriting and I send it to the wrong area of our hub then it gets sent back to my work area and all that means is more chances for a heavy box to collide with your package.
Get to know your UPS drivers, and they will bend over backwards for you. If you regularly recieve and ship packages, take the time to get to know your driver. I would go on to explain how much this will benefit you but i have written so much already. just trust me on this.
All that being said, as soon as I graduate i’m telling my boss to shove it. no love affair for me, I just like the truth.
@ StevieD
OH! Sorry, I didn’t know you were THAT guy!
Yeah, we’re doing it to you on purpose. It’s all part of a carefully crafted cunning plan to make you lose your mind! Is it working?