As we learned during the contract dispute at cargo ports on the West Coast that finally ended this year, cargo ships are essential. They keep the things that we now think of as the basic comforts of modern life, from car parts to McDonald’s French fries, flowing around the globe. [More]
SHIPPING
Amazon Reportedly Adds “Ship To Cuba” Option In Preparation For Restored Diplomatic Ties
By 3.3.15
If it wasn’t enough that Americans traveling to Cuba might now be able to bring back Cuban rum and cigars from their travels, those in Cuba may soon be able to order goods from Amazon, or at least get things shipped to them. [More]
Shipments Diverted To East Coast During Contract Dispute Probably Won’t Come Back
By 3.2.15
Here’s the thing with container ships: you can move them. That’s the point, actually, so it’s not surprising that instead of waiting in long lines to have their cargo unloaded while the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union spent nine months in a contract dispute. Some ships were diverted to the East Coast, and it’s possible that those shipments may never come back to the West Coast. [More]
Massachusetts Man Selling Snow From His Front Yard Because Why Not?
By 2.24.15
Mother Nature has created plenty of headaches for snow-weary residents of Massachusetts, but one man is turning Gaia’s frozen bounty into an opportunity to make a few bucks off those warmer states. He’s selling the snow from his front yard for $89 for six pounds, shipping it to sunnier climes. Taking snow lemons and making snow lemonade, right? [More]
Target Reduces Free Shipping Requirement To $25, Now Cheaper Than Walmart & Amazon
By 2.23.15
Consumers no longer have to drop $50 to qualify for free shipping on Target.com. In an attempt to stay competitive with other online retailers, the big box store reduced the minimum requirements for free shipping to $25. [More]
New York Seeking $180M In Lawsuit Accusing UPS Of Shipping Untaxed Cigarettes
By 2.18.15
A new lawsuit filed by the state of New York and New York City is accusing United Parcel Service of shipping more than 136 million contrabands cigarettes across the state in the last five years. Those smokes are worth a lot of tax dollars — about $5 million for NYC and $30 million for the state — and as such, the lawsuit is seeking $180 million in damages and penalties. [More]
West Coast Ports Contract Dispute Means Automakers Must Ship Parts By Plane
By 2.6.15
The ongoing labor dispute between dockworkers and shipping companies at ports on the West Coast of the United States is affecting more than just the availability of French fries in Japan and Venezuela. McDonald’s has resorted to shipping fries by air, and some auto manufacturers are going to start sending those cargo planes back from Japan filled with car parts. [More]
UPS Hates Coming To Your House, To Begin Tacking On Surcharges For Residential Delivery
By 2.3.15
Last week, in advance of its quarterly earnings report, UPS admitted that it over-spent on holiday shipping in 2014 and that it wouldn’t make that mistake again. Today, with those quarterly earnings announced, the company announced how it’s going to make back some of its money — by tacking on surcharges for residential deliveries. [More]
Amazon Claims Customers Have Saved $2 Billion In Imaginary Shipping Fees
By 12.30.14
Amazon wants the world to know that they’ve been working their robot shipping army hard this holiday season to deliver our purchases. This week, Amazon announced that they have saved their customers $2 billion in shipping fees through their Prime two-day shipping program and free shipping for orders over $35. That’s a nice caclulation and all, but it’s still largely imaginary savings. [More]
Report: Shipping Carriers Got 98% Of Express Packages Under Christmas Trees On Time
By 12.29.14
Shipping carriers and retailers alike worked very hard to make sure that this Christmas wasn’t a repeat of the shipping-delay disaster that was Christmas 2013. While the lack of blizzards was helpful, their investments paid off: early reports show that most packages reached their destinations on time. [More]
UPS Will Conquer Its Biggest Shipping Day With Temps And Automation
By 12.22.14
While the second-to-last Monday before Christmas is usually the busiest shipping day of the year for the U.S. Postal Service and FedEx, for UPS the biggest day is today, the last Monday before the holiday. The company has invested a lot of money and technology in making sure that there isn’t a repeat of last year’s massive delay caused by bad weather and a flurry of last-minute shopping. [More]
UPS Drives Forklift Into Valuable Sculpture, Shrugs
By 12.19.14
Current ad campaigns for UPS brag about the carrier’s abilities at logistics: getting a thing from one place to another is their specialty. Unless you’re one family in Michigan who used UPS Freight to ship a valuable sculpture across the country, which the carrier drove a forklift into. The company wouldn’t pay out an insurance claim on the artwork because the customer failed to fill in the statue’s declared value on the bill of lading that went with the shipment. [More]
UPS Loses Wedding Rings, Pretends They Were Held By Customs For 6 Weeks
By 10.31.14
A few weeks ago, reader Melissa got married. Congratulations, Melissa! Only she and her now-husband had to celebrate their marriage without the nerdy custom wedding rings that they had ordered from a jeweler in Canada. At first, UPS told the couple that their package was being held at customs and would be on its way soon. Then they lost it. Or it had been lost all along. [More]
Amazon Building Warehouses Everywhere, Hopes Christmas Gifts Actually Arrive By Christmas
By 9.26.14
Holiday time is shopping time in America, and millions of families turn to Amazon to get their gifts. But last year, Santa’s sleigh had some trouble getting where it needed to be on time: last-minute buying, bad weather, and snafus at UPS and FedEx meant plenty of presents were still in transit when kids went looking under the tree in the morning. Some Christmas delivery miracles occurred, but Amazon still had to issue plenty of apologies, refunds, discounts, and Prime extensions. But Amazon is determined not to see a repeat in 2014, if their year of planning and building pans out. [More]
Amazon Opens New Massive Warehouses Just For Sorting Packages
By 7.21.14
Amazon has almost 100 warehouses all over the world for storing and packing their merchandise that hasn’t been sold yet, but in recent months, the company has opened some new facilities. They’re a different kind of warehouse, called sortation centers. Yes, “sortation” is a word. Truckloads of packages that are boxed up and ready to ship come in, and pallets full of packages already sorted by zip code come out. [More]
Here’s How Fulfillment Centers Make Shipping Stupid By Making It Smart
By 7.16.14
We received a letter from J., who designs order fulfillment systems for a living. We would call him a “Stupid Shipping Gang Kingpin,” but that’s not really fair: he says that he does his best to make the system less stupid. The problem, J. explains, is that “sometimes the smart way to do things and the common sense way to do things seem at odds with each other.” [More]
A Single Camera Charger Shipped On A Pallet Looks Ridiculous
By 7.11.14
When a single charger box arrived at a camera store strapped to a wooden pallet, it caused one employee to take a video of the unboxing, then post it to Reddit with the question: “How is DHL still in business?” Yet this international edition of the Stupid Shipping Gang isn’t DHL’s fault. It’s how such items have to be shipped across borders. [More]
Amazon Tosses Jumble Of Household Staples In Massive Box, Hopes For The Best
By 7.10.14
“Is that $120 in formula tossed in willy-billy with a bag of dog food?,” writes reader Cheryl. “Yes, yes it is.” Of course it is. We get that Amazon has a lot of boxes to ship on a daily basis, but she did sort of expect her giant order of household staples like kibble and granola bars to arrive not arrive loose in a large box, crushing some items. [More]
