I used to like UPS

No luck with PMag from Spruce on the south side?
 
I'm having increasing difficulty with USPS the last month or so. Several priority or first class mail items have run off into lala land. I have a small package mailed in Michigan son the 18th that's still nowhere near my local post office (hasn't hit the regional sort in Greensboro which is where most things pop out of the USPS ether at). I lost another one that took nearly two weeks to make it across the country.

Friday, I got an Informed Delivery notice that I had several things coming including an important legal document and my aircraft insurance renewal. Didn't show on Saturday, didn't expect it on Sunday or Monday, and it didn't show today. Waiting for the postmaster to call me back. The USPS website is a sorry piece of crap that's only exceeded in suckage by the MedExpress thingy.
 
My brother shipped me a box of KN95 masks that he was able to source in germany. He shipped with DHL and it was supposed to take 6 days. Well, DHL uses USPS to transport international shipments inside the US. Took 3 days to get to the USPS facility and 3 weeks to get from there to my door.
 
From what i understand, there are a few things in play.

1. Package shipments are up massively, massively, massively and operations and infrastructure can't ramp, even if they wanted to ramp it (more on bullet two)
2. there are some forecasts that we're heading into a great depression. I hope this is not true, but it is a possibility. In that case, the carriers don't want to hire more drivers and lease more trucks/warehouses when demand might not only go back to normal, but drop like an anchor
3. Individual drivers, as I understand it, are paid for their "route" note per package, so they're working 14-16 hour days for the same pay as their normal 8 hour day. I really think that we should have a lot of grace and friendliness (more than usual) for our drivers. Everyone I've seen is humping it, and realy appreciates a kind word of appreciation and a smile. I have friends that have a snack box out on the porch to drivers saying "Thank you drivers! Take what you like" that's loaded with chips/pop/candy and apparently is deeply appreciated.

That said, the folks Amazon uses around here are NOT professionals. Hilarious. they rent the vans from budget for $20/day or drive their own cars and zip around. they're not great at turning around. Yesterday I watched a guy make a 20 point turn in my driveway. Had he backed up 20', he could have made it a 3 pt, but I don't think he was that comfortable driving the van.
 
I’m the weirdo in the thread I guess.

Zero problems with any of them, they all have delivered fine for years even during the Covid silliness.

Amazon doesn’t send their own trucks out this far out of town very often other than the occasional lost looking truck around the holidays, so I never have to deal with that.

Regular UPS guy is awesome. We don’t see FedEx as much.

USPS doesn’t do home delivery out here so they manage via a rural route contractor to get stuff to the mail house and that’s about all we can expect from them. If it doesn’t fit into a package box or you leave it in one too long you get the pink slip and go pick it up in town 13-ish miles away.
 
MIFlyer said:
3. Individual drivers, as I understand it, are paid for their "route" note per package, so they're working 14-16 hour days for the same pay as their normal 8 hour day.
Click to expand...

The UPS drivers are represented by the Teamsters. Pretty sure they get paid exactly how much they are owed. If they work OT, they get paid OT.

That said, the folks Amazon uses around here are NOT professionals. Hilarious. they rent the vans from budget for $20/day or drive their own cars and zip around. they're not great at turning around. Yesterday I watched a guy make a 20 point turn in my driveway. Had he backed up 20', he could have made it a 3 pt, but I don't think he was that comfortable driving the van.
Click to expand...

Ever ordered any chinese crap furniture from wayfair ? Their deliveries are done by two hispanic guys with a Penske. No, not the commercial leasing one with the lessees DOT number stuck on the side. A household rental penske without liftgate. Oh, and they may not have loaded everything in the order of their eventual delivery tour, so they may have to hand unload the truck in your driveway and re-load it to get to your piece.
 
The UPS teamster drivers are not working for free. FedEx uses many contractors so who knows about them.
UPS likes their system because it gives them more control.
 
Does it really matter what the delivery driver and their vehicle look like? I agree that image is extremely important but quality of service is supreme.
Unfortunately, the Amazon drivers seem to be easy targets as they don’t seem to observe traffic laws (they park on a highway in lieu of pulling into a driveway) and at least a certain driver takes a photo of an empty porch as “proof of delivery”. I know when FedEx and UPS are stretched on trucks they will use Ryder trucks to supplement their fleet.
 
YooperMooney said:
I know when FedEx and UPS are stretched on trucks they will use Ryder trucks to supplement their fleet.
Click to expand...

And it is a royal PITA to deliver out of a non-shelved box truck. I worked for UPS as a seasonal delivery driver one Christmas season. They were (as expected) short on regular delivery vans/trucks so I had the pleasure of delivering out of the large International box truck. I would make a big haul to a couple of local retailers where I would empty and refill my truck in two stops. Then I would return to the center, empty my pickups and reload with consumer deliveries. Every turn and stop through neighborhoods, the boxes would slide all over the place in the back of the truck - it didn't matter how easy I took the turns or stop, cardboard just doesn't grip to worn down cargo floor.

I think out of the 6 weeks I delivered for them, the only time I actually made deliveries out of a 'real' delivery truck was when my big truck eventually gelled up because of the cold and I had to transfer my remaining deliveries over to a van that had already come back from its run.
 
Here in Norway we have UPS, DHL, and the postal service. Of these the regular postal service Is by far the best. I can’t figure out how DHL and UPS stay in business.

Both of them do what the OP mentioned, move dates on you. One way or the other. Both are a problem. We had a package coming that was to be delivered on Tuesday, which worked for us, but then moved it UP in a text (no actual contact) but to an earlier day that was inconvenient as we wouldn’t be home. But mostly they move dates the other way.

BUT the worst of it, they lie. So many times we would wait for a package, and we were HOME!! and could not have missed the doorbell or anything, and we track and it says “tried to deliver, no one home” and then...package goes to their center many miles away and we have to drive in and get it! It’s in the middle of some industrial area.

Similar thing happens with the postal service too, but they then deliver the package to a store near the customer which just means a few minutes drive. It’s actually more convenient sometimes than having to be home to get it, as the store is open later and I can pick it up on my way home.

They all now seem to be thinking what’s easiest for them trumps what’s easiest for the customer.
 
I had two packages today. One was sent UPS Ground. The other was sent UPS SurePost, which means UPS delivers it to the Post Office, and I pick it up there. (We have no carrier route USPS delivery here. Everyone has a PO box.)

UPS somehow noticed the two packages and re-classed the SurePost package to Ground, so the UPS driver could deliver it to my house. They probably saved a few pennies by not having to pay USPS for the last mile, so it wasn't an act of altruism on their part. What was impressive to me was that they picked up on it and made the change.

Rich
 
Our FedEx guy today was dropping off some stuff a friend ordered and we are storing in our garage for a month. Long story. Easier than moving it from Boston.

He said he had 97 stops today, they sent him out late in a standard van with no shelves and a total mess inside, and he’d be done around 8PM.

But the really sad part. He had forgotten his large water container. Now normally he would just ask someone if he could fill his couple of smaller bottles or someone might even just hand him some bottled water cold.

He said multiple people turned down filling anything for him, letting him fill, giving him a cold bottle of their own water, anything at all today. All so freaking scared of Covid out of their minds they won’t effing give water to a guy driving their crap to them in a 90F truck with double the normal workload.

He was shocked when I told him I’d show him to the kitchen and bring whatever you want to fill, man. Cold filtered water from the fridge.

Also offered if he wasn’t comfortable with that that the garden hose is right there and he’s more than welcome to use it anytime. Cold straight from the well.

People are total azz hats. Jeebus.

For effs sake. If I’m gonna catch the freaking Rona from the FedEx guy at least I’m not going to dump my humanity to avoid it. I can wipe the door handle and the fridge and wash my hands and after that, well enough is enough.

Such dip-****s. I don’t want to hate people but whoever didn’t give the guy WATER on a hot day when he forgot his container, truly deserves whatever freaking virus they catch from their damn trip to Home Depot. Go die. Seriously.

Getting mighty annoyed with morons.

And yeah, we don’t normally use bottled water around here but maybe I should pick some up just to hand to these guys and gals. It’s getting hot out now.

I always pop the garage door since I’m here and they often pause a minute and talk at a “safe” distance in the shade after putting the boxes in our spot we put them. I don’t think anybody is even talking to these folks anymore.

Because you know what I learned when you have crappy jobs? You remember the people who treated you like a human being and not your damn “bring me my crap so I can hide in my house all comfortable, delivery slave”.

A human being was THIRSTY and people turned him down. YGBFKM. Whoever they were, they suck. Seriously.

If I’m dead in a week, at least I went out a non-prick non-chicken-**** who wouldn’t give someone water.

Hell if he wasn’t comfortable coming in I would have given him a travel jug. Just leave it on the porch sometime when you’re back around, or keep it. What am I out? A $2 water bottle I got as swag as some trade show or similar?! Who gives a crap. Keep it.
 
denverpilot said:
Our FedEx guy today was dropping off some stuff a friend ordered and we are storing in our garage for a month. Long story. Easier than moving it from Boston.

He said he had 97 stops today, they sent him out late in a standard van with no shelves and a total mess inside, and he’d be done around 8PM.

But the really sad part. He had forgotten his large water container. Now normally he would just ask someone if he could fill his couple of smaller bottles or someone might even just hand him some bottled water cold.

He said multiple people turned down filling anything for him, letting him fill, giving him a cold bottle of their own water, anything at all today. All so freaking scared of Covid out of their minds they won’t effing give water to a guy driving their crap to them in a 90F truck with double the normal workload.

He was shocked when I told him I’d show him to the kitchen and bring whatever you want to fill, man. Cold filtered water from the fridge.

Also offered if he wasn’t comfortable with that that the garden hose is right there and he’s more than welcome to use it anytime. Cold straight from the well.

People are total azz hats. Jeebus.

For effs sake. If I’m gonna catch the freaking Rona from the FedEx guy at least I’m not going to dump my humanity to avoid it. I can wipe the door handle and the fridge and wash my hands and after that, well enough is enough.

Such dip-****s. I don’t want to hate people but whoever didn’t give the guy WATER on a hot day when he forgot his container, truly deserves whatever freaking virus they catch from their damn trip to Home Depot. Go die. Seriously.

Getting mighty annoyed with morons.

And yeah, we don’t normally use bottled water around here but maybe I should pick some up just to hand to these guys and gals. It’s getting hot out now.

I always pop the garage door since I’m here and they often pause a minute and talk at a “safe” distance in the shade after putting the boxes in our spot we put them. I don’t think anybody is even talking to these folks anymore.

Because you know what I learned when you have crappy jobs? You remember the people who treated you like a human being and not your damn “bring me my crap so I can hide in my house all comfortable, delivery slave”.

A human being was THIRSTY and people turned him down. YGBFKM. Whoever they were, they suck. Seriously.

If I’m dead in a week, at least I went out a non-prick non-chicken-**** who wouldn’t give someone water.

Hell if he wasn’t comfortable coming in I would have given him a travel jug. Just leave it on the porch sometime when you’re back around, or keep it. What am I out? A $2 water bottle I got as swag as some trade show or similar?! Who gives a crap. Keep it.
Click to expand...

I may start filling up an Igloo cooler with a spout with water every morning and leaving it on the porch. I usually don't hear the drivers when they arrive; and by the time I get the delivery notifications by email, they're long gone.

Rich
 
On Friday, I got notifications of two deliveries from UPS. No packages. Late Friday night, a woman in her personal vehicle delivered both packages. I've never seen that with UPS before.
 
I had a weird one yesterday. I'd ordered a pool filter part, and until it arrived, our pool was closed. Got an e-mail yesterday morning at 9:00 AM that the part was delivered (Amazon). Got home in the afternoon, no part. On follow-up, the detail in the delivery record said "Delivered to resident.". Um, I was at the airport and SWMBO was still in bed at that time on a Saturday (which she confirmed). Our son is in Texas.

So, who the heck did they give the part to, or did they just toss it out a window? Bizarre. I touched base with Amazon and they delivered the replacement about an hour ago. So, off to install it...
 
Another data point:
This past week I had 3 UPS deliveries, 2 USPS and 1 FedEx Ground. The USPS and FedEx ground deliveries were ahead of schedule. The 3 UPS were expected Friday and got delayed to Monday/Tuesday.
 
asicer said:
Another data point:
This past week I had 3 UPS deliveries, 2 USPS and 1 FedEx Ground. The USPS and FedEx ground deliveries were ahead of schedule. The 3 UPS were expected Friday and got delayed to Monday/Tuesday.
Click to expand...

A few months back USPS started grossly over estimating their delivery times. Much like the airlines, it improves their "on-time" delivery rates without actually improving their performance.
 
smv said:
A few months back USPS started grossly over estimating their delivery times. Much like the airlines, it improves their "on-time" delivery rates without actually improving their performance.
Click to expand...
USPS Priority is advertised as 2-3 days. They've been at 2 days for all my deliveries so far this year. I wouldn't exactly call that "grossly". And it's certainly much better than the 2-3 days slipping to 5-6 at UPS.
 
Acually, USPS has been flako of late (I blame COVID problems). I've had two priority boxes go into lala land for a week.

I've noticed FEDEX has not been putting the surepost into the USPS for the last mile of late as well. Don't know the reason.
 
I ordered a few things and got the confirmation of order and expected delivery date. 4 of the 5 packages came earlier than expected, delivered to my property by FedEx. The expected delivery day for the last package came and went. So I went online to find out where the shipment is.

Ok, turns out they shipped that one package UPS. If I would have known that I would have cancelled the order. But UPS got as far as Gallup. They delivered my package the the post office. Post Office.??? I don't live there. The post office returned it to the sender. The sender emailed me and told me the post office was unable to deliver. I returned the email saying I know the post office doesn't deliver, that is what they do here. That is why I gave a shipping address.

Sso I called and asked why the package was sent to the post office. I told the nice lady on the phone that USPS does not deliver mail outside of the city limits here. Why not send The one last package FedEx instead of UPS.??

''I am sorry sir, we changed to UPS.''

Ok, send the one last package USPS to my billing address.

''I am sorry, we don't ship USPS.''

The last package is half the size of a shoe box.

Ok, I'll return everything and you can pay for the return shipping.

''I am sorry sir....'' I know that, but what can we do to get that one package to my house.??

I think I'll call back tomorrow and say I can't find the packages that were delivered to my home address and see what happens.....:rolleyes:
 
With our doc friend shipping a warehouse worth of stuff to our house to set up her new practice when she gets here from Boston, I’ve learned this.

FedEx Tech is WAAAAAAAY behind.

UPS: Can tell me if anything is coming to my house address whether I ordered it or not. Full truck tracking via GPS in rural nowhere and alerts on arrival.

USPS: Can also tell me about anything headed here from anywhere just by signing up for it. Can’t track worth garbage though.

FedEx: Our app can find it maybe if you have a tracking number. No real time, nothing is accurate. Stuff shows up early or late at their convenience. *

FedEx Freight however will give an exact delivery time via them looking at their own GPS but only via phone and only to the shipper and not receiver.

Funniest thing so far. Doc accidentally put an old address in Utah into a huge furniture order, then realizes mistake and asks shipper to stop it. FedEx says it’s all at the warehouse and stopped. Shipper sends identical furniture here.

Saturday morning two weeks ago rolls around and I have an odd Facebook friend request from Utah. Thinking it’s just some random pilot like the hundreds who “friended” in the podcast days I accept. Immediately a flurry of messages... “Your furniture is on my lawn in Utah!”

ROFLMAO. I tell him about the Doc and get them in touch. Furniture and crap kept arriving on this guy’s suburban lawn for a week after the Doc had three FedEx managers and two from the shipper on a conference call and they couldn’t figure out how to get it all picked up for days. Hahahahaha.

It was quite entertaining.
 
denverpilot said:
UPS: Can tell me if anything is coming to my house address whether I ordered it or not. Full truck tracking via GPS in rural nowhere and alerts on arrival.
Click to expand...

UPS around here uses the "Follow My Delivery" service on selected (randomly by them, it would seem) basis. It does not, however, use GPS. It simply updates the map based upon the address of other completed deliveries on the truck.

One thing that I have learned by watching their progress: There is an absolute fortune to be made by somehow getting the job of routing their deliveries. I have seen the same truck enter, leave, and come back to the same general area multiple times in one day. They have got to be the most inefficient routers in the world.
 
smv said:
UPS around here uses the "Follow My Delivery" service on selected (randomly by them, it would seem) basis. It does not, however, use GPS. It simply updates the map based upon the address of other completed deliveries on the truck.

One thing that I have learned by watching their progress: There is an absolute fortune to be made by somehow getting the job of routing their deliveries. I have seen the same truck enter, leave, and come back to the same general area multiple times in one day. They have got to be the most inefficient routers in the world.
Click to expand...

There are various classes of deliveries that they have to deliver by certain time periods. The prescribed routing is THOROUGHLY engineered to hit those required delivery windows in the most efficient manner possible. It's dialed in down to the point of trying to only make right hand turns because they are more efficient. Typically they'll do priority class deliveries first, then do standard deliveries, then do pickups. Now whether the driver actually follows the prescribed routing.....
-signed former seasonal delivery driver
 
I just had a shipment of 9mm opened up by FedEx and stolen. They delivered an empty box. On the box it had a "FedEx relabel" so clearly someone at Fedex opened it up and stole the contents, sealed it back up and sent it on its merry way. I guess no on in the process thought it was odd that a box that said "17lbs" on it weighed a few ounces.

USPS has lost several of my packages.

I've never had an issue with UPS. They are my preferred shipper.
 
Been using UPS for 20+ years. Number of lost inbound shipments I don't even need my second hand to count them. The only issue with UPS (and every other package/LTL carrier) is the black hole of Chicago, if something is getting delayed, it's going to happen there. They must only hire the worst of the worst. Never ever had an issue with Maumee, but Hodgkins, good Lord. FedEx Ground around here is just lazy.
Their reps call,
"we would like your business, what can we do?"
"Well we would like a consistent drop off time (before noon) and a consistent pickup time between 3pm and 5pm."
"Oh, we can only pick up and drop off at the same time, and there will be no schedule."
"WTF. I can't run my business like that. "
6 months later, another call "what can we do to get your business?"...

Business deliveries seem to be prioritized over residential for UPS, so have it shipped to a business rather than a house.
 
FedEx today. Lovely. Just like that when I got home.

Alternatively UPS came later and I chatted with him about backing up to my trailer for anything big now that the Good Doctor has filled my garage space.

He is the same guy every day and said “no problem, I’ll honk in the driveway like I always do, you come open it!”

FedEx sends one cool Jamaican guy who’d do it and usually three others a week who do stuff like this.

(And yes I need to fix the deck stair. We don’t use that door really. The cinder block is there to tell anyone oblivious not to step where there’s no step. I figure some idiot will do it anyway sooner or later so best did the deck. It’s sinking on one corner so I need to lift it with the tractor and re-level it too. Ha.)


67fb125f121320326a1d579248f7d75e.jpg
 
USPS has the "I don't care about you" attitude.. when a package goes lost or missing they're hopeless at being able to help, track it down, whatever.. even if they're "self sufficient" they have that "DMV" feel to them and stuff, even before COVID, would just randomly take a day or two longer to arrive even though the tracking says it was received at your local post office

FedEx consistently has the best experience for me, as in, coming through on their originally estimated arrival time
UPS works well *most* of the time.. but I would say 1/4 times your package will take longer than expected
Amazon.. I agree, it's pretty terrible.. the estimated delivery dates and windows are basically bogus. Too bad, they used to be really good
 
When I first moved to Gallup, the Post Office had a theft problem. Those folks were caught and taken care of. I haven't had any USPS shipments stolen since. But no postal service outside the city limit.

UPS has never been reliable anywhere I have lived. Remember I prefer to live in rural locations. maybe they only prefer to deliver in the city limits.

I got an email a little while ago showing the last package has been shipped by FedEx. Maybe it will make it this time.
 
I can’t stand UPS...

I once had them deliver a package that was properly addressed to me to an address I lived at 10 years ago because “it was in our system under your name” they said...

And I live in town - we track every order we get from UPS as when it’s not here but says it is- my son jumps on his bike and rides to our same numerical address but W Grove... and without exception the package says clearly says E Grove...

say what ya want but USPS gets my shtuff to and from me for a good price and reliability has been exceptional....
 
I think it varies by region. In Birmingham, FedEx is notorious for the "no one was there" excuse. At a business. During normal operating hours. UPS has been quite reliable for us.

Some years ago our 100,000 watt FM got hammered by lightning. I ordered a replacement tube ($4000, as I recall) and FedEx failed to deliver. The new Book (ie, ratings period) was about to start and we really wanted to be at full power.

Now, at our home in a small community well north of Birmingham, the only one we have trouble with is Amazon.
 
interesting. I don't have any problem with UPS where we are, and we've lived in this house for 24 years. FedEx is reasonable, as well. I have had some minor problems with USPS, however.
 
All the shippers have problems from time to time. So far my latest shipment has gone CA to Atl.....and sat there for a week. I am in Illinois.

usps.PNG
 
I am amazed how little time, relatively, it has taken for society to take overnight (and other short timeframe) delivery of consumer goods for granted.

Few people seem to remember the days of "6 to 8 weeks for delivery" for anything mail-ordered, and sometimes much longer.

If people were to take a look inside the workings of any of the delivery operations, they'd see tens of thousands of consecutive miracles pulled off successfully nearly every night of the year to make overnight deliveries worldwide. These are huge organizations with many potential failure points...the fact that they are as successful with on-time delivery such a high percentage of the time is amazing.
 
Hacker said:
Few people seem to remember the days of "6 to 8 weeks for delivery" for anything mail-ordered, and sometimes much longer.
Click to expand...
I remember picking out something from the Edmund Scientific or Heathkit catalog, filling out the order form, and mailing it in with a check. Never had any idea when I'd receive it.
 
Hacker said:
I am amazed how little time, relatively, it has taken for society to take overnight (and other short timeframe) delivery of consumer goods for granted.

Few people seem to remember the days of "6 to 8 weeks for delivery" for anything mail-ordered, and sometimes much longer.

If people were to take a look inside the workings of any of the delivery operations, they'd see tens of thousands of consecutive miracles pulled off successfully nearly every night of the year to make overnight deliveries worldwide. These are huge organizations with many potential failure points...the fact that they are as successful with on-time delivery such a high percentage of the time is amazing.
Click to expand...

I do not take it for granted. I do, however, expect that when I pay for a service, I receive that service. If they cannot deliver on their promise, they have no right charging me for the service.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top