UPS has “sorting centers” that literally shove packages off conveyor belts down to lower conveyor belts that can be 6 feet below. A typical package can be subjected to as many as 8 such drops, each including at least a 90-degree, if not 180-degree rotation with each drop. The amount of damage done by UPS is aggravated by an adversarial approach to damage claims.
In my experience, this all comes down to the little stenciled seals on the bottom of each box, and you want those “burst strength” and “edge strength” ratings listed, so that you can refute the stock excuse that the shipment was “improperly packaged”, which they have even tried for a wooden crate screwed to a pallet, and equipped with an internal “tip-and-tell” and an internal shock sensor. Yeah. That one was fun, but we had no choice but to use UPS as we had to get the gear to a very rural site.
I am reminded of something that OSFE member Vespa used to advise about how to pack orders: Assume it will be repeatedly thrown around just like a Frisbee.
Protect those corners, folks.
I feel for those of you shipping breakables. But even books and media can get dinged with rough handling.
Really? I always thought that UPS did a better job than USPS. It’s gotten better recently, but in the past almost every single USPS package looked beat to crap.
ANY of the carriers can destroy a package, and do. I’ve shipped exclusively with USPS for more than two decades with few problems. But I also package things very securely.
It will be interesting to see if this switch to UPS slows down the mail.
Not surprised, I served on the local Airport Authority for 18 years. We did more freight than passengers. With the reduction in passenger air travel, the extra space in the belly is reduced.
I have noticed, especially when Amazon ran that UPS shipping push program, we had much more damage.
This I think is the next step of what I call “Ground Disadvantage” I knew it would not take them long to degrade the service level of First Class. By the way, one of our spouses to a team member is a “city” postal worker. They call it “Ground Disadvantage” internally.
We call him “Sky Devil” but you have to watch a recent Prime movie about dogs, to know what I am talking about.
Some of my larger USPS packages have been taking forever via USPS Ground Advantage, so I sent one last week via UPS. With fragile, do not bend, etc. stickers all over it.
You guessed it: Beat to heck and bent in half. So I had to re-send. Won’t do that again.
I find that Fedex tends to be the ones who like to play football with my boxes. UPS/USPS tend to do a better job, but it all depends on what sort facility you hit!
Ever visited an Amazon Fulfillment Center? All of the packages are well-travelled on miles of conveyor belts, and pre-dropped several times before they are loaded into the shippers’ trucks.
I buy food from Amazon frequently. One recent shipment was a 2 quart bottle of cherry juice and a 1 kilo box of Italian risotto.
The cherry juice arrived as a totally smashed glass bottle in thin bubble wrap, with all of the cherry juice long gone, except that which was absorbed by the risotto.
At my request, Amazon replaced both items. It took some convincing that I wanted replacements rather than a refund, both of which arrived in fine condition, packed the same way, just not broken.
