Geeze you bring back memories like nobody else I know. LOL I've not seen an honest-to-god parking meter in I don't know how many years. I've only been to a few tourist traps here in Missouri and none of the streets in those towns had meters, and that includes Hannibal. Then again, I don't have the greatest of all memories.
There is a story behind the USPS and their cost cutting that seems to originate from the depths of certain political philosophy. In an attempt to not proselytize too much I will only say some folks believe the US government should not be in the postal services business. They would prefer the entire operation to go to private enterprise, much like the prison systems they were converting. In an attempt to convince the public this migration was a good thing, somehow, as you say for unexplained reasons, the USPS began to claim they were losing money.
I didn't learn any hard lessons through personal experience, but ever since I was a kid with a piggy bank I never saw the benefit of allowing other people access to my financial assets. This was a particularly strong feeling when it came to total strangers having such access. Aside from that primal instinct I also want to have the option to withhold payment for whatever reasons I might have. In all my 77 years I made only one exception to the rule and that was when we signed up for T-Mobile phone service down here in O'Fallon. The reason I did it was that it made about a $25 difference in our cost of service. The price I'm paying for two mobile phone connections has yet to be matched by any of the ads I've seen locally. I may regret it some day, but so far I'm happy paying less because of allowing them to make automatic withdrawals.
Windows 93
Re: Windows 93
They have tons of electronic parking meters here, down in the city shopping districts.
Kirkwood was loaded with them also at the time I moved down south.
Come to think of it, so was Crestwood, Webster Groves, and Rock HIll.
I know on the electronic ones, they no longer have to count the money in them, since it is all recorded.
I've only seen the guy who empties them one time, and he had a little four wheeled cart he pulled behind him on the sidewalk.
I KUB van was at the end of the block, and he put one cart in and I assume pulled an empty one out, then the van drove probably down to the next block. But it did look like he got out and went to the other side of the street with a cart himself.
Well, the USPS is supposed to be non-profit. What extra money each branch gets is supposed to support RFD.
I had an uncle who worked for them for many years, worked his way up to handling an entire district.
He was paid very handsomely too, even when he first started as a counter clerk.
He was constantly studying to get promotions, which was probably good that he did that, considering the cushy job he ended up with in his last ten years with them.
Being the boss over an entire district, also made him the boss of the vehicle maintenance garage, and other things.
But up at his level, there wasn't all that much for him to do really. Said the higher you move up, the more boring the job becomes. But at the same time, the responsibility for everything lands on your shoulders too.
As with any company, the bigger it gets, the more bloat there is, and the benefits packages is where the real drain to the USPS comes from. But technically, it is not supported by the government, only controlled by the government. They feed money to the government in order to remain non-profit.
Due to e-mail and other services, their daily take may have gone down, but so did the amount of service they had to provide.
But when you get right down to it, running a fixed route that never really changes, month in and month out, is the cheapest form of logistics possible. Drivers were running their routes faster, so their routes were extended to include more possible stops. Doing so cut out a driver and a truck, which was a savings move.
USPS is basically house to house every day.
UPS is more like one house on each block now.
FedEx is more like one house on every 5 blocks.
Drug delivery, florists, pizza shopts, etc. are maybe one stop every 5 to 15 miles.
But the latter do not need terminals to get things across country, like the first three mentioned.
The only few times I had to have an opening to my checking account was from a couple of loans I had. They were required to be set up that way to get the loans. I didn't like it, but needed to make the loans. In the end it worked out OK though.
Kirkwood was loaded with them also at the time I moved down south.
Come to think of it, so was Crestwood, Webster Groves, and Rock HIll.
I know on the electronic ones, they no longer have to count the money in them, since it is all recorded.
I've only seen the guy who empties them one time, and he had a little four wheeled cart he pulled behind him on the sidewalk.
I KUB van was at the end of the block, and he put one cart in and I assume pulled an empty one out, then the van drove probably down to the next block. But it did look like he got out and went to the other side of the street with a cart himself.
Well, the USPS is supposed to be non-profit. What extra money each branch gets is supposed to support RFD.
I had an uncle who worked for them for many years, worked his way up to handling an entire district.
He was paid very handsomely too, even when he first started as a counter clerk.
He was constantly studying to get promotions, which was probably good that he did that, considering the cushy job he ended up with in his last ten years with them.
Being the boss over an entire district, also made him the boss of the vehicle maintenance garage, and other things.
But up at his level, there wasn't all that much for him to do really. Said the higher you move up, the more boring the job becomes. But at the same time, the responsibility for everything lands on your shoulders too.
As with any company, the bigger it gets, the more bloat there is, and the benefits packages is where the real drain to the USPS comes from. But technically, it is not supported by the government, only controlled by the government. They feed money to the government in order to remain non-profit.
Due to e-mail and other services, their daily take may have gone down, but so did the amount of service they had to provide.
But when you get right down to it, running a fixed route that never really changes, month in and month out, is the cheapest form of logistics possible. Drivers were running their routes faster, so their routes were extended to include more possible stops. Doing so cut out a driver and a truck, which was a savings move.
USPS is basically house to house every day.
UPS is more like one house on each block now.
FedEx is more like one house on every 5 blocks.
Drug delivery, florists, pizza shopts, etc. are maybe one stop every 5 to 15 miles.
But the latter do not need terminals to get things across country, like the first three mentioned.
The only few times I had to have an opening to my checking account was from a couple of loans I had. They were required to be set up that way to get the loans. I didn't like it, but needed to make the loans. In the end it worked out OK though.
Re: Windows 93
I told you about our visit to Kirkwood last year. We visited maybe three linear blocks of the business section which was not very much compared to the whole of it. Also, the part we visited was an Old Town tourist attraction, or so it seems. There were no parking meters in that part of town, but there was a city parking lot. We were fortunate enough to be able to park on the main drag so that I don't know if there is a fee or not to park in the city garage. St Charles was set up the same way, but there we did indeed park in the city lot. No fee for that. Hannabal was a drive-by experience. We were on our way home from Iowa and thought an ice cream sundae would be a nice side trip. Becky has a shop in Hannabal, or so the name said, and we parked just about in front of the place. It too was one of those Old Towne setups for tourists. We were there out of season so that parking was not a problem. I would be surprised if there were no meters in the city of St Louis. Maybe someday when I feel really adventurous I will find out. LOL
I don't know what the current thinking regarding the postal service happens to be, but the guy running the place, Louis DeJoy, was charged with dismantling it so that it can be taken over by a private enterprise. The reason given for this migration had to do with costs to the government. Well, that was the stated reason and I have no idea what the real reasons are. You know more about it's operation than I ever will.
I don't know what the current thinking regarding the postal service happens to be, but the guy running the place, Louis DeJoy, was charged with dismantling it so that it can be taken over by a private enterprise. The reason given for this migration had to do with costs to the government. Well, that was the stated reason and I have no idea what the real reasons are. You know more about it's operation than I ever will.
Re: Windows 93
Growing up in Des Peres, and going to Kirkwood Schools, there wasn't much we didn't know about around the area.
When I was young, my parents did all their banking and shopping in Kirkwood, except for groceries which we got from Schinzing's Market two doors down from our house. Then later on Schnucks of course. Rarely did we shop at Janson's IGA Foodliner, but did frequent some of the other butchers in town.
Parking meters bring in a lot more revenue than folks think they do. Especially in the areas they put them, hi hi.
Just think about the mail that you have sent and received over the years. Perhaps a little less than in the past due to e-mail and on-line ordering. But USPS still brings a lot of those packages also.
Now, think about how many houses are on your street, and assume they are only getting and sending 1/2 of the mail volume that you yourself used to get or send.
1/2 of your mail volume in and out, times the number of houses on your street, times 35 more streets.
That is roughly the amount of mail a single carrier collects and delivers each day.
Each mail carrier is shuffling around 1200 bucks in postage each day.
Or bringing about half of that as income to the post office, the rest was income to another post office he is delivering.
Moving mail between terminals costs about 6 to 8 cents per letter, and about 10 cents for the local post office, plus a nickle for the main post office or sorting hub for the area.
That leaves one heck of a lot of money for vehicle cost, fuel cost, and maintenance on the vehicles and buildings.
I don't know our mailmen down here very well, but the one we serviced my house in Creve Coeur, the same one who watered my plants in the mailbox structure for me from time to time. He worked for the post office for over 35 years, and the truck he used to deliver to our house was the same truck he had used for the last 20 years.
He finally retired right before we moved south.
When I was young, my parents did all their banking and shopping in Kirkwood, except for groceries which we got from Schinzing's Market two doors down from our house. Then later on Schnucks of course. Rarely did we shop at Janson's IGA Foodliner, but did frequent some of the other butchers in town.
Parking meters bring in a lot more revenue than folks think they do. Especially in the areas they put them, hi hi.
Just think about the mail that you have sent and received over the years. Perhaps a little less than in the past due to e-mail and on-line ordering. But USPS still brings a lot of those packages also.
Now, think about how many houses are on your street, and assume they are only getting and sending 1/2 of the mail volume that you yourself used to get or send.
1/2 of your mail volume in and out, times the number of houses on your street, times 35 more streets.
That is roughly the amount of mail a single carrier collects and delivers each day.
Each mail carrier is shuffling around 1200 bucks in postage each day.
Or bringing about half of that as income to the post office, the rest was income to another post office he is delivering.
Moving mail between terminals costs about 6 to 8 cents per letter, and about 10 cents for the local post office, plus a nickle for the main post office or sorting hub for the area.
That leaves one heck of a lot of money for vehicle cost, fuel cost, and maintenance on the vehicles and buildings.
I don't know our mailmen down here very well, but the one we serviced my house in Creve Coeur, the same one who watered my plants in the mailbox structure for me from time to time. He worked for the post office for over 35 years, and the truck he used to deliver to our house was the same truck he had used for the last 20 years.
He finally retired right before we moved south.
Re: Windows 93
The husband of one of my female cousins was a letter carrier. I think that's the title he gave himself. He had a walking route and carried a bag full of mail on his shoulder for I don't know how many years. It was in effect the only job he ever had. It so happened that he had to retire early due to ... a shoulder injury. Apparently all that letter carrying didn't do his skeleton any good.
That's the extent of my personal knowledge of what goes on in the postal service. As you point out, there is an enormous volume of mail delivered by that service and coordinating it all has to be a small miracle. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." So why anybody would want to change it all for so called economic reasons is well beyond my comprehension. But, as of October, 2021, the USPS officially warned its customers to expect up to a two day additional delay in what they have been accustomed to for service.
That's the extent of my personal knowledge of what goes on in the postal service. As you point out, there is an enormous volume of mail delivered by that service and coordinating it all has to be a small miracle. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." So why anybody would want to change it all for so called economic reasons is well beyond my comprehension. But, as of October, 2021, the USPS officially warned its customers to expect up to a two day additional delay in what they have been accustomed to for service.
Re: Windows 93
Our mail down here is often five days or more after the postmark on the letter, hi hi.
I know city mail is often handled by walking postmen. And in the county, each apartment complex they hit is often walking to the apartments if their doors face to outdoors. In some complexes, they put mailboxes up at the road which actually makes more sense.
I heard a mailman once say, he climbed over 1500 steps per day on his route, and walked over four miles besides.
Got to be in top shape to do that everyday for years on end.
But I thought it was always the younger ones who got the walking routes, and easier walking routes as their seniority grew, until they ended up with a driving route.
Plus they are outside in the heat and the freezing cold. Not a job I would care to do, hi hi.
I know city mail is often handled by walking postmen. And in the county, each apartment complex they hit is often walking to the apartments if their doors face to outdoors. In some complexes, they put mailboxes up at the road which actually makes more sense.
I heard a mailman once say, he climbed over 1500 steps per day on his route, and walked over four miles besides.
Got to be in top shape to do that everyday for years on end.
But I thought it was always the younger ones who got the walking routes, and easier walking routes as their seniority grew, until they ended up with a driving route.
Plus they are outside in the heat and the freezing cold. Not a job I would care to do, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
I believe the policy was to expect up to 5 days time to deliver a first class letter. In practice it often was delivered in 3 days, or sometimes less. By increasing the delivery time two days the end result could be a 10 day wait. There is no economic justification for that as you have elaborated on with your cost analysis. I suppose they could be shutting down facilities and hiring fewer people which would slow things down and reduce costs. I just don't see a reason for that to be necessary.
Walking 4 miles a day, by the way, is one mile short of what is recommended. LOL I used to wear a pedometer and read a bit about how to calibrate it. I believe the goal was 10,000 steps every day, which equated to a 5 mile walk in my case. It is a good idea, but I rarely got to half that milestone. When I worked for a living I did more walking and perhaps came closer to the goal. The number of steps can be reduced significantly if they are steps taking going up and down a staircase. That is an excellent cardio exercise. City mail carriers do get their fair share of exercise, but as my cousin's husband pointed out, it's not always a healthy walk.
Walking 4 miles a day, by the way, is one mile short of what is recommended. LOL I used to wear a pedometer and read a bit about how to calibrate it. I believe the goal was 10,000 steps every day, which equated to a 5 mile walk in my case. It is a good idea, but I rarely got to half that milestone. When I worked for a living I did more walking and perhaps came closer to the goal. The number of steps can be reduced significantly if they are steps taking going up and down a staircase. That is an excellent cardio exercise. City mail carriers do get their fair share of exercise, but as my cousin's husband pointed out, it's not always a healthy walk.
Re: Windows 93
I think you should go take a tour of an XXX01 Post Office sometime. It is a real eye opener.
Or if you can get to tour a mail hub it is actually an amazing thing to see.
Back in the 1980's there was a huge mail hub out in Hay's Kansas. Early days of computing, but that place was so automated it made your head swim. Albeit almost all the automation was mechanical, and still require people to read each letter as it paused in front of them, but how the mail was sorted was nothing short of amazing.
If you ever get mail with a slight concave burn mark on the bottom, it was from a machine like those I got to see.
Yes, but you are talking about straight walking, where the mailman has to go up the steps at each house, put the mail in the box, then walk back down the steps and on to the next house, etc. Try doing four miles with climbing steps every 50 feet or so, hi hi.
The bags present day walking mailmen carry are not big and bulky like the ones you see from the early 1900's.
They often have six or seven smaller bags, one for each route they walk, and use a car or truck to go from block to block.
This is one reason why walking routes go around a single block, instead of down a single street like the driving mailman.
In some areas of town, UPS has a second car following their delivery truck. Their only job is to catch Porch Pirates.
Seems Porch Pirates will follow about 5 or 10 minutes behind a UPS route, and UPS is doing something about nailing the thieves, hi hi. We don't seem to have that problem in our area, but if you get out in the ritzy areas, they are being plagued by the Porch Pirates big time. Something close to 20% of deliveries left on a doorstep are being taken by the Porch Pirates. And many of them have installed cameras now too, not only at the door, but down by the road to get license plate numbers too.
Or if you can get to tour a mail hub it is actually an amazing thing to see.
Back in the 1980's there was a huge mail hub out in Hay's Kansas. Early days of computing, but that place was so automated it made your head swim. Albeit almost all the automation was mechanical, and still require people to read each letter as it paused in front of them, but how the mail was sorted was nothing short of amazing.
If you ever get mail with a slight concave burn mark on the bottom, it was from a machine like those I got to see.
Yes, but you are talking about straight walking, where the mailman has to go up the steps at each house, put the mail in the box, then walk back down the steps and on to the next house, etc. Try doing four miles with climbing steps every 50 feet or so, hi hi.
The bags present day walking mailmen carry are not big and bulky like the ones you see from the early 1900's.
They often have six or seven smaller bags, one for each route they walk, and use a car or truck to go from block to block.
This is one reason why walking routes go around a single block, instead of down a single street like the driving mailman.
In some areas of town, UPS has a second car following their delivery truck. Their only job is to catch Porch Pirates.
Seems Porch Pirates will follow about 5 or 10 minutes behind a UPS route, and UPS is doing something about nailing the thieves, hi hi. We don't seem to have that problem in our area, but if you get out in the ritzy areas, they are being plagued by the Porch Pirates big time. Something close to 20% of deliveries left on a doorstep are being taken by the Porch Pirates. And many of them have installed cameras now too, not only at the door, but down by the road to get license plate numbers too.
Re: Windows 93
The first year we lived in O'Fallon I read an article about this city being cited as one of the most safe places to live in the United States. The article was about the award but didn't go into explaining the criteria for receiving the award. Since that first year I've subscribed to the neighborhood newsletter, which covers more than just O'Fallon by the way. The newsletter is much like this website in the sense that anybody can post anything, which usually involves lost cats or somebody looking for a handyman recommendation. From time to time I read some of the nitty gritty stuff that actually goes on in my neighborhood. There are suicides, robberies, police shootings, and, yes, porch pirates.
I've talked about some of the robberies of automobiles from people who left the keys in the ignition with the engine running. Some people are not ashamed at all to brag about how stupid they are. LOL Porch pirates, however, is a real problem that seems intrinsic to the system. Most folks around here are raising a family and out to work with the kids in school when the the FedEx and UPS trucks make their deliveries. Talk about low hanging fruit! Then there are cases where the delivery people drop off a package at the wrong house. That happened to us twice. Legally that merchandise is now mine but morally it's very easy to just walk to the neighbor''s house and drop off the box that was misplaced. I've seen a few pictures of porch pirates published in this newsletter; some people have Ring Cameras installed and can record quite a lot. It's never anybody that lives in the neighborhood so that identifying the theif isn't easy even when they are photographed. It makes sense for the delivery people to hire surveillance personal, but like the Ring Camera what can be done even if you know who the pirate is? I suppose if they have a direct connection to the police and the police respond immediately, they might be able to catch the crook with the goods in hand. Fat chance of that actually happening though. It's kind of like the security people at WalMart. They can spot you walking out with unpaid items but they have no legal right to detain you.
I have an idea how efficient the USPS is. They handle literally billions of pieces of mail each and every day and photograph each one of them. I get photo copies of the mail before I receive it. A system that can do that is super efficient by all means. So, I still have to ask why they are cutting back service when they are doing so well?
I've talked about some of the robberies of automobiles from people who left the keys in the ignition with the engine running. Some people are not ashamed at all to brag about how stupid they are. LOL Porch pirates, however, is a real problem that seems intrinsic to the system. Most folks around here are raising a family and out to work with the kids in school when the the FedEx and UPS trucks make their deliveries. Talk about low hanging fruit! Then there are cases where the delivery people drop off a package at the wrong house. That happened to us twice. Legally that merchandise is now mine but morally it's very easy to just walk to the neighbor''s house and drop off the box that was misplaced. I've seen a few pictures of porch pirates published in this newsletter; some people have Ring Cameras installed and can record quite a lot. It's never anybody that lives in the neighborhood so that identifying the theif isn't easy even when they are photographed. It makes sense for the delivery people to hire surveillance personal, but like the Ring Camera what can be done even if you know who the pirate is? I suppose if they have a direct connection to the police and the police respond immediately, they might be able to catch the crook with the goods in hand. Fat chance of that actually happening though. It's kind of like the security people at WalMart. They can spot you walking out with unpaid items but they have no legal right to detain you.
I have an idea how efficient the USPS is. They handle literally billions of pieces of mail each and every day and photograph each one of them. I get photo copies of the mail before I receive it. A system that can do that is super efficient by all means. So, I still have to ask why they are cutting back service when they are doing so well?
Re: Windows 93
Good to hear O'Fallon earned the award again!
Either Pond or Grover was supposed to win an award, but it was claimed their population had dropped below the eligibility requirement for that particular award.
Debi's aunt has a RING Camera with Sound her boys installed on her house for her.
Anytime someone gets half way across her front yard, Debi's phone rings and the video comes up.
We had two deliveries today, both from FedUp, and they left the packages outside on the sidewalk by the front door. Right under a BIG SIGN that Says "All Deliveries to Back Door Only, Please", plus the had to walk by two signs that said "Back Door Deliveries ONLY" and All Deliveries to Back Door Only Please." You know it is FedUP because their drivers don't know a lick of English, and none of them can read either!
UPS Always comes to the back door! Amazon always comes to the back door, USPS comes to the back door, but not FedUp!
Wow, I never heard of the USPS filming your mail. Much less sending you a photo copy of same. Here, we are lucky if the Pony Express rider even remembers to get everything we are supposed to get out his saddlebag.
One thing I know for certain, if someone is sending you a check, it takes 5 to 7 days to get here. Same as if you are paying a bill, takes 5 to 7 days to get it to the recipient. But if it is bills you are getting, the ink isn't even dry from the postmark before they shove it in your box, hi hi.
Speaking of which, I just missed getting my delivery stickers for UPS by 3 minutes for tonight's pick-up.
It looked like I made it in time until I hit the print labels button, then it said I had the pick-up date after the timetable. So I had to go back and fix that, they had jumped the pick-up date up to tomorrow, so I just left it at that, hi hi.
Knowing my driver, he might still stop by tonight anyhow since he knows I'm here till 8 pm for sure.
Either Pond or Grover was supposed to win an award, but it was claimed their population had dropped below the eligibility requirement for that particular award.
Debi's aunt has a RING Camera with Sound her boys installed on her house for her.
Anytime someone gets half way across her front yard, Debi's phone rings and the video comes up.
We had two deliveries today, both from FedUp, and they left the packages outside on the sidewalk by the front door. Right under a BIG SIGN that Says "All Deliveries to Back Door Only, Please", plus the had to walk by two signs that said "Back Door Deliveries ONLY" and All Deliveries to Back Door Only Please." You know it is FedUP because their drivers don't know a lick of English, and none of them can read either!
UPS Always comes to the back door! Amazon always comes to the back door, USPS comes to the back door, but not FedUp!
Wow, I never heard of the USPS filming your mail. Much less sending you a photo copy of same. Here, we are lucky if the Pony Express rider even remembers to get everything we are supposed to get out his saddlebag.
One thing I know for certain, if someone is sending you a check, it takes 5 to 7 days to get here. Same as if you are paying a bill, takes 5 to 7 days to get it to the recipient. But if it is bills you are getting, the ink isn't even dry from the postmark before they shove it in your box, hi hi.
Speaking of which, I just missed getting my delivery stickers for UPS by 3 minutes for tonight's pick-up.
It looked like I made it in time until I hit the print labels button, then it said I had the pick-up date after the timetable. So I had to go back and fix that, they had jumped the pick-up date up to tomorrow, so I just left it at that, hi hi.
Knowing my driver, he might still stop by tonight anyhow since he knows I'm here till 8 pm for sure.
Re: Windows 93
You might recall a few years back in 2001 when some Smarta$$ people were sending powdered anthrax spores through the postal system. It caused a lot of havoc and there were some understandable delays in mail delivery. I don't recall if they found the perpetrators but one of the safety systems installed in ALL post offices is a camera that photographs all the mail. To be honest I don't see how that helped solve the problem, but in fact it did. So the USPS ended up with a lot of pictures of the mail, just in case. Somebody thought it would be a grand idea to send the appropriate pictures to the intended recipients of the mail. This can only be done by request < https://informeddelivery.usps.com/box/p ... art.action > and not all people qualify. It depends on your local post office. The beauty of this system in my case is that I can tell if something does not reach my mail box but went through the system. They don't e-mail photos of packages but they do notify you that packages are coming and when to expect them.
I used to think you were specifically singled out by the FedEx organization for some sins you may have committed against them. But since you started telling me about your FedLUP woes, I've heard from a few other people with similar complaints about the company. Far be it from me to defend FedEx, but I do know there is a shortage of drivers. I recently talked to one of them who quit his job because he could no longer take working 100 hour weeks. I didn't think that was legal or even possible, but he insists that is what he had to do. They simply don't have enough drivers to carry the load, apparently. If that is truly the case I can understand why they are ignoring your signs. I suspect there also are SOP's for making deliveries and the drivers are obligated to follow them. It could be they are instructed to deliver to a point closest to the truck and within a certain distance of an entry door. There may be a place to find out what the FedEx delivery policy actually is. I'd ask this retired guy, but I've not seen him on the Internet lately. He probably got a job with Amazon. LOL
I used to think you were specifically singled out by the FedEx organization for some sins you may have committed against them. But since you started telling me about your FedLUP woes, I've heard from a few other people with similar complaints about the company. Far be it from me to defend FedEx, but I do know there is a shortage of drivers. I recently talked to one of them who quit his job because he could no longer take working 100 hour weeks. I didn't think that was legal or even possible, but he insists that is what he had to do. They simply don't have enough drivers to carry the load, apparently. If that is truly the case I can understand why they are ignoring your signs. I suspect there also are SOP's for making deliveries and the drivers are obligated to follow them. It could be they are instructed to deliver to a point closest to the truck and within a certain distance of an entry door. There may be a place to find out what the FedEx delivery policy actually is. I'd ask this retired guy, but I've not seen him on the Internet lately. He probably got a job with Amazon. LOL
Re: Windows 93
I don't see how photographing it would help either. It goes to the intended party, or supposed to.
I was always amazed at the amount of mail in the dead letter office that have current and valid addresses on them and with the proper amount of postage too.
Makes one wonder how it ended up there in the first place?
And why didn't they deliver it?
UPS has damaged thousand of dollars of stuff of mine. They claim it is insured, but have a whole department to come up with reasons why your package didn't qualify for insurance. Technically, it would be nearly impossible to create a shipment that meets all angles they have for denying insurance. After all, them sabotaging an order, or running a forklift through a box, should be covered regardless. No type of packaging will prevent those things.
But FedUp is the worst of them all, in nearly every phase of their operation. Even the USPS us better than FedUp!
FedUp is too involved in political things to run an efficient company!
I was always amazed at the amount of mail in the dead letter office that have current and valid addresses on them and with the proper amount of postage too.
Makes one wonder how it ended up there in the first place?
And why didn't they deliver it?
UPS has damaged thousand of dollars of stuff of mine. They claim it is insured, but have a whole department to come up with reasons why your package didn't qualify for insurance. Technically, it would be nearly impossible to create a shipment that meets all angles they have for denying insurance. After all, them sabotaging an order, or running a forklift through a box, should be covered regardless. No type of packaging will prevent those things.
But FedUp is the worst of them all, in nearly every phase of their operation. Even the USPS us better than FedUp!
FedUp is too involved in political things to run an efficient company!
Re: Windows 93
I order fruit juice online. There is a particular brand that I like and not everyone sells it. Dierbergs used to handle it, but they stopped for unknown reasons. Interestingly enough WalMart claims they sell it too, but you can't buy it in their stores. It must be purchased online through them, meaning that they really don't stock it. They get some other vendor to drop ship it. So, anyway, I order six one liter boxes of this stuff so that it has some weight to it. My first online order went well and it was from some company I never heard of. Subsequent orders did not go so well in that some of the boxes were crushed in transit. Once they were so badly crushed that the juice leaked out of the box. I can't say for certain, but I am pretty sure FedEx is the company who handled that shipment. I complained to the company when I got the first damaged shipment and they sent a second order to replace the first. No questions asked. The replacement arrived in a carton that was wet and leaking. I am certain that this shipment was handled by FedEx.
I came to the conclusion that the reason for the damage was because there was little or no packing material surrounding the juice boxes. This dawned on me when I ordered the same stuff from a company on E-Bay. Those guys wrapped the juice in bubble pack and taped it all together so that they would not jiggle. My order arrived unharmed ... via FedEx. I've been doing this now for a few years and noticed the same pattern. Some places don't put packing material around the juice and it's only a 50% chance it will arrive in one piece. Undamaged goods always arrive from those companies who do go through the trouble of protecting the goods. As it turns out FedEx is used most often for this juice, but UPS has the same problems. Thus I'm convinced it's the process used by the shipping companies that damage the goods. That is why they are demanding about how the goods are packed.
Since the pandemic has taken over the supply chain I no longer have a reliable source. The last shipment of juice arrived with a couple boxes damaged but no leaks. This time is was shipped by one of Amazon's outlets. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only guy in all of the great state of Missouri who drinks this juice. Why else would the local stores refuse to stock it? Maybe they can't get it delivered undamaged either.
I came to the conclusion that the reason for the damage was because there was little or no packing material surrounding the juice boxes. This dawned on me when I ordered the same stuff from a company on E-Bay. Those guys wrapped the juice in bubble pack and taped it all together so that they would not jiggle. My order arrived unharmed ... via FedEx. I've been doing this now for a few years and noticed the same pattern. Some places don't put packing material around the juice and it's only a 50% chance it will arrive in one piece. Undamaged goods always arrive from those companies who do go through the trouble of protecting the goods. As it turns out FedEx is used most often for this juice, but UPS has the same problems. Thus I'm convinced it's the process used by the shipping companies that damage the goods. That is why they are demanding about how the goods are packed.
Since the pandemic has taken over the supply chain I no longer have a reliable source. The last shipment of juice arrived with a couple boxes damaged but no leaks. This time is was shipped by one of Amazon's outlets. I'm pretty sure that I'm the only guy in all of the great state of Missouri who drinks this juice. Why else would the local stores refuse to stock it? Maybe they can't get it delivered undamaged either.
Re: Windows 93
I'll say this, I used to get an A+ for my packaging from UPS for over 15 years.
My packaging didn't change, but their rules did. I went from an A+ to an F- after their new rules came out.
I used to pack 12 vinyl bottles per carton, 4 cartons per case, until recently.
At first I was using egg-crate between the bottles, because that is what UPS said I was missing.
They still managed to damage 1/2 of a shipment, and didn't pay up on the insurance.
Because I did not have a 2 inch padding around each bottle.
Now I pack 12 vinyl bottles in a bag with absorbent paper top and bottom, the bag is sealed and then they placed in the carton.
I also reduced the number of cartons per case from 4 down to 2. Less weight makes the individual cases stronger for edge drop for three feet.
You could play a game of soccer with my cartons and never break one open, or get a leak.
But UPS won't insure them. Or say they don't meet their insurance requirements.
Can you imagine how large a box would be that met their packaging requirements?
And how much that would increase the shipping charge?
My 13x9x8 shipping box would now measure, like 34x27x16 to meet their shipping packaging rules.
It already costs over 350 bucks to ship 132 pounds or 6 boxes of my product.
UPS makes more per bottle than I do! That's sad!
My sister had to send a ceramic vase home from somewhere.
She didn't want it to get broken, so she wrapped it in blue tissue paper with soft foam rubber wrapped over that, so it would fit snugly in the center of a 8x8x8 shipping box. Then she put foam rubber around that box so it too was snug inside a 12x12x12 shipping box, which she wrapped tape around in every direction possible.
My mom just put the box that was delivered up on a shelf in my sisters bedroom.
The box that came measured like 18x16x12. Somehow the vase was not damaged, even though it was sitting right on the top of everything in the box, all of her packing was taken out of the boxes, and just dumped into a larger box, and then the vase, dropped right down on top of the packaging, and perhaps a piece of cardboard or paper over that.
It was obviously opened and repackaged by a customs agent who hoped to find drugs or something and was pissed when he found nothing illegal in the box, hi hi.
She's actually very lucky the agent didn't bust it on purpose, they are known to destroy as much stuff as possible.
We used to get a lot of greens we used at the florist in flower arrangements that had to come through customs.
90% of the boxes of greens, customs shoved metal rods through the boxes, which destroyed about 40% of the greens in the box rendering them unusable.
One company used to send a small child's gift, placing like 1 in every 10th box of greens.
Sometimes this little kids toy was damaged where they shoved a metal rod through it.
Other times, they stopped to open the box to see why the rod didn't go through the box.
One box had a large sized wooden YoYo inside. Customs had the audacity to cut the YoYo in half.
Crazy people they are, and evil too!
My packaging didn't change, but their rules did. I went from an A+ to an F- after their new rules came out.
I used to pack 12 vinyl bottles per carton, 4 cartons per case, until recently.
At first I was using egg-crate between the bottles, because that is what UPS said I was missing.
They still managed to damage 1/2 of a shipment, and didn't pay up on the insurance.
Because I did not have a 2 inch padding around each bottle.
Now I pack 12 vinyl bottles in a bag with absorbent paper top and bottom, the bag is sealed and then they placed in the carton.
I also reduced the number of cartons per case from 4 down to 2. Less weight makes the individual cases stronger for edge drop for three feet.
You could play a game of soccer with my cartons and never break one open, or get a leak.
But UPS won't insure them. Or say they don't meet their insurance requirements.
Can you imagine how large a box would be that met their packaging requirements?
And how much that would increase the shipping charge?
My 13x9x8 shipping box would now measure, like 34x27x16 to meet their shipping packaging rules.
It already costs over 350 bucks to ship 132 pounds or 6 boxes of my product.
UPS makes more per bottle than I do! That's sad!
My sister had to send a ceramic vase home from somewhere.
She didn't want it to get broken, so she wrapped it in blue tissue paper with soft foam rubber wrapped over that, so it would fit snugly in the center of a 8x8x8 shipping box. Then she put foam rubber around that box so it too was snug inside a 12x12x12 shipping box, which she wrapped tape around in every direction possible.
My mom just put the box that was delivered up on a shelf in my sisters bedroom.
The box that came measured like 18x16x12. Somehow the vase was not damaged, even though it was sitting right on the top of everything in the box, all of her packing was taken out of the boxes, and just dumped into a larger box, and then the vase, dropped right down on top of the packaging, and perhaps a piece of cardboard or paper over that.
It was obviously opened and repackaged by a customs agent who hoped to find drugs or something and was pissed when he found nothing illegal in the box, hi hi.
She's actually very lucky the agent didn't bust it on purpose, they are known to destroy as much stuff as possible.
We used to get a lot of greens we used at the florist in flower arrangements that had to come through customs.
90% of the boxes of greens, customs shoved metal rods through the boxes, which destroyed about 40% of the greens in the box rendering them unusable.
One company used to send a small child's gift, placing like 1 in every 10th box of greens.
Sometimes this little kids toy was damaged where they shoved a metal rod through it.
Other times, they stopped to open the box to see why the rod didn't go through the box.
One box had a large sized wooden YoYo inside. Customs had the audacity to cut the YoYo in half.
Crazy people they are, and evil too!
Re: Windows 93
You obviously have a need to know more about packaging requirements dictated by FedEx and UPS than I could ever know. Perhaps if I too ran a business, I would know more. I can think of only one reason why the required packaging for your product has become unreasonable. That would be due to the fact that the delivery companies made too many claims and the insurance people changed the rules in the contract. Insurance providers cannot exist if they must pay out more than they take in as premiums. They must adjust the rates when that happens so that they can stay in business. So, instead of changing the process for sorting and delivery, FedEx and UPS are making unreasonable demands from the people who use the service, i.e., you and me.
The customs people are caught between a rock and a hard place. It's their job to assure everything coming into the country is legal and legitimate. Given how many goods are sealed in boxes that cannot reveal the contents easily, the customs folks just do what they have to in order to execute their responsibilities. The sad fact of the matter is that some of their techniques must be destructive. I wholeheartedly agree that there is no justification for them to deliberately destroy the contents of a legal package.
I only have one story about an experience with customs that involved sending homemade cookies to a friend I had in England. I put them in a tin and layered them between parchment paper so that they would not jiggle during their voyage. Then I surround the tin with at least 6" of Styrofoam popcorn. Every seam of the box was double taped using mylar tape. The cookies arrived in perfect condition, but it took about a month for them to reach their destination. I don't recall my friend mentioning that customs left their marks on the package, but it's hard to believe they would not.
Now that I think about it, I also sent some Reeses Pieces to a friend in Belgium. She claims they were not available there and would pay the extra costs to ship her a few bags. Well I did and the shipping costs exceeded the cost of the candy. She was ecstatically happy even though several of the pieces which were made of chocolate had melted in transit. She never requested a second shipment. LOL
The customs people are caught between a rock and a hard place. It's their job to assure everything coming into the country is legal and legitimate. Given how many goods are sealed in boxes that cannot reveal the contents easily, the customs folks just do what they have to in order to execute their responsibilities. The sad fact of the matter is that some of their techniques must be destructive. I wholeheartedly agree that there is no justification for them to deliberately destroy the contents of a legal package.
I only have one story about an experience with customs that involved sending homemade cookies to a friend I had in England. I put them in a tin and layered them between parchment paper so that they would not jiggle during their voyage. Then I surround the tin with at least 6" of Styrofoam popcorn. Every seam of the box was double taped using mylar tape. The cookies arrived in perfect condition, but it took about a month for them to reach their destination. I don't recall my friend mentioning that customs left their marks on the package, but it's hard to believe they would not.
Now that I think about it, I also sent some Reeses Pieces to a friend in Belgium. She claims they were not available there and would pay the extra costs to ship her a few bags. Well I did and the shipping costs exceeded the cost of the candy. She was ecstatically happy even though several of the pieces which were made of chocolate had melted in transit. She never requested a second shipment. LOL
Re: Windows 93
You wouldn't believe how poorly some of the inbound packages I get are packaged.
Some don't even have enough tape to hold them shut. Tape has to touch tape or it comes loose easily.
One thing that always killed me, was I had to classify my product shipment as ORMD, a HazMat classification.
When the ingredients in it that I buy in bulk, come in with no warnings of any kind on the packages.
I'm only using about 10% of that product, plus another product than when mixed comes out neutral.
But they still made me classify mine as ORMD.
Glad I no longer deal with those types of products, hi hi.
I sent a watermelon to my cousin when he was station in Alaska, it made it just fine, but cost an arm and a leg to ship.
My sister was an airline stewardess for a few years and got stationed in Puerto Rico for a while.
Every time she was no a flight to Paris, she would pick up a bunch of things and take back to Puerto Rico with her.
From there she would send them home without problems, but couldn't send them from Paris. Crazy.
A fellow who used to work for the DEA, spent a day in the fields burning marijuana plants.
The coat he was wearing was one he had from Korea, and he wanted to send it home to be cleaned.
I guess the Dog Smellers got wind of it at the airport and the box with his coat was confiscated by the DEA there.
They couldn't find anything illegal in it, other than the smell, so sent it on its way home.
When he was back home himself, he heard about a coat that reeked, the dogs nailed from other DEA workers.
He piped up and said, that must have been my coat. He wasn't with the DEA much longer after that, hi hi.
Some don't even have enough tape to hold them shut. Tape has to touch tape or it comes loose easily.
One thing that always killed me, was I had to classify my product shipment as ORMD, a HazMat classification.
When the ingredients in it that I buy in bulk, come in with no warnings of any kind on the packages.
I'm only using about 10% of that product, plus another product than when mixed comes out neutral.
But they still made me classify mine as ORMD.
Glad I no longer deal with those types of products, hi hi.
I sent a watermelon to my cousin when he was station in Alaska, it made it just fine, but cost an arm and a leg to ship.
My sister was an airline stewardess for a few years and got stationed in Puerto Rico for a while.
Every time she was no a flight to Paris, she would pick up a bunch of things and take back to Puerto Rico with her.
From there she would send them home without problems, but couldn't send them from Paris. Crazy.
A fellow who used to work for the DEA, spent a day in the fields burning marijuana plants.
The coat he was wearing was one he had from Korea, and he wanted to send it home to be cleaned.
I guess the Dog Smellers got wind of it at the airport and the box with his coat was confiscated by the DEA there.
They couldn't find anything illegal in it, other than the smell, so sent it on its way home.
When he was back home himself, he heard about a coat that reeked, the dogs nailed from other DEA workers.
He piped up and said, that must have been my coat. He wasn't with the DEA much longer after that, hi hi.
Re: Windows 93
Puerto Rico is a free port as far as customs goes. They are part of the United States and have no special restrictions regarding imports or exports from the mainland. When I was there on business I took a side trip to the Virgin Islands - a 20 minute commuter flight. I went with a buddy and we both brought back into Puerto Rico the legal limit of tax free booze. It was all for his use. We got stopped by customs who did a very cursory inspection of our bags and didn't ask a lot of questions. But, the point is that Puerto Rico is not a foreign country as far as duties are concerned. Being a flight attendant must have some special ranking with the customs people. I can see how your sister might have escaped scrutiny simply due to her job. That would not be the case for anybody else, I'm sure.
The DEA folks and the border patrol all fall into a special category as far as I'm concerned. They are all dealing with bottom feeders and are required to have jaded egos in order to perform their tasks properly. It takes a special kind of personality to be successful in such jobs. In many ways it's an exclusive club, sort of like the Navy Seals. If for some reason, any reason, you don't fit in you become history.
Over the years I have received hundreds of packages from shops on the Internet. If UPS and FedEx have some standard rules about packaging, they don't seem to be well known. They certainly are not applied evenly across the board. As I mentioned with my fruit juice story some places don't believe in protective padding at all while others go to extremes. It's true that most items don't need any special attention, but I'd guess few if any of the sellers out there know the insurance required rules for packaging. They are just interested in shipping the most they can in the shortest amount of time at the lowest cost. I'd not bother with online sales if it wasn't for the fact that in many cases that is the only way to get what I am looking for.
The DEA folks and the border patrol all fall into a special category as far as I'm concerned. They are all dealing with bottom feeders and are required to have jaded egos in order to perform their tasks properly. It takes a special kind of personality to be successful in such jobs. In many ways it's an exclusive club, sort of like the Navy Seals. If for some reason, any reason, you don't fit in you become history.
Over the years I have received hundreds of packages from shops on the Internet. If UPS and FedEx have some standard rules about packaging, they don't seem to be well known. They certainly are not applied evenly across the board. As I mentioned with my fruit juice story some places don't believe in protective padding at all while others go to extremes. It's true that most items don't need any special attention, but I'd guess few if any of the sellers out there know the insurance required rules for packaging. They are just interested in shipping the most they can in the shortest amount of time at the lowest cost. I'd not bother with online sales if it wasn't for the fact that in many cases that is the only way to get what I am looking for.
Last edited by yogi on 01 Feb 2022, 22:28, edited 1 time in total.
Re: Windows 93
I hear ya Yogi! It is definitely not a job I would want to have. I don't think I could stoop as low as they do, hi hi.
Almost all airline stewardesses have their personal travel bag which never gets checked. Most of the time, they don't even go through an X-ray machine either.
I too get some things packaged so well, it takes a power tool to get them open.
And other things that were so flimsily packed, they fell out of the original box inside the flimsy shipping box.
I doubt if UPS ever covered anything they damaged, no matter how well it was packaged!
Almost all airline stewardesses have their personal travel bag which never gets checked. Most of the time, they don't even go through an X-ray machine either.
I too get some things packaged so well, it takes a power tool to get them open.
And other things that were so flimsily packed, they fell out of the original box inside the flimsy shipping box.
I doubt if UPS ever covered anything they damaged, no matter how well it was packaged!
Re: Windows 93
I use extra virgin olive oil to cook. I buy a particular brand that is available in most of the stores around here. The problem is they don't have the size I am interested in and when they do the price is exorbitant. So I've been buying 32 oz bottles of EVOO online for several years. It's not always cheaper to do it that way, but at least I get what I want. Today I tried to restock my supply and went directly to the manufacturer's website. I did that because they were offering me 20% discount on my first order. I have ordered from them before so I was confused, but then I may have had a different OS in a different VM when I ordered from them in the past. So, they thought I was a "new" customer. The price of EVOO was ridiculously high, but with that 20% coupon it brought things in to alignment with reality. They obviously inflated the "suggested" price so that they could give me what seemed to be a nice discount. Then when it came time to pick a shipping method, various flavors of FedEx were the only options. The cheapest ground service was about the price of a bottle of oil. All told I would be paying $30-$35 a bottle.
Well hell no. I left the shopping cart filled so that they know I was there and didn't take their offer. Against my better judgement I went on over to Amazon and found the next size down of this oil for a very reasonable price. The bottom line is I would get more oil for less money if I bought from Amazon. The downside is the smaller size bottle. But I was ticked off at the first guy so I ordered from Amazon and they will put it on my porch come Sunday morning. Amazon is unpredictable as far as their packaging goes, and I suppose that has to do with the various drop shippers they use. Not everyone goes by the same rules. So, I will find out Sunday how well they package olive oil at Amazon. It's one thing to have leaky orange juice, but quite something else if it's olive oil instead.
Well hell no. I left the shopping cart filled so that they know I was there and didn't take their offer. Against my better judgement I went on over to Amazon and found the next size down of this oil for a very reasonable price. The bottom line is I would get more oil for less money if I bought from Amazon. The downside is the smaller size bottle. But I was ticked off at the first guy so I ordered from Amazon and they will put it on my porch come Sunday morning. Amazon is unpredictable as far as their packaging goes, and I suppose that has to do with the various drop shippers they use. Not everyone goes by the same rules. So, I will find out Sunday how well they package olive oil at Amazon. It's one thing to have leaky orange juice, but quite something else if it's olive oil instead.
Re: Windows 93
I got something similar happen to me, only with the stalking company called Chewy.
I get a $20.00 off coupon with Free Shipping on my first order of $49.00 or more.
Now I had ordered from them a while back, but didn't remember if I ordered that much or not.
So, when I did go to place my order, it turned down my coupon code, so I called to ask why.
They looked me up and saw I had never used a coupon on my first order, so they were nice enough to give it to me.
It also helped that I chose their house brand of most things.
It all arrived OK, but it seems my pooches do not like their house branded stuff at all, hi hi.
What irks me about them is, I get anywhere from 1 to 3 e-mail ads from them each and every day.
I can't really block them else I wouldn't get the notifications I want to get, hi hi.
But at the rate they are going, I may block them anyhow.
They too are not consistent with the size boxes they use or how they package things.
I'll get a small item in a humongous box, then a larger item crammed into too small a box. Makes no sense, hi hi.
I get a $20.00 off coupon with Free Shipping on my first order of $49.00 or more.
Now I had ordered from them a while back, but didn't remember if I ordered that much or not.
So, when I did go to place my order, it turned down my coupon code, so I called to ask why.
They looked me up and saw I had never used a coupon on my first order, so they were nice enough to give it to me.
It also helped that I chose their house brand of most things.
It all arrived OK, but it seems my pooches do not like their house branded stuff at all, hi hi.
What irks me about them is, I get anywhere from 1 to 3 e-mail ads from them each and every day.
I can't really block them else I wouldn't get the notifications I want to get, hi hi.
But at the rate they are going, I may block them anyhow.
They too are not consistent with the size boxes they use or how they package things.
I'll get a small item in a humongous box, then a larger item crammed into too small a box. Makes no sense, hi hi.