[Boatanchors] And The Caisons keep Rolling along

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 4/15/06, Dan Arney <hankarn at pacbell.net> wrote:
> What you people do not understand is that the SMALL PACKAGE CARRIERS,
> including USPS is that they have no SPECIAL HANDLING PROVISIONS IN THEIR
> "UNION CONTRACTS". In a USPS mail center anything that can be thrown in
> the sorting process is THROWN. Labels are a spot to aim at with your
> foot. IF IT CAN MOVE IT WILL GET DAMAGED 9 OUT OF 10 TIMES.

THIS is the real issue. And, while I'm not a union man myself, I have
to say that items packed well from the start have always arrived at my
place as they left, even delivered by UPS. Shoddy/lazy packing is
almost always the cause for damage (I've been lucky to avoid possessed
forklifts).

To illustrate Hank's remark, the last thing I sent via UPS was a
microwave oven. I overpacked it, like everything else I ship. The
first thing the counter person asked was how it was packed, the next
thing he said was "do you think it's packed well enough to survive a
drop from this high?" pointing in the area between his waist and
chest. I said "that depends on how hard it's thrown or dropped". It
arrived fine. I'm also lucky being in a smaller area in getting to
know the drivers. The fellow who has my route is a little guy, and
will either come to the door and ask for help or use a hand truck if
the box is heavy.

Shippers are paid to ship your package from point A to point B, not
babysit it all the way. The more packages they move, the more profit
they make. They're in BUSINESS, not charity work. We all know this by
now, or should.

The worst thing you can do is spend money on something, then try to
cut corners on the shipping expenses. One of the reasons I don't care
for packing and shipping stuff is because it requires a lot of time to
do it right, and time is in short supply here. So I'll either wait or
else not offer to ship an item before I'll do a half-assed job of
packing it to save time. When I do package something, I use a
combination of materials (non compressible and filler), then I shake
the box around to make things settle, add more packing materials,
shake it more, tape it up and drop it, and so on. If it can wiggle and
shift around in the box before you send it, that wiggle room will
increase in shipment and potentially cause damage during deceleration
or when it comes in contact with the side of the box.

If someone is shipping something to you who you don't know or haven't
dealt with before, you'd be smart to ask how it is being packaged.
I've actually sent boxes and necessary packing materials before
(including tape) along with written instructions. The guy shipping the
stuff was glad I did, and I was pleased with the outcome.

I have to agree with Ray on the USPS, the one thing I received from
them that should have been damaged (due to virtually NO packing
materials) wasn't. They've come a long way from the lost or destroyed
packages of a few years back. I use their Priority services a lot.

And Jim, I had the same exact thought last week about Delta when I
heard the report. Supposedly there's a tentative deal, now. We'll see.
Unions are known for encouraging mediocrity, but I've never understood
the mentality behind losing jobs over temporary pay cuts. Combine
unions with deep-pocket taxes that penalize success while other
countries subsidize, and you get to the real issues behind
'outsourcing'.

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ