[Boatanchors] A UPS TALE

[Bill & Liz]

A young fellow who came to work for me back in the late 80s worked nights at UPS loading trucks.  The loaders were all college-aged and, I guess, lacked any supervision on their shift.  Apparently they used to play football with some smaller parcels, drop-kick others into the back of the truck and push large parcels off the conveyors (which ran overhead) some 10 feet to the floor to see if they would bounce and break.

UPS treatment of packages is nothing new; the difference is that, long ago, the company always paid up for damage done in transit.  Not so today in most cases, I am told.

I once thought that the postal system would treat parcels better; not so!  I shipped an FT-990 to a ham in Nfld a few years ago and a driver put a fork lift arm right through the triple boxing with foam rubber/styrofoam sheet packing and about 4 inches into the radio.  Fortunately, Canada post paid up....but it took several months for the claim to be settled.  The company only paid up after I sent them a series of photos take during the packing of the transceiver and showing the extent to which I had taken pains to insure safe delivery of the radio.

Bill VE3NH