USPS Strikes AGAIN!!

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AlaskaJeff

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SOMEHOW it didn't get damaged :realcrazy:
I heard the delivery driver gently set the package on my porch and run off before I could get to the door........
Box.jpg
 
Was the part damaged?
Not saying the usps couldn't be more gentle at times, but a lack of packing material also allows parts an attempted escape.

Jake ordered an output shaft for his truck. An empty box arrived with a 2 inch hole punched out of 1 corner. Only thing in the box was the plastic bag the shaft had been in.
 
I agree with @ragtopfury . For something like that to happen, it most likely was the fault of whoever packed it for shipping. You can't just put something in a box and send it on its way. I slide in extra layers of cardboard to make the walls of the box thicker and fortified, then wrap my item, sometimes putting it inside a smaller box, then cushion it.

You should be able to shake the box vigorously and not feel your item move within. This person obviously did not do that.
 
I have to watch when I do distributors. I actually got one the shaft was bent 30 degrees sticking out. Crazy how it bent a hardened metal 1/2" shaft!
 
The box doesn't look overly damaged, that is on the packer.
I've worked in multiple bulk mail centers, as well as fed ex and UPS. The fact that most of the packages get where they are going without being crushed to dust never ceases to amaze me. It is not a gentle process and anything of value needs to be packed with that in mind.
 
The box doesn't look overly damaged, that is on the packer.
I've worked in multiple bulk mail centers, as well as fed ex and UPS. The fact that most of the packages get where they are going without being crushed to dust never ceases to amaze me. It is not a gentle process and anything of value needs to be packed with that in mind.

I'll agree on the packing comment.

Having been the victim of how the package movement system operates, depending on how many times that box was moved from one container to another across multiple modes of transportation and distribution centers....it's tough.

Immobilizing the part inside the box is the only way to increase the likelihood of things like that occurring. I hate getting a relatively fragile part in a too-big box accompanied by a single piece of brown paper. Recipe for disaster.

EDIT TO ADD

I'm wondering how Priority Mail and the "need for speed" actually increases the pummeling of the package through the system?? Any thoughts @gzig5 ?
 
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Put the item in a box and then pack the rest of the box with sealed empty plastic water bottles, weigh nothing and are very durable. Let the air out of a few if the box wont close. And ALWAYS put the delivery address on the part itself inside the box in case it sides out. like maybe a little wired card or stuff it in the housing. USPS will find the part on the ground under a conveyor or at the bottom of a tote and not have a clue where its going. It will end up in Atlanta Lost parcel warehouse for pallet auction after 90 days or something like that.
 
I'm wondering how Priority Mail and the "need for speed" actually increases the pummeling of the package through the system?? Any thoughts @gzig5 ?

The packages all see the same transport apparatus through the buildings. It's moving as fast as they can, but in my experiences most of the damage comes from the diverters and collection areas. The diverter technology is getting better each year. I think the "Speed" in Priority mail mainly comes from logistic prioritization. Those boxes get on the truck first.

At this time it doesn't matter. they don't have enough trucks or drivers. I've sent two packages priority in the last month, both should have taken 2-3 days but took 12-14. You can't get blood from a turnip, but you still are paying for the higher level of service.
 
As a former employee, I can tell you that negative space in the box is the biggest enemy. I am not forgiving the post office for a bunch of its ineptitude but that box in the pic is poorly packed.
People forget that the sorting system is machinated. Its easy to blame the employees but the majority of damage like that is caused by poor packing when it goes through the sorting machines. Not trying to pass the buck but its true.
That box could have been at the bottom of a wire bin that had hundreds of pounds of other boxes on top of it. All done via machines. Just one dudes opinion.:mob:
 
The packages all see the same transport apparatus through the buildings. It's moving as fast as they can, but in my experiences most of the damage comes from the diverters and collection areas. The diverter technology is getting better each year. I think the "Speed" in Priority mail mainly comes from logistic prioritization. Those boxes get on the truck first.

At this time it doesn't matter. they don't have enough trucks or drivers. I've sent two packages priority in the last month, both should have taken 2-3 days but took 12-14. You can't get blood from a turnip, but you still are paying for the higher level of service.

As a former employee, I can tell you that negative space in the box is the biggest enemy. I am not forgiving the post office for a bunch of its ineptitude but that box in the pic is poorly packed.
People forget that the sorting system is machinated. Its easy to blame the employees but the majority of damage like that is caused by poor packing when it goes through the sorting machines. Not trying to pass the buck but its true.
That box could have been at the bottom of a wire bin that had hundreds of pounds of other boxes on top of it. All done via machines. Just one dudes opinion.:mob:

Appreciate the insights from those who have been part of the system.
 
I was a city carrier for the USPS for several years.
The OP made the statement the carrier ran off before he could get to the door. The question I have is, what if you would have caught him? Do you seriously think the carriers do this stuff?
Don't get mad at the carrier, they very likely got the package damaged.
I can't tell you the number of times I received a damaged parcel, I didn't damage it, but I had to deliver it.
I've been screamed at by people for it though. Those people usually ended up picking their mail up at the post office for a few weeks.
 
if you get handed a blown out package, can you just refuse it? Return to sender jacked up. Blown out box and all in a sealed bag. I sent a crank in a crankshaft box (received a Eagle forged it it) and FedEx dropped it on its end off a dock or something, broke the flange between two bolt holes. Buyer told me it was damaged in transit, sent pics. I told the guy to just put it back on the doorstep and I sent Fedex back to pick it up as damaged in transit. They sent it back to me no charge and cut me a check for breaking it. Took 3 months and a call to my high school friend who was a ramp manager (about as high as you can go in the field with Fedex) and I got the check 4 days later...sent Fedex priority! They are my go to shipper as they seem to have it perfected. I sent a shipment to North Carolina and realized I sent the wrong lot so I called Fedex in a panic and told them my mistake. "No problem, we will just reroute it to its proper destination..."! The next hop, it got a new shipping label affixed and it was on its way. That is how you do it Fedex! Now just dont drop it!
 
My biggest problem is everyone wants to send everything in a if it fits it ships. Just to damn expensive most of the time. I just don't buy a lot of stuff because of this.
 
To be clear, I am NOT blaming the carrier at all. I KNOW he, more than likely had nothing to do with the condition of the package by the time it got to my house. It just would have been good to talk to him about what he knew of how it came to be that way. The part in question was a cable for a B&M shifter. It was packed decently in the box, and the cable was zip tied up in a circle for shipment. Everything else in the box looked fine. Somehow that one end just decided it needed to poke it's head out.
 
I will TOTALLY agree with the folks who have already suggested that the problem was with the packing. A poorly packed item has little chance of being delivered without either damage to the box, item or both. In all the hundreds of things I have sold and shipped, I always over-packed everything.
 
What I love reading is how cylinder heads or heavy assed **** gets packed into flat rate boxes, then people ***** and complain that shipping prices are so high....OR that they get a pkg damaged lol. If I worked for USPS.....lmao
 
What I love reading is how cylinder heads or heavy assed **** gets packed into flat rate boxes, then people ***** and complain that shipping prices are so high....OR that they get a pkg damaged lol. If I worked for USPS.....lmao
I will NEVER complain about Flat Rate prices. Living in Alaska shipping is a HUGE deal when ordering anything. Fortunately USPS Flat Rate are the same $$ price to AK & HI as they are to any of the Lesser 48 states, so that is what I try to use 99% of the time when having stuff shipped here. I've lived here since 91 and have heard it all related to shipping to AK when dealing with companies and sellers.
 
As a retired USPS employee I can safely say that is not the fault of the USPS. If items are not correctly packaged damage is going to happen. Open air spot=crush zone. Levers like what is protruding....shipper needed to line the box with solid stylofoam, place item in the center and stuff the **** out of it with peanuts. The USPS handles very little, if any, mail by hand. Thus video is of the APPS machine. It process all parcels at some time during their trip. Often times on both ends. Lets just say that your package was the first to be kicked off into one of those cardboard bins. What do you think will happen to your package, with that lever only being protected by a single layer of cardboard, when a 69.9 pound package lands on it? I always tell people you want to make sure your item is packed safely. Throw it across the room. Play soccer with it. Drop it from 8' in the air. I have posted time and time again how to assure your packages/letters arrive safely...but then again nobody reads my post so...
Christmas is coming. Heavy Monday is only a few weeks away. Please keep in mind that I set this record back in 2006...and from what I have been told it still stands today. In a 6 hour period I ran over 250k first class letters thru an AFSC...the stamp cancelling machine. Closest operator was 75k letters behind me. Know what caused the one or two jams I had during that time? Envelope flaps not taped shut, in particular the ends. There are at least a dozen or so gates in the machine These gates are high speed letter openers. Letters are not even an inch apart as they go hauling *** by these gates. One letter with loose flaps often takes out 30-35 letters behind it. Do not mail a stack of pictures. The in/shing will not so politely tear open your envelope and then feed the pictures individually into the feeder. Some will come out the fine cull, some will get shredded in the machine and others will end up in the reject bin. Now if the envelope ends up on the floor your images go right into the trash. Hey...I only worked there for 20 or so year so what the hell do I know..
The USPS used to offer tours to the public. But ever since the Bio Hazard systems were put in after the anthrax attacks they stopped. For some reason many members of the public think their letters are getting worked by hand by a clerk sitting in a case....they are not. Nor is your parcel getting handled by a human. Many pieces of mail do not get touched by a single human until they make it to their destination delivery station. Hell, when the old feed system was torn out and replaced by "Barney"...around the same time the BDS units were installed...letters from 9-10 years prior were found it the feed system....#weldthedoorsshut
 
My biggest problem is everyone wants to send everything in a if it fits it ships. Just to damn expensive most of the time. I just don't buy a lot of stuff because of this.

This is the very reason I silently backed out of smoking/shipping cheese. A friend wanted to try it. 2 pounds of cheese cost me $9 at Costco and $19 to ship it...
 
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