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USPS.. Don't USE!!

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USPS.. Don't USE!!

Old 01-26-18, 07:09 AM
  #51  
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Originally Posted by Steve Whitlatch
I am in Transportation. I don`t care what carrier you use, if you ship enough through them expect something to get lost stolen or damaged. It happens. They will all try hard to not pay you as well.
My experience as well however USPS is the only one I believe that actually stole something. Frame insured for $1,000, receipt with tracking and it vanished day one from the system. Took numerous letters and calls, refusing partial payments, etc. UPS and Fedex have at times, it appears, to have used my bike box for a loading ramp but sorted things out eventually.
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Old 01-26-18, 08:51 AM
  #52  
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Originally Posted by easyupbug
My experience as well however USPS is the only one I believe that actually stole something. Frame insured for $1,000, receipt with tracking and it vanished day one from the system. Took numerous letters and calls, refusing partial payments, etc. UPS and Fedex have at times, it appears, to have used my bike box for a loading ramp but sorted things out eventually.
FedEx stole my Cannondale. They say they didn't but it didn't 'fall off the truck' by itself.
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Old 01-26-18, 08:52 AM
  #53  
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Originally Posted by abellanti
I actually handed it to a person behind the counter and they placed it on the floor. He indicated since it was a prepaid shipping label I didn't need to do anything else. In hindsight......
Aren't tracking numbers on these prepaid labels? I've frequently used USPS for mailing goods, every label we print out in my wife's office, or from my laptop has a tracking number on it. Do you have some record of when you printed the label out? This could be your proof of mailing if you can come up with this. If there is no prepaid mailing proof, and you handed your use over without a scan or some type of receipt when the clerk Tok possession of the box, that bike probably wasn't scanned, and walked out with an employee. Get the postal inspector for that area involved, written complaint with copies of everything and names, dates and times for all correspondence with the P.I.'s office.

I agree with those that say its bad the you are missing a valuable bike, but this needs to be handled very openly and with the USPS postal inspector's office.

Best of luck on retrieving your bike.

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Old 01-26-18, 08:58 AM
  #54  
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Originally Posted by qcpmsame
Aren't tracking numbers on these prepaid labels?

Bill
Yes, it is. But if its not scanned at drop off there's no way to prove it was dropped off. Here's a copy/past of a recent ebay item I sold.

PROCESSED THROUGH USPS FACILITY
Jan-22-18, 18:30 PM, TAMPA 33605

ACCEPT OR PICKUP
Jan-22-18, 13:18 PM, TAMPA 33617

SHIPPING LBL CREATED USPS AWAITS ITEM
Jan-22-18, 08:44 AM, TAMPA 33617
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Old 01-26-18, 09:12 AM
  #55  
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I thought this was the case, but it is some good in having an actual tracking number and paid label. I get tracking on every thing I ship, as you show above Jim. I opt for the text notices every time, and have had to use the tracking and claim before. I think it was intentionally not scanned, and ti went out the back door at some point, covertly. Happened before, I refuse to just drop off anything, but that is water under the bridge for the OP, regretfully.

I did screw up last week, with a mailing to a C&V regular. My wife took an item I had packaged, (to print out the prepaid label from her business account,) in a kevlar envelope with in internal envelope sealing and surrounding the item (NR derailleur top pivot bolt.) She saw the low weight and removed it from the packing I had done, and placed it in a first class letter envelope, no tracking included, just postage for a letter. Sure enough, empty envelope arrived at the person's house early this week, empty. My bad for letting it get out of my own hands without the prepaid label, with tracking and a scan receipt. She meant perfectly well, I let someone else take what I should have done myself, my way.

Our rural route carrier always is great about scanning things immediately, coming and going, I get the text and email notification of movement as he is pulling away most times.

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Old 01-26-18, 10:29 AM
  #56  
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If a post office worker asked for your package and you handed it to them, you have a claim. There is no requirement you have a receipt.
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Old 01-26-18, 05:29 PM
  #57  
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At our local PO here, especially around the holidays, they open a separate counter out in the middle of the floor with several postal carts to toss incoming packages into. They put a person at that counter who simply accepts the packages and tosses them in the appropriate bin. No scan is performed.
The counter is often unmanned throughout the day and the bins left unattended.

There is no way, period, I'd ever use that counter. There is nothing stopping any one off the street from just picking up a package and walking out the door.

NEVER leave a package without it being scanned and being handed a receipt.
Doing so may mean waiting in the longest line but its the only guarantee of proof of shipping.

I use USPS for anything up to their max standard size for items shipped somewhat locally, (east coast), if it has to go cross country I rely on Fedex.

I NEVER use UPS. I watched a driver once who had 10 or so new bikes in boxes on his truck, they didn't fit on a shelf and were laying on the floor sideways. I watched him walk back and forth over top of those new bikes in the box as he hunted for a package. The bikes were headed to a local bike shop. I personally knew the shop owner, and knew he had issues with damaged bikes, how they were getting damaged was now obvious. When I told the driver he shouldn't walk on a bike box like that he sniped back at me saying if they didn't want them damaged they shouldn't have jammed up his truck like that with big boxes.
I've also had UPS drop packages all over the place during delivery, on the front porch, side porch, at the curb, beneath my roadside mailbox, next to my garage, next to my neighbors garage, and in the front bushes along the front of the house. I even watched one guy stop and literally kick a bike box out the door onto a neighbors driveway behind a his car and drive away rather than carry it up the drive to the house. It landed behind the back wheels, in the dark. I barely caught the guy in time before he backed out and ran over the package. It turned out it wasn't even his, the address was for a similarly named street 10 miles away. UPS refused to pick the package up after he called, he finally had to deliver it to the right owner himself assuming it was likely some kids Christmas present.

The biggest issue I've had lately with USPS has been packages showing up as scanned and delivered but not having yet arrived.
I had a box show as 'delivered' last week. Yet it was not here. Two days later it showed up as being in route from the local depot to my local PO, AFTER it showed being Delivered? It showed up three days later in my mailbox with no further scans.
I've had more than 5 packages in the past year show up as delivered after 3 days, yet not show up for almost a week. I'm not sure how that can happen unless the carrier is scanning them and tossing them back in the incoming mail bin in the truck?
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Old 03-13-18, 08:29 AM
  #58  
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I never had any problems with the USPS till this came to my doorstep last week......



Sent via 2 day "Priority" mail....
The mailman drove away quickly after dropping it off, not giving me a chance to even talk to him about the condition of the item. The damage looks to be intentional and I think, a criminal act of destruction of property by USPS workers. You can tell a knee/leg was pressed down on one side of the box to crush it down. How they even twisted the box to the way it looked is a bit amazing. looks like they ran it over with some sort if vehicle. to do that. This is how the USPS will sometimes treat "Priority" mail, I guess.
The item inside was damaged, despite the sender's great effort to pad it inside the box and using quite a strong box that always got to me in great condition, till this one. Fortunately the sender quickly turned around to immediately send me a replacement, to his expense and my time to send the damaged item back.
First time this ever happened and I was pretty much very satisfied with the USPS, but this might change what I think about the service. And I thought UPS was bad.....
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Old 03-13-18, 08:48 AM
  #59  
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Originally Posted by Vintage_Cyclist
File a police report for the apparent larceny; if the value was over $1,000, it's probably felony level (depends on the state law). It's also more than likely the post office has CCTV that captured your exchange. Also file a complaint with the post office Inspector General.
This. You have to kick the system into operation. They will investigate if you ask them to. Nicely. Give them all the info you can on the package, addressee, date and time left at the counter. Every post office I've been to, when it's not a rush, will stop and handle it the best they can. They don't overpromise, so don't get your hopes up, but I'd say if it's not been stolen, it will get there.

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Old 03-13-18, 08:50 AM
  #60  
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I had reported earlier about two checks, lost for weeks in the system.

Well, I can report a third one - it too finally showed up, but of course one day after I had the issuer cancel the original and reissue me a new one.
I am not sending major checks via USPS ever - tracked, no track, priority, no priority - again.

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Old 03-13-18, 09:02 AM
  #61  
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Originally Posted by Ex Pres
I had reported earlier about two checks, lost for weeks in the system.

Well, I can report a third one - it too finally showed up, but of course one day after I had the issuer cancel the original and reissue me a new one.
I am not sending major checks via USPS ever - tracked, no track, priority, no priority - again.
I think there is a sixth sense out there about checks and money in the mail. I mail letters to my son a lot, they all get through, including cards. The one time I send $200 cash in a card, it disappears. Local postmaster got involved, turns out mail for the college is left on a dock and then picked up by non-USPS employees. Postmaster convinced me to send another "dummy" one, and this time, they caught the guy (college student working part time) and got my money back.

As far as dropping at the counter and leaving. Yes, it does not get into the system, but it still may be on the way to the destination. I shipped packages to Houston, same way, a few years ago, Christmas presents. Similar experience, no tracking, seemed to be going to Houston by way of Memphis. Postmaster got involved again, and the postmaster in Houston personally delivered the packages and an apology to my relative.

I'm not going to knock the service, or the system. I wouldn't leave a $250 coat at a dry cleaners with no ticket, so I sure wouldn't leave a frame in the "care, custody, and control" of a post office full of people. Those in line may well know the system, and know that if it isn't scanned, it doesn't exist. However, postal workers remember big boxes, and all I've ever met were service-oriented. Let the postmaster in that office work on it, and if no one took it, I'll bet it shows up.

I mailed two packages of bike parts yesterday, to BF members. Dropped them off at 4:07 pm, watched Mr. Robert (dead ringer for Lester Freeman on Wired) scan them, had a nice conversation with Ms. Carter, who's been wearing the same hairdo for 4 years. Rec'd notices in my email before I got home. I then sent tracking #'s to the buyers.

Rec'd notice at 2:42 am this morning they'd hit the distribution center. Both are due to be delivered tomorrow, one in MA for $7.20 and one near DC for $9.90. This from NC. I'm thrilled this can happen in this day and age.

I mean, it's not like having a pocket full of $20's at a strip club, but it's pretty good.
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Old 03-13-18, 09:10 AM
  #62  
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Originally Posted by Chombi1


I've seen this before from all carriers. I generally ask for "hold for pickup" on items I've got reason to worry about, and then I open it right there. Same thing with UPS, I ask (and pay for) signature required, give them my number, and then open it with the driver present. He/She can scan the damage right into their system. It's worked the two times there was damage to my inbound, and worked as well when I shipped items. FedEx paid for repairs to a bike frame on Okinawa, and UPS paid to have wheels re-trued and tensioned in California.

The going "approach" is to box it up so it can be dropped from 10 feet up. The pressure/force damage in these photos is clearly an attempt to get a trailer/truck up to "cubed" (full). It happens. Left hand/Right hand issue.
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Old 03-13-18, 10:01 AM
  #63  
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
I think there is a sixth sense out there about checks and money in the mail. I mail letters to my son a lot, they all get through, including cards. The one time I send $200 cash in a card, it disappears. Local postmaster got involved, turns out mail for the college is left on a dock and then picked up by non-USPS employees......
Wish mine were that easy. They just got swallowed up for a while. I watched one tracked priority check go to a whole list of cities, and back and forth until it just "vanished" for a couple days, but then magically was delivered.
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Old 03-13-18, 11:42 AM
  #64  
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Originally Posted by RobbieTunes
I think there is a sixth sense out there about checks and money in the mail. I mail letters to my son a lot, they all get through, including cards. The one time I send $200 cash in a card, it disappears. Local postmaster got involved, turns out mail for the college is left on a dock and then picked up by non-USPS employees. Postmaster convinced me to send another "dummy" one, and this time, they caught the guy (college student working part time) and got my money back.

As far as dropping at the counter and leaving. Yes, it does not get into the system, but it still may be on the way to the destination. I shipped packages to Houston, same way, a few years ago, Christmas presents. Similar experience, no tracking, seemed to be going to Houston by way of Memphis. Postmaster got involved again, and the postmaster in Houston personally delivered the packages and an apology to my relative.

I'm not going to knock the service, or the system. I wouldn't leave a $250 coat at a dry cleaners with no ticket, so I sure wouldn't leave a frame in the "care, custody, and control" of a post office full of people. Those in line may well know the system, and know that if it isn't scanned, it doesn't exist. However, postal workers remember big boxes, and all I've ever met were service-oriented. Let the postmaster in that office work on it, and if no one took it, I'll bet it shows up.

I mailed two packages of bike parts yesterday, to BF members. Dropped them off at 4:07 pm, watched Mr. Robert (dead ringer for Lester Freeman on Wired) scan them, had a nice conversation with Ms. Carter, who's been wearing the same hairdo for 4 years. Rec'd notices in my email before I got home. I then sent tracking #'s to the buyers.

Rec'd notice at 2:42 am this morning they'd hit the distribution center. Both are due to be delivered tomorrow, one in MA for $7.20 and one near DC for $9.90. This from NC. I'm thrilled this can happen in this day and age.

I mean, it's not like having a pocket full of $20's at a strip club, but it's pretty good.
I also get tracking on everything I ship. It used to be that everyone in the post office was an employee. That changed a long while back, now many are temps or contractors. I still trust USPS way more than FedEx to deliver a package intact.
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Old 03-13-18, 11:52 AM
  #65  
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People like BikeFlights for the lower price, they got a deal with Fedex,,

& there is a fair amount of using FedEx aircraft to move USPS Parcels..

Don't just pack your stuff in an empty box, get the fork tip and rear dropouts braced against cushing.. and use bubble wrap, etc.
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Old 03-13-18, 12:42 PM
  #66  
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When you just drop it off and don't ask for a receipt without them scanning it right in front of you that could happen. I sell on ebay and have been shipping out multiple packages a week for years and that pretty much has never happened, and I usually just put my packages in the drop box, so you probably just got really unlucky this time. If its cheaper to send USPS I would still send it with them just make sure to get it scanned
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Old 03-13-18, 12:44 PM
  #67  
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
The mailman drove away quickly after dropping it off, not giving me a chance to even talk to him about the condition of the item. The damage looks to be intentional and I think, a criminal act of destruction of property by USPS workers. You can tell a knee/leg was pressed down on one side of the box to crush it down. How they even twisted the box to the way it looked is a bit amazing. looks like they ran it over with some sort if vehicle. to do that. This is how the USPS will sometimes treat "Priority" mail, I guess.
The item inside was damaged, despite the sender's great effort to pad it inside the box and using quite a strong box that always got to me in great condition, till this one. Fortunately the sender quickly turned around to immediately send me a replacement, to his expense and my time to send the damaged item back.
First time this ever happened and I was pretty much very satisfied with the USPS, but this might change what I think about the service. And I thought UPS was bad.....
I very much doubt that was intentional, it was probably thrown around under other boxes and got rained on, postal employees are in a warehouse with thousands of boxes and have to throw them around.
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Old 03-13-18, 01:23 PM
  #68  
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Originally Posted by Steve Whitlatch
I am in Transportation. I don`t care what carrier you use, if you ship enough through them expect something to get lost stolen or damaged. It happens. They will all try hard to not pay you as well.
I wouldn't say this is always true. I filed 3 claims this year through Fedex for items damaged in shipping. Electronic items. They were ebay sales. The buyers said they arrived damaged. Ebay charged me for return shipping to have them sent back on top of the refund I had to provide the buyer. However, I filed claims for each one through Fedex and got paid for the full amount each time...once without any photos whatsoever. Paid within a week. Two of the items were working just fine when they were returned (despite what the buyer claimed) and I resold them. The other I broke even. So considering the refunds I received for items that were actually working, I ended up making several hundred dollars profit on refunds alone.
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Old 03-13-18, 01:27 PM
  #69  
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
...... The damage looks to be intentional and I think, a criminal act of destruction of property by USPS workers........
When I was young we had a standard retort to insults: it takes one to know one.

Your reference to it being intentional has me wondering about your thought process. WHY would a postal worker do this intentionally? Does he have it in for you, the shipper, his boss, the postal service, or what?

I was in the business of shipping packages for almost 50 years, and at first glance, I'd say this was improperly packed, meaning that the box was not properly supported by the contents, or added packing material like styro, or cardboard.

If you think a moment you'd realize that the box itself has very limited strength against crushing. The box is there to keep the contents in and this one did that, but it also needs help and support from within to survive the stresses and strains imposed by mechanical package handling equipment, and getting bounced around in a truck with (possibly) heavier boxes on top.


BTW - I read the post twice and don't see where you mentioned whether the contents were OK or not. If you had a serious beef, that would be an important detail to mention.
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Old 03-13-18, 01:28 PM
  #70  
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Originally Posted by fietsbob
People like BikeFlights for the lower price, they got a deal with Fedex,,

& there is a fair amount of using FedEx aircraft to move USPS Parcels..

Don't just pack your stuff in an empty box, get the fork tip and rear dropouts braced against cushing.. and use bubble wrap, etc.
AND, BikeFlights is self-insured, I believe, so you deal with them. Probably part of the deal they get with Fedex.

I always drop off and pick up BikeFlights shipments at our local Fedex Kinkos. It's open 24 hours a day, I don't have to worry about not being home, and I save $5 on each end. If there are any issues with the box, I can bring it up right there and then at the office. Luckily I haven't had any issues so far.
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Old 03-13-18, 01:35 PM
  #71  
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Originally Posted by gugie
I always drop off and pick up BikeFlights shipments at our local Fedex Kinkos. It's open 24 hours a day, I don't have to worry about not being home, and I save $5 on each end.
Well, you can't save $5 on each end or you would have to drop off your package and then also pick up your same package at the other end. You mean you save $5 on either end...either picking up, or dropping off.
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Old 03-13-18, 01:52 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
When I was young we had a standard retort to insults: it takes one to know one.

Your reference to it being intentional has me wondering about your thought process. WHY would a postal worker do this intentionally? Does he have it in for you, the shipper, his boss, the postal service, or what?

I was in the business of shipping packages for almost 50 years, and at first glance, I'd say this was improperly packed, meaning that the box was not properly supported by the contents, or added packing material like styro, or cardboard.

If you think a moment you'd realize that the box itself has very limited strength against crushing. The box is there to keep the contents in and this one did that, but it also needs help and support from within to survive the stresses and strains imposed by mechanical package handling equipment, and getting bounced around in a truck with (possibly) heavier boxes on top.


BTW - I read the post twice and don't see where you mentioned whether the contents were OK or not. If you had a serious beef, that would be an important detail to mention.
Sorry if I hit a nerve there, but I have been receiving packages from this company for some years now and they use a very strong box that resisted damage very well and lots of foam and popcorn padding to absorb pressure and shock. NEVER (over 20 items sent to me) in like the over five years of receiving packages, packed the same way with the same box were they ever smashed up like this one.
What really irked me more was the way the drop off was done where the driver s0ed off before I could open the door to discuss the damages (I actually would have not accepted/opened the package).
I've received lots of packages through the years from all corners of the world and none of them ever approached thus amount if damage and abuse this one has. This package just came from NJ, for God's sakes!
If USPS would want to keep their business with their customers, they should use at least a minimum standard of care with our packages. What you see in the pictures is at minimum , gross negligence in the part of the system and the employers and I stand by my statement that It could well be criminal mischief from a few bad apples along the system. Why can't you even consider that that's a big probability, as it does happen in some businesses. Do you really think anyone would be even slightly glad to receive such a package?? I am reacting to what any normal, logical person would if treated badly by a business that I pay to delivery goods to me, expecting as I should that they arrive in a safe, intact condition.
They had posession of my property and was responsible for It's safe delivery while they had it.
Bottom line is, I do not pay the USPS to destroy my stuff!
And if their employees are willing to take a blind eye to abuse or negligence like this along the way within the system, then the do not deserve our budiness!
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Old 03-13-18, 02:19 PM
  #73  
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I was listening to an NPR interview with some folks studying packaging and shipping. Their study indicated packages are dropped on average 17 times before final delivery.

That didn't surprise me. I worked on a freight dock about 25 years ago. Boxes are rarely picked up and carefully placed down. They're tossed. Not with deliberately attempt at abuse. But tossed because it's quicker and when you get the knack it settles boxes snugly into trucks to maximize space.

Little or no consideration is given to how much load a box can handle. There's no time for that. We'd heft a box and quickly guesstimate whether it could withstand being near the bottom of a stack.

The goal was to stack and stairstep everything so it would either be self-supporting or, if something tumbled, it was tumble down a stair formation of other packages. If we had time and material we'd use dunnage -- scrap boxes and materials -- to reinforce the loading. Basically, just shoving bits of scrap cardboard between stacks and stairsteps to keep them more or less in place.

During the earliest era when trade with China was opened and cheap Chinese goods flooded in, mostly headed for dollar and discount stores, the Chinese manufacturers and shippers used the cheapest, flimsiest packaging. If you bought items made in China, you remember how flimsy the packaging was (and still is in some cases). Well, their shipping containers weren't much better. They often packed dozens of items into cartons that barely qualified as "cardboard". Usually the thinnest, flimsiest, cheapest possible corrugation methods, a couple of pieces of stiff brown paper with some corrugation between them. That's about all. Those cartons could barely support their own weight, let alone stacking.

During a winter holiday rush season our official instructions and policies for handling were ignored. Supervisors would roam the dock, cracking the whip, yelling FASTER, FASTER!!!

I was loading a truck with lots of Chinese glass and crystal ware. The cartons were flimsy. After awhile the supervisor was pressuring me more and more to finish loading. I finally began throwing the cartons as hard as I could from the tailgate toward the front to save a few steps. All over the dock you could hear glass shattering inside the cartons. The supervisor grinned as said "That's the way to do it!"

Often those cartons would collapse under their own weight when loaded onto pallets moved by forklifts. Even when wrapped in plastic to contain the mess, the boxes were crushed.

I never saw anyone deliberately destroy a package, but packages were often damaged in routine handling under heavy pressure from management.

I suspect managers and owners knew insurance would cover the losses, and most insurance claims would be denied or slow-walked until the claimants gave up.

So while the official policy was careful package handling, at times that was ignored in favor of rushing the jobs.

The damage in those photos looks very much like what happens when you need to cram in one more box that wasn't in the original bill of lading. Someone drops off a container just as you're about the close the gate. It's gotta go in and your careful stacking and stairstepping goes to hell. So you jam and cram and knee it into place.

So if you're shipping anything that can be damaged. double box it, or use a sturdy single box and plenty of crushable inner padding. The key is to leave plenty of crush space, like modern cars are designed to protect occupants.

BTW, it might not just be the USPS. Many shipments nowadays use hybrid shipping. The damage may have been caused by a contractor or other carrier somewhere in the stream. It's possible USPS was only the final delivery agent, not the one packing the truck or transferring between trucks.

Last edited by canklecat; 03-13-18 at 02:25 PM.
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Old 03-13-18, 02:27 PM
  #74  
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Originally Posted by barnfind
The biggest issue I've had lately with USPS has been packages showing up as scanned and delivered but not having yet arrived.
I had a box show as 'delivered' last week. Yet it was not here. Two days later it showed up as being in route from the local depot to my local PO, AFTER it showed being Delivered? It showed up three days later in my mailbox with no further scans.
I've had more than 5 packages in the past year show up as delivered after 3 days, yet not show up for almost a week. I'm not sure how that can happen unless the carrier is scanning them and tossing them back in the incoming mail bin in the truck?
I've had this happen a number of times recently as well.
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Old 03-13-18, 02:39 PM
  #75  
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Originally Posted by Chombi1
The damage looks to be intentional and I think, a criminal act of destruction of property by USPS workers. You can tell a knee/leg was pressed down on one side of the box to crush it down. How they even twisted the box to the way it looked is a bit amazing. looks like they ran it over with some sort if vehicle. to do that.
I'm not seeing the "intentional," nor am I seeing 'run over with a vehicle.'

It's a smooshed box.
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