Look what USPS is doing to me!!! (VENTING)

ARGH!

So a few weeks ago I talked with a rocket buddy of mine who has come onto some hard times. He gave me a set of 38mm casings. I couldn't just take them so I offered to sell them for him. I came here and within a day of listing them I had an offer. Money received, casings shipped and to prove that no good deed goes unpunished...this is what USPS does to ME.

So I am currently working in DeMotte, IN and I live in MI. During break I went over to the local post office and dropped off the package to be shipped to FLORIDA. The clerk even said, "Okay, the shipping to FLORIDA is..." Now, it appears they tried to drop it off at my house - TWICE. WHY?!?!? And now look at this asinine history...mis-sent TWICE. :bangpan:

I put my RETURN address and the SHIP TO address on the package. I labeled one as SHIP TO and the other as SHIP FROM. I even asked the clerk if that was fine. "Yep, no problem." she said. And yes I've called and actually talked to a real person who said they would look into it and get back to me within 24 hours. I also sent an email where the USPS promised they would respond within 24 hours. That was 26 hours ago...


I'm about to go...postal. :bang:

Lowest Common Denominator.
Pulse? Check
Body Temperature? Check
Any outward signs of wanting to overthrow the government or commit any violent acts of aggression to your Mother? Check.
Go to go-next!

(and before anybody gets bent-two of my best friends are postal workers, and they have to work with this crowd!)

That blows...

Here's a song for you... https://www.degenernet.com/media/stream_content/music/104.mp3

I recently sent a package to a fellow rocketeer via USPS Priority Mail Insured from AL to MI. Normal shipping time would be 3-4 days. I checked the tracking info a few days later only to find out that the package was -missent- and was currently in NE at the time. (It was like Troj had a super magnet or something). Anyway, all was good, as the recipient could see that the package was somehow mis-directed.

A total of 9 days passed before the package arrived at its intended destination...in good shape, I might add. Priority? No....

Don't even get me started on those guys. Just be thankful that you had it insured and with Signature Confirmation. If not, you would have been wholly and truly screwed. Also, I have never seen that many updates on a USPS shipment. Probably shouldn't do this, but what the heck, here's my top three:

1. This is the oldest, but the best. Twenty years ago our letter carrier crossed out my address on a Certified Letter containing a cashiers check for $1500.00 which was a deposit for a car I had sold. He was in the process of delivering it to a different address on that route who happened to have the same name as me. When I ran into the carrier on his route and asked him if he had a Certified Letter I had been looking for he pulled it out with the other guy's address written beside mine. When I asked him how the h#*l that happened he said "well I noticed you hadn't gotten much mail lately". Still puzzle by that answer and still wonder how that would have worked out if the guy opened the envelope and it had a cashier's check with his name on it (same name as mine remember) for $1500.00. He could have cashed it at any bank and I would have never known and the guy would have gotten back a signature card with my name signed on it. Would have been really fun trying to make him believe I never got it, huh? Postmaster in town fell all over himself apologizing for that one.

2. They lost an original car title I sent to someone which could not be replaced with anything but a duplicate. Trust me, when the PO loses something it enters some sort of wormhole. After numerous phone calls to them they basically told me that even though they had the trail of signatures, they really had no clue where it was. The car was a very low mileage original classic and the dealer who bought it was freaked out because he couldn't get that old original and had to settle for a duplicate which would then raise some doubt as to the low mileage. From then on, it was FedEx Priority Overnite for anything that really mattered.

3. Last but not least was the large package containing my LOC Esoteric that was shipped from CA by Priority Mail (you know, the one that is 2-3 days, but not guaranteed) Insured with Delivery Confirmation and took 13 days to get here with ZERO tracking updates. To top it off, they stomped the living daylights out of. At least they paid for that mistake by writing a check for it.

Wow, been a while since I thought about those, but thanks for letting me rant.

Mark

Funny thing... The USPS package sorting system was designed and built by Lockheed Martin. Scanning the label, and directing to the right conveyor, and into the correct bin isn't rocket science, but perhaps if it was, they'd have better odds of success.

Worsaer said:

Funny thing... The USPS package sorting system was designed and built by Lockheed Martin. Scanning the label, and directing to the right conveyor, and into the correct bin isn't rocket science, but perhaps if it was, they'd have better odds of success.

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Wow, that's scary!

Mark

I have received many packages from USPS and also shipped, but mostly the ones I received have been damaged and intentionally done. I ordered a 24"x36" magnetic work mat for my RC truck. Very nice mat and the fact that it is completely magnetic makes it nice if you drop a small screw it doesn't go anywhere.The list price for it was $85. It came with a hole in the center as though someone thought it would cute to center punch my package with a steel rod of some sorts. The company that shipped it offered to ship another and I would have accepted if they would have shipped it using another carrier, but as it was they had their business set up a certain way. I opted for a full refund and kept the work mat with a the hole the size of a quarter. See attached pictures.



There's also been many times I've received crushed rocket kits and body tubes. It just really pisses me off! I'm sorry if you are a disgruntled postal worker, but be lucky you have job.

So for now on whenever I purchased anything online especially rocket stuff and if there's a choice of shipment methods I always go either FEDEX or UPS...it seems I have better luck.

My best story concerns another package carrier. I won't say who, but it isn't USPS. They had sent us an airplane part from one of their freighters to be repaired. We fixed it and sent it back to them. Now since they are a package delivery company they really, really, really frown on you sending their packages back via USPS or FedEx. So we sent it back to them using, well, them. The package got lost. The people at the aircraft maintenance part of the company waiting on the part started calling us demanding to know where the part was. We told them we shipped it back to you, using you, on such date and here is the waybill number. Since the part was lost they wanted us to send them a new one or refund the cost (they cost $30,000). We politely explained that they lost it and we weren't paying for it. This went back and forth a few times until they finally went away. From a legal standpoint they probably were correct that we had to pay for it, but I think we would have fought them all the way into court over it.

I have noticed that the couple of packages that I have received with that orange diamond that says 'explosive' on it have arrived on time and unscathed. Maybe we should start coughing up the extra cash to have everthing sent that way........

T-Rex said:

I have noticed that the couple of packages that I have received with that orange diamond that says 'explosive' on it have arrived on time and unscathed. Maybe we should start coughing up the extra cash to have everthing sent that way........

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I agree with you on that!

Back when Ed LaCroix had Apogee, i ordered a bunch of blackshaft competition tubing and it was a substantial box with all the right 'Fragile' and "This End Up" stickers on it. When it got to me, it actually looked like somebody tried to fold it in half! I opened the box and all I got was little black cornflakes! I took a picture and sent it to him of a size 10.5 boot print ( I know- I measured it against mine!) riight in the middle of the box! He was a champion and replaced everything, but dang- THAT shoulda never happened. Like the missing rocket on Greyhound, but that's another story.

T-Rex said:

I have noticed that the couple of packages that I have received with that orange diamond that says 'explosive' on it have arrived on time and unscathed. Maybe we should start coughing up the extra cash to have everthing sent that way........

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+1 on that... I can hear the UPS driver pull up and when I know I'm expecting an order of our favorite 1.4 C1 explosive, I run to the door and watch him through the peephole... he VERY gingerly carries the box with two hands and sets it down gently on the little half wall by the door before he knocks or rings the bell, and after having me sign for it he usually backs up and watches me just snatch the thing up... lol Kills me every time! I swear he must think I'm the strangest customer on his route! (Especially after the monolithic box that I got the 5.38" Starfighter upscale from Don Brown in... Easily could have fit myself, my two boys, and the wife in that box and it just so happened to come on the same day as a huge motor order... lol) If they have the ability to flag people for watch lists... I'm on one

mdoering said:

+1 on that... I can hear the UPS driver pull up and when I know I'm expecting an order of our favorite 1.4 C1 explosive, I run to the door and watch him through the peephole... he VERY gingerly carries the box with two hands and sets it down gently on the little half wall by the door before he knocks or rings the bell, and after having me sign for it he usually backs up and watches me just snatch the thing up... lol Kills me every time! I swear he must think I'm the strangest customer on his route! (Especially after the monolithic box that I got the 5.38" Starfighter upscale from Don Brown in... Easily could have fit myself, my two boys, and the wife in that box and it just so happened to come on the same day as a huge motor order... lol) If they have the ability to flag people for watch lists... I'm on one

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I would have loved to see a video of him carrying the package...too funny!!!:rofl:

The reality is there are horror stories for all the shipping companies.

Tim Lehr has sent me several things via USPS that never arrived. My wife has had things disappear via UPS. I've had UPS overnight packages destined for locations west of here end up on the east coast, and finally arrive over a week later. I've had FedEx packages get horribly delayed.

Ship enough stuff to/from yourself, and eventually you're going to have a problem.

Regarding delivery, how you label a box makes a difference -- little things, like make sure you write the delivery address in significantly larger letters than the origin address. "Ship To"/"Ship From"? That's confusing to someone who has to make a decision in a quick second -- "From" and "Ship To" would be better.

My handwriting is horrific; I normally print labels, or write them out very slowly, so that they're legible.

Remember, the people sorting these are going through a lot of packages, very quickly -- make it easy for them.

-Kevin

troj said:

Remember, the people sorting these are going through a lot of packages, very quickly

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They use... people?!?

I feel bad for him realy but I am the guy waiting for the package. Just my bad luck I guess.

Bill

Can I add a few stories? We shipped $35,000 worth of gold coins to a lady who lives in a rural area. The package goes USPS, insured, with signature required. The package arrives at the lady's post office, set for delivery on a Saturday. Instead of delivering the little green slip of paper stating that you have to come to the post office, with identification, to be able to take receipt of your package, the letter carrier leaves the box on the ground, next to the customers mailbox, and forged her signature to the receipt of proof of delivery. The lady went ballistic when she discoverd the delivery and called me to find out what was going on. When we told her how we had shipped it, she went to the local postmaster and chewed him/her out, who then did and investigation, and the letter carrier lost their job.

We sent a helicopter blade to be over-hauled in Texas. We sent the blade in a custom made plywood box. (I know, because I made the box.) This plywood box was 26' long, 3' wide, and 2' tall, with 4X4 blocks on the bottom so that it could easily be lifted with a fork truck or lifting straps. The sides and ends were made with triple layers of 1/2" A-B grade plywood, that were laminated, glued, and screwed together so the side walls are 1 1/2" thick. None of the glue joints overlapped and were normally 24" apart. Each box had a gallon of Titebond II glue in it and a couple of pounds of wood screws. The corners were interlocking and laminated, with 2" X 2" steel angle on the outside to protect the corners. The bottoms of the boxes were double layers of 1/2", with no overlapping glue joints, and inset, glued, and screwed into the bottom of the sides. When the boxes are completed, they weigh over 600 pounds. I take these boxes and elevate them, strapping down one end so that this 26' box is elevated in mid-air, held in place on one end. Sort of like grabbing a stirring stick on one end holding it level. I then jump up and down on the other end trying to get it to fracture. Then I will suspend it with lifting cables or two fork trucks, one on each end, and jump up and down on the middle to see if it will break. (I weigh 250 lbs., so I am putting more force on it than it should ever have to endure. After this testing, I inspect it closely looking for damage, and then I paint it and make it water proof, because it is possible it will be on a ship for an extended period of time. This is done because the blade inside goes to a Type I helicopter and cost over $165,000 apiece.

In one shipment, the crate was pushed with a 10,000 lbs fork truck with an 18" wide blade. They pushed thru the end of the crate in Denver at a shipping company, broke the end of the blade off, and then delivered it to us without telling us about the damage. We founbd it when my receiving people inspected the crate for damage.

IN another event, one of my crates, with a blade in it, went to France, and they called back and said our blade was destroyed and the box was faulty and broke up into a bunch of pieces. (this should have been almost impossible)

I also had a gas turbine destroyed when the shipping crate was dropped off the end of a truck. My shipping crate was fine and undamaged, and the trubine looked OK, but the g-meter in the box showed that it had received 6g's of impact, destroying the bearings and seals in the turbine. That was a $700,000 overhaul down the drain and we had to ship another turbine.

My conclusion is the stronger you package your product to atttempt to completely eliminate any damage from shipping, the more the shippers will go out of their way to see how much damage can be inflicted before failure occurs.

I was once chewed out by an aircraft manufacturer because the paint was chipped when the parts were received, ( these were wing spar joints for a Gulfstream) I had to develop new packaging for these before the next shipment would go out. When I was finished, you could throw the package off of a two story building and the part would be un-damaged. The original shipment, the boxes were almost destroyed because they were thrown around like they were footballs.

I had 6' pieces of of machined aluminum that went to the bird-strike kits for 747s be broken in half. I have trouble imagining how much force they had to apply ot break one of those.

My solution is to work wisely and add prayers. I also hope you were adeqautely ammused by these crazy exploits.


I am also a dangerous goods certified shipper and instructor, I have quite a few stories regarding those situations, also.

BEAR

Lol now I don't feel so bad...

To balance things a little .... we ship and receive a lot of packages by USPS every month and have had very few problems. And I have to say that our local carrier goes out of his way to help us.

-- Roger

jadebox said:

To balance things a little .... we ship and receive a lot of packages by USPS every month and have had very few problems. And I have to say that our local carrier goes out of his way to help us.

-- Roger

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I agree. I would even say most of the USPS employees are good people and attempt to do their best. And these issues are not limited to USPS; it happens with DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc. It happens with UAL, AA, Delta, Lufthansa, BA, etc. At the machine shop and at the helicopter shop I normally had UPS and FedEx sales people taking me to lunch or bringing lunch for my crew about once a month, competing for my business. Of course we also had shipping costs in excess of $50k a month. They were givng us computer systems, and all kinds of perks. Damage really was not freqeunt and these people would bust their butts to help us and assist us whenever they could. USPS was the hardest to work with, so they did not get a lot of business. With gold and silver, USPS gets almost all of it. It is when the failures occur, and with the value of the goods being shipped, or the fragility of the goods, the unusual events are much more expensive and memorable. My sister is a postmaster of a post office in a small town in Texas. The stories she tells me, and all the rules and regulations that she has to follow, that seem to defy logic, and the politics that are involved, and the back-stabbing that takes place among managers it truly outrageous. Most of the employees are pretty good though. Some are not.
BEAR

Here is my horror story !

very sensitive peace of equipment shipped to me in a custom plywood shipping container
Attached photos show the finished box with the warning labels placed on all 6 sides of the container.
I call the local usps office up and ask the clerk when a long shipping container comes in directed to my address to hold it there at the office instead of delivering it and I would personally pick it up .
That way the container would not be bounced around for a full day until it reached my home.

Well when I get to the usps office to pick up my package I ask the clerk for it at which she replied oh you must be referring to this package as she pointed to the plywood shipping container leaning up beside the wall :jaw:

after she handed me the container I asked her was being able to read English a requirement for being a postmaster ? as I pointed to the yellow label on the container that said " WARNING LAY FLAT DO NOT STAND ON END " :eyeroll:

Here is your sign !!!!!!!

Bobby

bobby_hamill said:

very sensitive peace of equipment shipped to me in a custom plywood shipping container
Attached photos show the finished box with the warning labels placed on all 6 sides of the container.

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Yeah, but ...

The only handling markings that are approved by the USPS are Fragile, Perishable, and Do Not Fold/Bend. "Do Not Stand on End" is not an approved marking. The shipper should have known that and packaged the equipment so that it would not be damaged.

-- Roger

He packaged it real good and nothing was damaged

jadebox said:

Yeah, but ...

The only handling markings that are approved by the USPS are Fragile, Perishable, and Do Not Fold/Bend. "Do Not Stand on End" is not an approved marking. The shipper should have known that and packaged the equipment so that it would not be damaged.

-- Roger

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bobby_hamill said:

He packaged it real good and nothing was damaged

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That's good. I didn't read that in your post so I assumed something was damaged. I guess the wooden box should have been a clue that they packed it carefully.

-- Roger

I know a few folks who work for various parcel transportation companies and the one thing they ALL agree on is that the word "Fragile" only makes your parcel a target for as much abuse as possible. The only ones they really pay attention to (as in, to comply with) are "Danger: Explosives" and "Biohazard" - not willing to play games with those.

BTW, you can't lay all the blame on USPS, UPS, FedEx or whoever since they all contract with each other for inter-stage shipping of goods.

Years ago I worked for a company that built automatic testers for avionics. We sold several custom testers to the US Air Force, and the contract said that they would handle all shipping after the unit left our dock. Normally it would be a local truck that they contracted and then the tester would get loaded on a local Air Guard C-130 and they would have a training flight to deliver the tester to its final destination. On one occasion a local guard truck came to pick up the tester, and we found out from the guardsmen that this unit was being shipped commercial. We were very concerned as the full mil-spec crate the tester was packaged in wasn’t designed to fit thorough the freighter doors. Sure enough, it wouldn’t fit so the shipper called the USAF and received permission to remove it from the crate. They loaded it fine, but on the other end they had some issues getting it out the freighter door, so the guys outside pulled the freight lift away just as the guys inside gave the tester a great big push, and out fell an $8 million tester from the side door of a 747 freighter. After the lawyers got done with it all we received a $10 million contract to rebuild the damaged tester. Another fine use of taxpayer money…

One of my children lives in Anchorage, Alaska. We discovered that the USPS gets anything there in 3 days or less, while FedEx and UPS take over 10 days and charge 2x to 3x. So far nothing has been damaged or lost.

My company typically carries most of the the USPS priority mail boxes. Typically, those boxes arrive on our ramps sorted into bags, and sometimes full cargo containers. Our company doesn't do the individual sorting or packing of USPS stuff, merely the loading and unloading of bags full of USPS boxes.

However, as with most shipping companies, the less dead space in a shipping container, the more efficient the operation. So they tend to pack em tight.

For some of you shipping, what I recommend:

1. Get rid of any deadspace in your package...fill it with crushable material like biodegradable packing peanuts. Body tubes...fill them too. Make sure there isn't any air other than those sealed packing cushion 'bags' in the box. The idea is that the pressures the box are roughly equal...if it gets squeezed, there is no one area that takes all the distortion.

2. Give yourself 1 to 2 inches all the way around as a buffer. In extreme cases, box within a box, with 1 to 2 inches layered between boxes.

3. Do not try to make the box or packing ultra rigid and tough...usually that just results in spectacular failure. The idea is to bend...not break.

4. When possible, try to keep the boxes..well, box shaped. I notice far more problems with long, thin boxes verses more cubical ones. The idea is to avoid a very obvious tender spot.

FC

tonka said:

One of my children lives in Anchorage, Alaska. We discovered that the USPS gets anything there in 3 days or less, while FedEx and UPS take over 10 days and charge 2x to 3x. So far nothing has been damaged or lost.

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And we thank you for your business....

FC

I talked to my post man yesterday and there is nothing I can do on this end. Bummer