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

[DAllen]

It's in Florida! Wahoo!!!

 

[JordanT]

The delivery stuff is, indeed, baffling sometimes. I prefer to pre-print all of my labels whenever I can.

I did a stint with Orbital Sciences Corp out in Pomona, CA where we did sensor design and packaging. I got the task of having to package some sensitive gear that could be shipped anywhere in the world and might not be properly labeled, or the labelling might be obscured. I learned a lot about Mil-810 loads for packaging in the process, and also did actual drop tests with shock monitors installed. The stuff FastCargo suggests is true, but since we're all rocket guys - I'll give you some idea of why.

If you drop a package from 3' - the back of a truck or loading dock - it accelerates in a 1G field. When it hits the ground, the box and packaging deform upon impact. The initial drop height divided by the total deflection of your deformation is the *lower limit* to the number of Gs your item experiences. If the package deforms in a perfectly linear fashion height/deformation will be very close to correct. As an example, if your box deforms 1/4" on impact, your package will experience no less than 36"/(1/4") = 144Gs of acceleration when it hits the ground. If you've allowed a 3", 66% compressible gap (your foam goes from 3" to 1" on impact), then you've lowered your shock to just 18Gs. Since a package will rotate during many "oops" moments, you can expect it may land in any orientation and on an edge, corner, or flat.

IIRC, some of the most sensitive equipment is generally inertial navigation, and can usually only withstand about 10-12gs of shock without requiring re-calibration. China/dishes are good for close to 100Gs. Packing your "stuffing" material super tight, or having a massively rigid box doesn't protect your item from shocks well. A rigid box can prevent other things from crushing it, so the ideal is a strong, rigid box with a "soft" cushioning layer which will have its maximum deflection under your packed load when it's dropped from a height of about 6 feet. That means lighter items need more compliant packing foam, and heavier ones need denser packing.

 

[Getmore]

It is Wahoo. I will go by the house at lunch time to confim if I get it today I shoud Orlando is only 30 min. from here.:smile:

 

[mdoering]

It is Wahoo. I will go by the house at lunch time to confim if I get it today I shoud Orlando is only 30 min. from here.:smile:

I've had stuff shipped from Las Vegas to Henderson, bordering towns, and it's taken two days and was processed through another state...

 

[mkadams001]

The reality of package delivery

[video=youtube;BPPjaf_x-3Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPjaf_x-3Y[/video]

 

[Reinhard]

Here is the other (and entertaining) side, testing the limits of USPS:

https://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i4/postal-6-4.html

Reinhard

 

[BEAR]

What is really unfortunate is the good people that will be smeared with the same brush as the bad ones. I had one bad UPS driver in my years, and she later quit with her own form of PTSD. I did everything I could as manager of shipping and receiving to help her and try to make friends with her. We had a different driver for pick-up in the afternoons. A big guy who used to be an NFL player until he blew something out in his first season and could not come back. I told him about it and the next day we had a new delivery driver in the mornings. We had so much stuff each day that it was required that we be the first stop in the mornings and the last pick-up at night. I guess it did not set well with her. A physically pretty woman who was rather ugly on the inside. Again, I regret the good guys being painted with this brush, I am sure they are the majority.

 

[FastCargo]

And sometimes this happens:



This guy was found Tuesday at a cargo ramp in AZ. That's a 'can' he's in...a container used on cargo aircraft for packages.

Apparently, he's fairly harmless.

Which doesn't make me feel ANY better....

FC

 

[JordanT]

And sometimes this happens:
This guy was found Tuesday at a cargo ramp in AZ. That's a 'can' he's in...a container used on cargo aircraft for packages.
FC

*trying SO hard NOT to make a snakes on a plane joke here*

 

[troj]

This guy was found Tuesday at a cargo ramp in AZ. That's a 'can' he's in...a container used on cargo aircraft for packages.

Is that a Monkey-Fightin’ snake on a Monday to Friday plane?!

-Kevin

 

[Getmore]

No Joy yesterday. Now we have huricane Sandy pounding on us with 50mph winds the schools are closed so that means the post office might not deliver today. Its been two weeks now. BUMMER I am a patient man but I still feel like doing this :bang:

Oh now this is is going to far it went back to #@%&$@#& Grand Rapids Mi. "Help"
I don't know but I think DAllan may have used a used box and didn't black out his addy or old label. so they will follow the bar code on the lable before they use the printed addy.

 

[DAllen]

No words can express just how angry I am right now.

 

[mdoering]

Hey don't be too mad, you guys are getting a lot of mileage out of that postage!

 

[DAllen]

And now I call their "cooperate" office and no one answers. Just leave a message I guess.

If there was an issue with my label you'd think they would have told me the first 5 times I called.

Here I do a favor for someone and I'm the one that gets abused.

 

[Getmore]

Take it easy Dave. Just to maybe make you feel better I used my brothers motor case and rocket and lost the hole works. So when your add came up It was oh good theres a 38-480 case to replace the one I lost so now here we are.

Bill

 

[DAllen]

The plot thickens...

FINALLY some answers...talked to a lady at the Benton Harbor post office and according to her there is nothing wrong with my labeling. She has put a priority stamp to get it there ASAP.

Talked to another person from "cooperate" that thinks the wrong bar code was placed on the package. She is going to look into it further. Sounds like either way it should be in FL by Monday or Tuesday. She is going to call back and let me know for sure.

 

[Getmore]

Fingers crossed down here bro.

 

[DAllen]

Just got told it will be sent via express mail and wi be down there tomorrow or Monday.

 

[Getmore]

Did they give any real reason for the back and forth problem.

 

[AfterBurners]

The reality of package delivery

[video=youtube;BPPjaf_x-3Y]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPPjaf_x-3Y[/video]

I hope they got fired!!!

 

[mdoering]

videos like that make me glad I have a good relationship with my delivery drivers...

My FedEx guy was great at the old house.. someone transposed the numbers on a package that had about 25k worth of parts I needed for a project I was working on... He recognized the name and stopped by to see if I was expecting a package even though it was clear across town.

My UPS guy was great there too, would stop the truck and hop out and say hi and see what I was working on in the garage if he happened to be on the block... Always had doggie treats for my pup too.

The ones I have now are nice, they deliver packages the way they SHOULD be handled, but they aren't quite as friendly as the ones from before. My USPS guy now though annoys me... He makes a point of putting packages blocking the doorway... Which when it's oh... say... a long box of fiberglass tubing that is across the doorway at a 45º angle makes it difficult to leave the house in a hurry... (Or get in when you have your arms full)

 

[Quaranta]

How about this...

Had 4 orders set to arrive this week:
1. Motors from Wildman... 37 motors. arrived on time. complete. correct. Luckily,... this is the only order I "need" for the next launch (11/3).

For the next 3, I don't want to name vendors, because they are all awesome,... and I'll order from each again. It's just the run of bad luck that's ironic...
2. incorrect part sent. ordered part A,... somehow part B ended up in the box (1 e-mail and correct part in route)
3. ordered machine screws and nuts. both parts billed and invoiced... but only screws placed in box. (1 call to an 800 number and nuts on there way... arrived today)
4. zip code numbers transposed on shipping address by shipper... USPS too lazy to look at the city name (or they can't read), so they send it back to sender. This is from a great merchant who I'll use again without hesitation.

Luckily all delayed parts are for a rocket I'm not planning on flying until december at the earliest, so no harm. And if we didn't have mail order,... I wouldn't have 90% of the choices I do now.

 

[mdoering]

if we didn't have mail order,... I wouldn't have 90% of the choices I do now.

I don't think ANY OF US would... Not to mention, it allows the small guys to reach the niche market across the nation instead of the 5-15 people within driving distance of their store that have an interest in rocketry beyond D class engines...

 

[fyrwrxz]

I have no problem shouting out a vendor that always packs with extreme care and hustles stuff out the door asap. Never have any damage to the merch no matter what the box looks like outside. My partner in a soon to be announced crime; StickerShock!

 

[Rocketbuilder]

My partner in a soon to be announced crime; StickerShock!

I didn't think the World Domination machine was going to be done so soon! Just don't ship it or it might get broken. I take it Mark is providing the "go faster" stripes to speed up you world takeover? :neener:

 

[fyrwrxz]

Just remember the WDM marketing motto: "With bigger motors, air resistance is futile!"

 

[DAllen]

Did they give any real reason for the back and forth problem.

Not really. I got two different reasons:

1. My label was incorrect. If that was the case then it should have been delivered to my house. Post Office policy is they attempt to deliver (for confirmation) and if no one is home then they hold onto it for 15 days at the post office. This was never held in anyone location for more than a day or two thus not affording me the opportunity to get in there and fix it. I told several people that if my label was indeed incorrect then someone should have figured it out AND TOLD ME after a dozen phone calls and several emails and I would be more than happy to come in a fix it. Heck, I was even willing to come back in and pay the shipping charges again for my boo-boo. Since it never stayed in one spot for more than a day or two that leads me to believe a more plausible explanation that one of the clerks suggested...


2. They put the wrong bar code on the package in the post office I sent it from which sent it to the return zip code in Michigan rather than the "send to" zip code in Florida. Thus creating this gigantic circle-jerk we see in the tracking records now.

Funny, I was really impressed with the rather polite and apologetic clerks at the local office while the customer service "manager" in the "cooperate" office was very snooty, condescending and looked for every opportunity to blame me. Maybe the underlings need a promotion...

With all this traveling around I am sure glad I took out some insurance on this package...yeeeeesh.

 

[Tarasdad]

4. zip code numbers transposed on shipping address by shipper... USPS too lazy to look at the city name (or they can't read), so they send it back to sender. This is from a great merchant who I'll use again without hesitation.

All packages are sorted by ZIP automatically. Shipping labels are scanned and the ZIP generates a barcode (if there isn't one already). Have you ever noticed those orange bars on your mail or packages from the USPS? That's a special ink that their machines read to automatically sort the mail. Only after it gets to the post office where the ZIP code on the address label sends it can the error be caught. At that point it is sent back to the sender for correction.

 

[Peartree]

Can your package at least collect frequent flyer/traveller miles and get a free trip later next summer or something?

 

[Quaranta]

All packages are sorted by ZIP automatically. Shipping labels are scanned and the ZIP generates a barcode (if there isn't one already). Have you ever noticed those orange bars on your mail or packages from the USPS? That's a special ink that their machines read to automatically sort the mail. Only after it gets to the post office where the ZIP code on the address label sends it can the error be caught. At that point it is sent back to the sender for correction.

Thanks for the insight. Doesn't change my post though. The USPS doesn't make any effort to solve the problem. They could read the written address,... thay don't.