Ray Garrison Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 Guys and gals, I've seen a lot of threads that talked about product damage due to UPS or FedEx. Most recently, in the Warning to all Bullboard Members thread in this forum. jhawk92's experience is, unfortunately, not unusual. I've had a *VERY* close working relationship with FedEx for the past five years. I visited their main sorting facility on Memphis, and have seen many of their regional hubs. All of the sorting is as automated as possible, with ungodly numbers of boxes, of all sizes and shapes, flying around on conveyor systems where automated scanning systems read the astra code on the label, and a big, pneumatically driven plunger shoots out and "pushes" (aka whacks, whams, hammers) each box onto the appropriate channel for routing to the correct plane. I once had a 100 Lb tuna that had a hole driven completely through it during shipment. (Do you have any idea how hard it is to punch a gaping hole clear through a fresh, 100 Lb fish?) The original equipment shipping containers are typically designed for *FREIGHT* shipping, *NOT* express shipping. If you pack a pair of large speakers in the original manufacturer's box, without any additional support or protection, and ship it express, there's a *VERY* good chance it's gonna get banged up. If the carton is heavy cardboard, and it has styrofoam supports at the eight corners (typical), and you don't put anything else in there, you've got a large expanse of unsupported cardboard with an inch or so air gap between the box and the speaker. If a plunger hits the center of one side of this box while sorting, it's going to go right through it. When preparing for express shipment, *ALWAYS* protect the product by filling all void spaces in the box with peanuts or EPS sheets or something. Try to minimise the expanse of unsupported container. Double box if possible. *DON'T STRAP THE PACKAGE* as the straps will result in a non-conveyorable rejection, bump the package off the belt, and result in an increase in the amount of handling / rough-housing the box goes through. If you *DO* strap the package, cover the straps with tape. Buy the "extra value charge" insurance, but be aware that you *MUST* be able to document the value of the contents or they will not honor the claim. Just keep in mind this mental picture when shipping UPS Air or FedEx or other express shipper: your box is going along a conveyor belt, and on a catwalk overhead are a bunch of gorillas with big sledge hammers. As each box goes by, when a gorilla sees his tag on the box, he swings the hammer and knocks the box off of that belt onto another one. Each box is "sorted" this way a minimum of four times while en route. This may sound like I'm a bit down on these guys, but I'm really not. They do an incredible job of getting stuff from one end of the country to the other in a day or two. It's just that the realities of high speed automated sorted and routing are what they are. Ray "been there, done that" Garrison ------------------ Music is art Audio is engineering Ray's Music System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 Excellent info, as always, Ray. Would this caution extend to ANY type of shipping with the likes of UPS/FedEx/etc... be it overnight or ground? I would suppose it is all handled the same way, right? The "freight" shipping you refer to must go by some other type of common carrier, like BAX, correct? Is there a good way for lay people to access freight shippers rather than trust our precious gems to the apes? DD P.S. I know you were in the wholesale food business earlier, but shipping fresh tuna around the country? Yipes, no wonder they wanted to boot that thing out of the warehouse as fast as possible! One can only imagine the smell!! LOL ------------------ My System This message has been edited by dougdrake on 09-10-2002 at 01:23 PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BobG Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 We've had precisely the same experience with the fast package delivery companies (names withheld to protect the guilty). We will not ship any floor-standing speakers with those services as they are damaged most of the time. Their conveyor systems and sorting methods are not compatible with larger packages. Then there is the human handling issue. If the box is small enough to be thrown, it most likely will be. The very safest transport method in my experience is to palletize and shrink wrap then use a ground carrier. Obviously this is impractical when shipping small items. Minimum shipping cost for a pallett is something over $60 and that's at a discounted rate. Best advice, buy the insurance and pack it like you're shipping to a distant planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cluless Posted September 10, 2002 Share Posted September 10, 2002 You have to pack it like it will be DROP KICKED to a distant planet(which it will). Double boxes, double packing material, but dont stuff it too tight or the packing will damage the contents when the box gets heaved outta the plane at 35,000 feet. (Express Shipping). No empty space in any carton whatsoever! No dents or bows in the box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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