wait or weight

[David G Baker]

In the past I used UPS AIR BLUE LABEL OVERNIGHT. It cost a lot but I always got items overnight but I never ordered during major storm activity.

[Brian Elfert]

IMy understanding is that UPS contracts with railroads are pretty good. I've heard stories of a railroad missing a UPS rail car for some reason and running a single locomotive with just that car to catch it up with the rest of the train. That has to cost the railroad a lot of money, but I'm sure UPS pays well to get better service. I've also heard that non time sensitive shipments by train by train can sometimes take weeks to go cross country.

[ray hampton]

UPS has their phone number right on their website under Contact us: 1-800-PICK-UPS

Weather in other areas of the country can hold up packages in other areas with good weather. It used to be normal to get mail order stuff in 4 to 6 weeks and now we moan and groan when a ground shipment arrives a day later than expected.

thank you Brian

[Brian Elfert]

In the past I used UPS AIR BLUE LABEL OVERNIGHT. It cost a lot but I always got items overnight but I never ordered during major storm activity.

You aren't kidding about UPS overnight being expensive. I had a brake problem with my bus conversion I discovered a few days before a vacation trip. Shop found the problem the day before I was to leave and it cost me $75 to have a five pound part shipped overnight. (Part number was rusted off and nobody could match the part by just seeing it so I had to order from manufacturer.) Shipping would have been free if wanted ground. I've seen other cases where the seller offered free ground shipping and overnight shipping was $400!

[ray hampton]

I have either had things shipped to me or I have shipped things this week both UPS and Priority Mail. Both of them were delayed by the weather.

Given that some places like me got 8-10" of snow, other places have had bad ice and power lines down and the temperatures have been sub zero, I think that the shippers have done pretty well. One has to understand that a slowdown in things like the airlines in one part of the country causes delays across the system.

We have gotten spoiled in expecting two day delivery of a package for around $10-15. I think that is a pretty good bargain. I grit my teeth too when packages are delayed but the cold, ice and snow have been pretty intense this weather. There are still a lot of people who are without power and I am thankful that I have mine.

my power do not go out too often of which I thank GOD, I see the same neighborhoods go into a power outages almost every storm, thank you for the remainder

[Jim Matthews]

I'm not THAT far out--we live 8-1/2 miles from the city limits of Toledo, OH.

That's in Candada, innit?

[Matt Meiser]

Nah, that's a good 30 miles or more.

[Bill Cunningham]

Expedited post in Canada has a tracked guaranteed delivery date. one day late and you get your full postage back.. Last year I recovered at least 60% of my shipping costs.. I guess that's why postage in Canada is expensive compared to the U.S.. But I don't care. I get 60% of my shipping costs back..ha.. It's funny, I can ship something to Alberta, and it gets there 2 days early. I ship it to A town just 30 miles north of me (Orillia, next day delivery guaranteed ) and it 'always' gets there a day late because they send it to the sorting plant in Toronto first (75 miles and one day delivery in the other direction).. It's a guaranteed refund..

[Lee Schierer]

Be aware that UPS has contracted with the US Post Office to deliver some packages to your door. This will automatically add 1-2 days to delivery. Our local post office gets their mail delivery from the central sorting depot at 7:30 in the morning. They sort it into their delivery routes and the mail carriers leave when they finish sorting and start delivering to the rural mail boxes. UPS delivers to the local post office after the local mail carriers have left so the UPS packages sit until sorting time the next day even though UPS shows them out to delivery. That simply means UPS has delegated responsibility to USPS not that your package will actually show up that day.

[Pat Barry]

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds."

LOL - These days, if they can't lean out of their mail truck and open my mailbox the mail doesn't get delivered, consequently, everyone needs to clear out the front of the mailbox after the plow comes by. So much for the motto.

[Jeff Erbele]

A new small package freight company that delivers on time, every time, is highly unlikely and perhaps a waste of any wishes granted.
I understand your frustration but, On time - Every time falls somewhere between unrealistic to impossible, given the weather, mechanical problems and other circumstances beyond their control. Remember the USA 9-11 No-Fly Mandate.

Time would be better spent working with those we have. If you paid for expedited service and they (FedEx / UPS) missed the date, they may discount or rebate the delivery charge.

[Brian Elfert]

LOL - These days, if they can't lean out of their mail truck and open my mailbox the mail doesn't get delivered, consequently, everyone needs to clear out the front of the mailbox after the plow comes by. So much for the motto.

Is it really that hard to clear the snow in front of your mailbox? There were a few times early this winter nobody cleared the snow in front of the mailboxes and both my newspaper and mail got delivered. For the last 6 to 8 weeks I've cleared the snow in front of the mailboxes after every snowfall. It isn't perfect because the older snow has hardened into a brick, but it was better than it was. I have a larger snow blower than the neighbor so it is easier for me to do.

[Orion Henderson]

Late shipments are certainly very frustrating. This winter is worse than usual, whether its weather or a better economy with more people traveling-I don't know. Probably a little of both.

Each shipper has its pluses and minuses. I think choosing wisely, depending on what a vendor has available can save everyone some headaches.

In my experience, FedEx Express is the best service, but by far the most expensive. I have had very poor experiences with FedEx Ground/Home.

UPS is typically very good, and certainly the best for commercial addresses and rural commercial addresses.

USPS is the cheapest-and you get what you pay for. However, USPS can be a real value when shipping coast to coast. It is actually faster and cheaper than UPS. The downside is that it might get lost with no recourse.

Rural residential deliveries are the most problematic. Here I feel the USPS may offer the best combo of price and service.

[Jeff Erbele]

go pick it up your self .Im sure that will save you time and money

Excellent point
Having things so good, sometimes we are too quick at being critical when they don't meet our very high expectations.

Some complain about the price of a stamp. You want it where, when? Ok, forty nine cents Key West Florida - Point Barrow Alaska

[Matt Meiser]

Be aware that UPS has contracted with the US Post Office to deliver some packages to your door.

That's a specific service chosen by the shipper, not something they just randomly do. Fedex has the same service. Its a less expensive option commonly used for "free" shipping. For me, if it goes UPS, I'll always get it the next day after USPS gets it. Fedex, the same day because they drop it off at USPS early in the morning. Obviously that will vary by location. UPS will also skip the USPS step if you have another package being delivered the same day to your address---as long as they actually deliver to you that day. Otherwise both sit on the truck until they decide to actually deliver even though the mail might have come for a couple days.