Post #312087 by stuff-o-rama on Sun, Jun 10, 2007 2:55 PM

Here's the inside dope as explained by my local postmaster. Before 9/11, American Airlines had the contract with the US Postal Service to fly packages to their destination. The USPS employees would pick up the parcels at the airport and take them to their sorting stations. After 9/11, AA let their contract go and FedEx snapped it up. Since then, FedEx flies all USPS packages. He explained to me that during the holiday season, the first year they took over, FedEx made their packages a priority and if they had room on the planes they'd take whatever USPS packages they could fit in. Some of the Priority and Express packages were not getting to their destination within the overnight/ 2-3 days time frame. The USPS has a Express guarantee and was losing a lot of money because of this. The US Govt started charging FedEx the penalties they incrued. FedEx just paid the fines and kept doing as they do. So the US Govt stepped in to help re-structure, hence the new mayhem. Because of the amount of space on the planes, all packages have to be within certain size limits to insure that all packages will get on the plane. The more space they take, the less likely they'll put them on the plane if they are close to capacity. The USPS used to charge extra for large packages, now they have upped the rates so that FedEx Ground is the only reasonably priced way to ship a package that weighs more than 4 lbs. So you can pay $9.00 to have your package arrive within 5 - 7 days or pay almost 3 times as much to get it there in 2 days.

I have shipped through all carriers in my area: UPS, FedEx, DHL and USPS. I now only ship via USPS.

My reasons are based on my personal experience. I have had packages arrive to me in such disarray I can't believe they made the trip. I call them "frankeboxes" They are busted open and taped back together half-assed, have holes in the sides that look like they were used for punching bags, look as if they were dropped from a second story window and no longer have the square shape of a box. FedEx, in my area, is the biggest abuser. I have caught my FedEx guy practicing his bowling by sliding packages to my door down the concrete porch. The same guy, the next week, carried a package to my door trailing packaging peanuts the whole way. The entire corner of the box was gone. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "That's they way it was when it got to my truck. I'll make a note of it." When I asked him to wait until i inspected the inside of the box to see what damage was on the inside, he told me he really didn't want to because he was already behind on his route. So I called the main office and complained. I have also caught a different FedEx guy doing the ole' underhand toss off the cart on a package clearly marked "FRAGILE." When I called him on it he just looked at me like I was some crazy bitch. I called my distributor and told them that I wanted to switch carriers. In fact, any carrier that offers FedEx I decline and pay extra for UPS because I know I have a better chance of getting them in one piece. The people I know who work for FedEx always blame the sorting centers or hubs for the damages, not the pilots of the planes so maybe that's why two companies can offer such different experiences using the same carrier.

When I used FedEx exclusively to ship my packages, the amount of damages and complaints I received from customers was so great I was forced to switch carriers. I switched to UPS, but eventually their fees climbed to the point that it was too expensive to use them on packages under 4 lbs. So when the post office came up with the idea that they could ship packages in 2 - 3 days and provide the boxes in which to do so, it made the most sense. If I was to purchase the materials to ship packages, it would cost me up to $5 for materials. I re-use as many boxes as I can but I don't always have enough boxes on hand. That's what makes the USPS so great, they have listened to customers and have numerous sizes to fit just about anything. In the past 5 years I've used the USPS, I've only had 3 lost packages. I can't say the same for UPS or FedEx... For my business, my customers are usually in a hurry to get a gift delivered for someone last minute, so USPS is so speedy they make me look good and people come back to me for that reason. If you print up your shipping labels on http://www.usps.com instead of PayPal, they will automatically e-mail the customer with their delivery confirmation number so they can track their packaged. But this new rate change has caused me to re-think what I can reasonably offer for shipping. I had to raise my rates one dollar, but I'm still on the losing end. I'm going to see what happens in the next few months before I make a rash decision.

But I completely understand your frustration. All of the shipping companies have us over a barrel right now.