The United Parcel Service

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I have a 500 mile radius. A weekend road trip. Might cost a little more but gets me out of the house too. More than 500 miles keeps me from buying everything. No need to go 1800 miles for $1000 widget.

Amazon generated so much need that shippers don’t care like they use too. I had a friend made a living buying un delivered stuff in the 80s; he actually help create a full department for one of the carriers. They use to give him the stuff for free to clear the warehouses. They learned people would buy it from him. The only job I ever walked out on was the same company. Many of my friends work there in all sorts of capacities from running it to sweeping the floors. Pack your stuff good is all I can say for all of them. The last place I worked we would be sending and receiving airplane parts. Mom and pop company. We spent so much on shipping insurance because we couldn’t afford a replacement if it was lost. You could have a bag with $10,000 of bushings in it. Someone had a porch pirate take such a bag. Probably all went in the trash.

 

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In the 50 and 60's shipped lot of aircraft parts by railroad express with no problems and almost unlimited size.

 

[Bill-Higdon]

In the 50 and 60's shipped lot of aircraft parts by railroad express with no problems and almost unlimited size.

Here's some interesting info on Railway Express Agency and UPS Railway Express Agency - Wikipedia

 

[PMD]

Here's some interesting info on Railway Express Agency and UPS Railway Express Agency - Wikipedia

Now THAT was interesting! Thanks for posting the link.

I can't speak to the US side much, but up here, I have had some widely varying experiences. When we were first married, I took a summer job as holiday relief mechanic for the truck side of a major railroad. I was horrified to learn that the warehouse people regularly "damaged" certain pallets of shipments - either things they might enjoy in the lunchroom or seasonally presents for their families and kids. After two summers I was invited to join the union and work full time but I declined as no desire to conspire to commit theft (on so many levels). Decades later a good friend of ours took a part time job to help a friend out with mail contract at Christmas season. We went to the post office depot to visit him when his route took him near us. While we were waiting for him to pull in, we routinely saw and heard staff do things such as "hey, it says fragile" before intentionally throwing a computer CRT 15 or so feet and then stepping aside to watch/hear it crash and smash, than laugh that: "I guess it was fragile" and room full of laughter.

When I switched my airboat manufacturing from in-house VW power to Rotax 503s our volumes became so high it was most cost effective to have them shipped same day by air from Vernon BC to Saskatoon SK. Cost me about $70 each and saved me a fortune worth of time and costs to be able to do JIT parts deliveries. NEVER had any loss or damage from a huge number of shipments.

My former JV partner, now client company ships VERY expensive test equipment all over the continent - all extremely well packaged in dedicated, fitted cases. We/they started to notice a pattern of damage from certain companies, and a lock of same with one (FedEx) for international shipments. I was asked to try to figure out why, and it turns out it is all about how large the drop is on conveyers at sorting centers. NOW I understand why you need fitted foam packaging and really rugged box around them before entrusting anything to a courier or package delivery system.

 

[KeithO]

Back in 97 I worked for a resistance welding company, the largest in the southern hemisphere. In 96 the company turnover was about 3/4 Million. In 97 they got a 13 million contract from Nissan and a 9 million contract from BMW. The 13 million contract was handled by my boss and the majority of the design group. I was more or less left on my own to handle the BMW contract which we had to largely build to print. But there were a few details like the X guns used standard SMC pneumatic cylinders, whereas we had to develop the 2 position Pneumatic cylinders for the C guns from scratch. And we had to make patterns for all the castings, make the castings and machine them with no internal capacity. Same for the pneumatic cylinders. No castings, no patterns, they would be machined in house, I had to work out all the seal details, the hard chromed cylinder shaft made from hard drawn chrome copper and the insulated caps since the cylinder rod had to pass something like 50k amps when welding... One of the issues we faced was a shortage of hard drawn chrome copper bar stock. The solution was to buy about 3 tons of the bar stock in the right combination of diameters from Australia and then have it flown, air freight from Australia to ZA. If one understands the value of copper from a theft point of view in Africa, we then had another major challenge which was that I had to get the 3 tons of material cut into the correct blank lengths for the project, then transported by road about 750 miles to a specialist supplier with gun drilling equipment so that the bar stock could be drilled from end to end with a 0.433" hole. Many of the bars were in the 4-6' length range, this sort of drilling could never be done economically on a lathe... The bar stock was transported by private contractors in unmarked pickup trucks. I never knew the exact value of the bar stock but it was at least 1/3 of the total contact value so 3 million. Pretty sure those contractors who handled the transport of that material were sweating bullets and packing heat because if anyone found out they would be big bullseyes for every criminal gang in existence.

Anyway, it was a hell of a project. I had to work day and night like a madman. The entire assembly line was going to be set up and run off in Giesen Germany. Giesen is the center of medical expertise in Germany, where all the doctors of myriad disciplines train and practice. A town of 30k population housing another 10-12k medical students. Actually quite a fun place.. In the graveyard in town were the graves of the Curies who discovered radium gas (and a great many more important names that I have forgotten). The team from BMW selected about 25% of the total weld guns for the project to be sent to Giesen for the tryout of the line. It was something like 20 weld guns crated 4 to a crate thus 5 crates. We shipped them off and a few days later got the phone call. The crew, in loading the crates onto the airplane had managed to drop 2 of the crates from the height of the cargo door onto the ground... Lovely.. I got to fly to Johannesburg to examine the remains of the crates. Amazingly they had not broken any castings or copper parts, so we made new crates in one of the hangars, re-packaged everything and got it on its way. It helped that at that time BMW was the single largest cargo customer for Lufthansa and South African Airways, since the leather seats for all the BMW models were made in ZA and shipped out by air all over the world.

 

[Martti Mattila]

I was working in the fields in the sowing season and game home late to learn that my wife had sing of a parcel to me. A parcel that should have hugely overpriced aluminium TIG weldign (300 Euro) rods and pasta. Pasta was there but round cartboard case for rods were empty and the cap was missing. I was angry as hell to my wife why she had signed a empty cartboard tube. She applied that she taught it was a blueprint box and light that way. It was a late at night and nothing could be done until the morning. Early in the morning I took a ax to my pickup truck bed and headed to couriers distr.center. Luckily for everyone someone had found a bundle of rods from the floor and carried them to office were they had lost a second time. Luckily to be found after next ten minutes. Thats that but the McCulloch 4318 that I bought from California newer arrived in Finland. It is that blue one with Ken Brock made stand with it. Picture is still circling in internet. Got some money back from seller but not all.

 

[robertl]

I once bought an expensive folding mountain bike that was shipped in original packaging and was damaged bu UPS. A part was bent which must have taken very considerable force as in a conveyor belt snag. I had pictures and claimed reimbursement—denied. The seller had pictures of the initial condition and claimed reimbursemen—denied. Finally after trying everything the seller talked to his local shipper who intervened and reimbursement was made to the sEllen. The guy was honest and sent me a check which more than covered damages. So this may be an avenue for you?

Once has a UPS driver friend who told me they use a skip loader to pick up broken packages, loose parts at the end of every shift. Like really lots..

Best,

Tom

I helped build a UPS plant in N.C. back in 1985 a when we finished part of the plant, it started operations. Almost everyday we would come in to work and there would be boxes busted open the contents spilled all over the floor. Always, ALWAYS insure your package no matter what it is. A good portion of their workers are temporary, no benefits, just hourly pay, dare I say, some don't give a crap about your package.
Bob

 

[Vigilant1]

Always, ALWAYS insure your package no matter what it is.

I guess, but it doesn't seem to be a great value if they are unwilling to pay claims.
Pretty galling, really.
Them: "Would you like to pay extra so you might get reimbursed if we lose or destroy your package?"
Me: "I kinda thought safe delivery of my package was what I was paying for."

A very stout crate is probably a good idea, though that's no guarantee, either.

 

[Dan Riffe]

UPS is just a package delivery service. They are not in any way equipped to handle a crated shipment. Crates belong on LTL truck freight. The 3/4" ply top could have been used and would have contained and reinforced the crate. But, unless the engine is securely bolted to the floor of the crate, it is still going to rock and roll and would likely do itself a mischief.

 

[KeithO]

Just as a reference, a few weeks ago my wife and I rented a van and drove 2000 miles from MI to Phoenix to buy an RV-9A kit. The return trip via grand canyon, monument valley, archers national part, I70 Colorado to Mt Rushmore and then Badlands added a further 2800 miles. This past weekend we drove another 840 miles to northern Chicago and then to rural WI to buy some pieces of furniture. Unless its coming from a foreign country or a company that ships virtually 100% of its product with UPS or FEDEX (and have developed their packaging accordingly), I will drive to go and get it based on the kind of damage we have seen with any of the courier companies or USPS for that matter. I can remember once being on a flight that made a stop in Lansing. Passengers going through to the destination stayed on board while extra passengers were loaded and cargo. I watched the airline guy throw every package 8-10 ft onto the conveyor One of the packages was clearly a large screen TV of about 50", at that time it must have been well over $1000 for a TV of that size. It got thrown onto the conveyor too. There were plenty of other workers standing around, no one did anything, reacted in any way, admonished him. Apparently this had been going on for a long time and no-one expected it to change.

 

[Fiberglassworker]

There used to be a company called Peachtree salvage in Atlanta Ga whose sole business was buying damaged and lost parts from UPS., then reselling them in their salvage stores. I do not think they are in business anymore.

 

[Yellowhammer]

I helped build a UPS plant in N.C. back in 1985 a when we finished part of the plant, it started operations. Almost everyday we would come in to work and there would be boxes busted open the contents spilled all over the floor. Always, ALWAYS insure your package no matter what it is. A good portion of their workers are temporary, no benefits, just hourly pay, dare I say, some don't give a crap about your package.
Bob

My package was most definitely insured.

 

[Yellowhammer]

UPS is just a package delivery service. They are not in any way equipped to handle a crated shipment. Crates belong on LTL truck freight. The 3/4" ply top could have been used and would have contained and reinforced the crate. But, unless the engine is securely bolted to the floor of the crate, it is still going to rock and roll and would likely do itself a mischief.

I should have said something to the shipper. Since it was my first time buying an aircraft engine, I was naïve to think all would be good.

Lesson Learned!

 

[Yellowhammer]

Just as a reference, a few weeks ago my wife and I rented a van and drove 2000 miles from MI to Phoenix to buy an RV-9A kit. The return trip via grand canyon, monument valley, archers national part, I70 Colorado to Mt Rushmore and then Badlands added a further 2800 miles. This past weekend we drove another 840 miles to northern Chicago and then to rural WI to buy some pieces of furniture. Unless its coming from a foreign country or a company that ships virtually 100% of its product with UPS or FEDEX (and have developed their packaging accordingly), I will drive to go and get it based on the kind of damage we have seen with any of the courier companies or USPS for that matter. I can remember once being on a flight that made a stop in Lansing. Passengers going through to the destination stayed on board while extra passengers were loaded and cargo. I watched the airline guy throw every package 8-10 ft onto the conveyor One of the packages was clearly a large screen TV of about 50", at that time it must have been well over $1000 for a TV of that size. It got thrown onto the conveyor too. There were plenty of other workers standing around, no one did anything, reacted in any way, admonished him. Apparently this had been going on for a long time and no-one expected it to change.

I have used hotshots on many occasions when I had my own business. I should have used one to get my engine.

 

[Yellowhammer]

To All,

Thanks for the insight everybody. It just blows my mind that a shipping company, who is payed/contracted to move good from point A to point B, can either loose, destroy, or have your good stolen and not think another thing about it. Like people are not going to want to find out about anything they paid hard earned money for.

UPS is out of the F'ing minds if they think I am going to let this go. Headquarters has been back in contact with me and the shipper but no concrete news to share as of yet.

I have spoken with my lawyer and we are waiting to see what they come back and say. I don't care if it takes me ten years to fight this case, I am prepared to do so.

Right is right even if nobody is doing it and wrong is wrong even if everybody is doing it.

-Yellowhammer

 

[KeithO]

Next time, try to use a LTL truck shipping service. I have the impression that semi drivers seem a lot more conscientious about getting your crate to you in 1 piece. I just recently bought a new compressor which is tall and very top heavy. When it was delivered it was strapped to the side of the truck high up so that there was no chance it would fall over. It also didn't matter that it weighted over 300lb, the driver had a pallet jack and lift gate and rolled it right up to my garage. I had my solar panels shipped by Estes, I picked it up at their regional depot, saved a lot of cost as opposed to having it delivered to my door (basically eliminated the second shipping leg). ABF freight is another company I have used. Its a bit more pain to organize the shipment, but I do get the impression that they take more care with their shipments.

 

[Yellowhammer]

UPDATE:

Dear fellow members,

I wanted to provide the latest update on my situation. The powers that be at UPS headquarters have decided, out of goodwill (they said), to send me a check for the amount insured. Although it will only cover the cost to replace the parts that were missing, I still feel like I have gotten some justice.

The shipper/seller insured the crate for the amount I paid for the engine and shipping. Which came to right at $4,000. Now I just have to try to locate all the parts I need at the best price possible.

By the way, the engine had 35 hours on it and the owner that my seller bought it from had it overhauled which included having the new oil head cooling system installed which brought it up to standards of the generation 4 engine production series. It also increased my TBO to 1,000 hours. The guy I bought it from was going to use it on his airboat but realized that the HP just wasn't enough for his application. I feel like I got a solid engine for a solid price before UPS did what they did.

If anyone has any HKS 700E accessories that they no longer have a use for, please let me know.

Again, I appreciate everyone taking time to review my situation and also thank you for all of the very solid advice that was provided.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Yellowhammer

 

[ShindenKai]

UPS stole Rob Dahm’s 4 rotor..

 

[Yellowhammer]

UPS stole Rob Dahm’s 4 rotor..

Shin,

Wow! UPS seems to have a small racket going on. I will be checking eBay shortly for my missing parts. Aside from the shipping issues, this young man is dedicated and it is nice to see that he finally made his goal a reality. Thank you to the utmost for sharing this video for everyone to see.

Sincerely and Respectfully,

Yellowhammer

 

[wsimpso1]

Just as a reference, a few weeks ago my wife and I rented a van and drove 2000 miles from MI to Phoenix to buy an RV-9A kit. The return trip via grand canyon, monument valley, archers national part, I70 Colorado to Mt Rushmore and then Badlands added a further 2800 miles.

Sounds like a fabulous adventure!