FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

M

Matt Vivlamore

Senior
Jan 11, 2011
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Southern MD, USA
www.meerkatsound.com
I ship a lot! For the past few years, I've been an account member with FedEx and taken advantage of their frequent shipper discounts & rates. Has anyone ever compared FedEx to UPS to USPS for pricing?
I am talking about generic Ground shipping to either Home/Residential and/or Commercial/Business locations. I always insure everything I ship; yes, I've had items get lost and/or damaged.

For example. Here are prices I am coming up with when I go to ship a 12x12x12 box weighting 12# from DC (drop off at store) to Beverly Hills (residential).
FedEx is at: $18.34
UPS is at: $27.58
USPS is at: $29.28, $38.28

a 5x5x5 at 5# using the same locations:
FedEx is at: $14.01
UPS is at: $20.26
USPS is at: $11.30/12.35 (Priority Mail Medium Flat Rate Box)

If your results are different, post up the pricing you are getting.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

No two rate quotes will be the same, really. Get in touch with the sales rep for your area and start talking. Make it clear what your most common sizes are and how often you ship. As soon as you mention FedEx or UPS to the other rep they'll immediately go into sell mode and try to get you. Just don't get too greedy because they will walk away if they can't a deal that favors them as well.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

UPS and Fed Ex can negotiate pricing for their shipping.
USPS, on the other hand, has little to no flexibility on their shipping costs as they're governed by the Postal Regulatory Commission.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

I've been using UPS small package and UPS freight for years. I have contracts with both and get very good rates, but UPS customer service and billing is a disaster. If FedEx wasn't such a disaster I would have switched. USPS is also a disaster.

The UPS hub for Eastern Connecticut is 1 mile from my shop.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Silas Pradetto said:
I've been using UPS small package and UPS freight for years. I have contracts with both and get very good rates, but UPS customer service and billing is a disaster. If FedEx wasn't such a disaster I would have switched. USPS is also a disaster.

The UPS hub for Eastern Connecticut is 1 mile from my shop.
Click to expand...

I've have NEVER received a UPS freight delivery that was not damaged. Last one they wouldn't cover because it came in a handmade box that I couldn't tell had fork lift damage until I ripped the packaging off...and you could see the obvious fork impacts and typical plywood splitting.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

John Chiara said:
I've have NEVER received a UPS freight delivery that was not damaged. Last one they wouldn't cover because it came in a handmade box that I couldn't tell had fork lift damage until I ripped the packaging off...and you could see the obvious fork impacts and typical plywood splitting.
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Common carrier shipping is definitely a "YMMV" affair. Most of the stuff I personally receive is delivered by UPS or USPS, and both have good recent (last 2 years) history of not breaking anything that was properly packed.

There's no obvious pattern, but right now my only gripe is with FredEx; it's time again. :( They go through cycles where the local service is terrific, and then turns to shit after a couple of years. Last time it happened I ended up with a 'personal ombudsman' in the Atlanta office and a direct-to-her-desk phone number.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

I've personally found that I dislike UPS both in terms of pricing and service, but just as Tim said they are consistent in their performance. FedEx just goes through these cycles where they fluctuate from the best service out there to the most frustrating - sometimes in a matter of months. When FedEx is on the up, it's worth the time. Otherwise, UPS is my choice.

USPS is for mail. :D~:-D~:grin:
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

FEDEX uses local sub-contractors so that could explain variable service in different regions and over time.

One recent change is that FEDEX is talking about basing shipping charges on size of the box more than weight... there is bit of a tug of war between large volume shippers and web merchants, over shipping costs.

JR
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Tim McCulloch said:
Common carrier shipping is definitely a "YMMV" affair. Most of the stuff I personally receive is delivered by UPS or USPS, and both have good recent (last 2 years) history of not breaking anything that was properly packed.

There's no obvious pattern, but right now my only gripe is with FredEx; it's time again. :( They go through cycles where the local service is terrific, and then turns to shit after a couple of years. Last time it happened I ended up with a 'personal ombudsman' in the Atlanta office and a direct-to-her-desk phone number.
Click to expand...

I signed a special form with FedEx to force them to leave all packages at my shop even if I'm not there (and even if the package requires a signature). Of course, the 10 different drivers they send here keep forgetting and I get rather unhappy about not having my time-sensitive critical packages when I need them.

The local FedEx depot is about an hour away, and conveniently my brother works there, so getting my packages isn't too hard but it's still a PITA.

My brother tells me they aren't supposed to but pretty much throw every box when loading/unloading the trucks.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Silas Pradetto said:
My brother tells me they aren't supposed to but pretty much throw every box when loading/unloading the trucks.
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I was at a UPS terminal one time while they were unloading a semi trailer and every package was thrown from the truck on to the conveyor line, some missed completely and hit the floor, others would land on the edge and then roll off the belt.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Mike Caldwell said:
I was at a UPS terminal one time while they were unloading a semi trailer and every package was thrown from the truck on to the conveyor line, some missed completely and hit the floor, others would land on the edge and then roll off the belt.
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They do something like 1200 packages/hour unloading and 600 packages/hour loading, per person. It's going to be that way, unfortunately.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Mike Caldwell said:
Looking at another way, if the equipment survives being shipped it should hold together in normal day to day use.
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It's like sending stuff as luggage. I had the fortunate experience of looking out of the window of a plane just as the first pieces of luggage came out on the conveyor belt. It was the rack lids for the bands multitrack playback/recorder, followed by the recorder itself still in the rack. Luckily I had the HDDs in my cabin luggage.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

I use UPS. This comes up from time to time since I have been on these forums.
Plain and simple, UPS has way better service than FedEx. Round these parts.
It seems to vary by location.
Plus they have a place I can ship that is less than a mile from my (regular) house/warehouse.

I have not had a problem for over 5 years, and then the insurance covered it.

FedEx also has the worst of the three for packages arriving damaged.

My favorite FedEx story was two trucks showing up at my place at the same time.
That is how inefficient they are. I introduced them to each other. They were not amused.
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Helge Dr. Bentsen said:
It's like sending stuff as luggage. I had the fortunate experience of looking out of the window of a plane just as the first pieces of luggage came out on the conveyor belt. It was the rack lids for the bands multitrack playback/recorder, followed by the recorder itself still in the rack. Luckily I had the HDDs in my cabin luggage.
Click to expand...
http://youtu.be/E-1r7hFIND0
 
Re: FedEx, UPS and/or USPS for USA shipping

Here's a couple personal FedEx incidents. About a month ago I got home and notice I had received a package, thinking it was the package I was expecting till I noticed that it was clearly labeled and addressed for a small business about a mile away. I just took it to them and we wondered how a driver could not have noticed that they were delivering to the wrong address. Guess what......within a couple hours a guy from the same business brings me the package I was expecting, clearly addressed to me but delivered to them. I know the trucks are packed in the order that the delivery route is run and they go by a list of addresses and pull packages but you think they would at least glance at the address label on the box when they scan it for delivery.

A couple months ago I had shipped a package and after watching the tracking for a couple days it just stopped, no information, updates, anything. After four days I call FedEx to check on whats going on, after getting handed off to a few people I find out the truck caring the package was in an accident and all packages were being written off as un-salvageable. They said there was no way I could get the package returned to me. Depending on the severity of the accident the package was probably still OK as it was packed well and the items were not really that fragile. They told me all packages had been inspected and declared damaged. I had to file a claim as if the package had just been lost in shipping, wait for it to be approved and the check to arrive. In all the conversations I had with FedEx I got the feeling that if I had not looked into what happened to the package they would have never contacted me saying the package was lost due to their trucking accident.
I started looking up FedEx truck accidents to see I could find something in the area where the last tracking information put the package, while I did not find anything in that area is was surprising how many FedEx truck accidents I did find.
For what it's worth the package was shipped using my FedEx account so they do have my full contact information.
 
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