That moment when...

"TheTurbochargedSquirrel" (thatsquirrel)
08/02/2016 at 11:32 • Filed to: None

You have a package out for delivery with FedEx and the truck comes, leaves a package for your neighbor, and leaves.

DISCUSSION (22)

DipodomysDeserti > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 11:37

I have the worst mail person on earth. I specifically don’t have packages shipped via USPS because the guy will deliver them to the wrong address every time.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > DipodomysDeserti
08/02/2016 at 11:39

Well the package that was delivered was definitely not mine. Mine is a 15lb box and they delivered one of those padded envelopes.

Dusty Ventures > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 11:39

Was it the right color FedEx truck?

Pickup_man > DipodomysDeserti
08/02/2016 at 11:42

I hate USPS package delivery, I had something show up once, can’t remember what it was, but they wouldn’t leave it on my deck with no one home, and left a slip to fill out and bring it to the post office. So I filled it out, thinking that by filling out said sheet the mailman could leave the package on my deck like every other delivery service does. My wife brings the slip in the next day and they tell her that the package is in the truck, and she has to be home when they deliver it. What’s the point of the slip then?!

Ash78, voting early and often > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 11:44

Or it could be DHL and you'd never have that moment. Because your package is in Uzbekistan.

MontegoMan562 is a Capri RS Owner > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 11:53

tragic

*hits refresh on his fedex tracking tab*

JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 12:01

/has two USPS and two UPS package tracking windows open right now...

uh hu... thats interesting.... what did you say?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dusty Ventures
08/02/2016 at 12:01

It was a FedEx express Sprinter van. UPS doesn’t get to my neighborhood until around 8 on most days.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > JawzX2, Boost Addict. 1.6t, 2.7tt, 4.2t
08/02/2016 at 12:03

FedEx tracking isn’t even working for me right now.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 12:09

I can’t have anything sent via fedex because half the time they hand it off to USPS who then returns to sender because they can’t deliver to my house.

Fucking Smartpost.

Dusty Ventures > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 12:09

Is your package shipping express or ground?

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > Dusty Ventures
08/02/2016 at 12:24

Tracker says FexEx Home Delivery and it left the Northborough center at 7:30 this morning.

OPPOsaurus WRX > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 12:35

mine arrived!!!!!

Dusty Ventures > TheTurbochargedSquirrel
08/02/2016 at 12:54

If it's home delivery then it's on a different truck. FedEx Express doesn't deal in home delivery packages. You want to watch for the truck with the purple and green FedEx logo

bhtooefr > Dusty Ventures
08/02/2016 at 15:35

Yeah, that’s one annoying thing about FedEx - there’s like five services that all deliver separately.

Express? That’s one truck.

Ground? That’s another.

Home Delivery? That’s a third, even though it’s another ground service. (It does Saturday delivery instead of Monday, though.)

SmartPost? That’s being handed off to USPS to make the actual delivery.

Custom Critical? OK, if you’re getting one of those... You must be getting something ridiculously important...

Dusty Ventures > bhtooefr
08/02/2016 at 15:41

It makes sense when you really look at it. By separating Express and Custom Critical from the ground stuff they’re able to deliver the priority stuff faster because they’re not being slowed by the bulk. Same with separating home and ground. Ground is primarily business. Business stops are slow because the driver has to go inside, get a signature, and more often than not has multiple packages to deliver. With Home’s residential stops it’s basically “front porch and run.”

In other words it’s all basically just “simplify and add lightness”

bhtooefr > Dusty Ventures
08/02/2016 at 15:49

Custom Critical absolutely should be broken out - besides, that’s a direct point-to-point service as I understand, so it doesn’t really fit into the system.

But, I suspect that the way UPS does it will result in slightly better overall system efficiency - doesn’t matter whether it’s ground or an air service, it rolls on the same truck, it’s just that if there’s not room for the ground packages, they’ll be left behind for the next day’s deliveries. With FedEx, they end up rolling three trucks to the same address (and may end up having to roll a nearly empty truck to sparser areas, although FedEx seems to get around this by having larger service areas from what I’ve seen, seeing as I’ve gotten trucks from ~40 mi away) if a recipient is getting an Express, a Ground, and a Home Delivery shipment. UPS, I’d get one truck with everything if I were getting both a Ground and an Air shipment.

Dusty Ventures > Pickup_man
08/02/2016 at 15:50

I can’t explain the slip, but sometimes the company shipping a package (or indeed federal law depending on the item) mandates in-person delivery only.

Dusty Ventures > bhtooefr
08/02/2016 at 16:08

FedEx doesn’t do nearly empty trucks. If an area is sparse they’ll combine ground and home and run them as a single route. As for the efficiency, I’d say it depends on the concentration of residences vs businesses. Put a good home driver in a good residential area and he can deliver at a rate of over 30 stops per hour (that’s a package on the doorstep every two minutes). On a route that’s primarily businesses a driver’s lucky to manage half that.

I forgot to mention the other big advantage to separating ground (business) from home (residential). A lot of larger businesses have scheduled deliveries and pickups. They demand their deliveries arrive at the start of the day (usually before 10) and their pickups are grabbed at the end of the day (between 4 and 5:30). Few things would suck more than being in the middle of residential deliveries on the far end of your route and having to break off to do the scheduled pickup shit.

Pickup_man > Dusty Ventures
08/02/2016 at 16:30

That could be, I can’t remember what it was, but it was very likely truck/bike parts, something that no other carrier has a problem leaving. What confused me the most though was that the slip basically said, “hey, we tried to deliver this today but you weren’t home to sign for it, this slip will act as your signature so we can leave the package”, but filling it out and bringing it in literally did nothing, someone still had to be home. It’s a good thing my wife is a nurse and has a schedule where she’s home most days, otherwise I probably would have never gotten that package.

Dusty Ventures > Pickup_man
08/02/2016 at 17:29

Usually you can have it held at the post office so you can pick it up on your schedule.

Dogapult > Ash78, voting early and often
08/02/2016 at 21:07

Only one time have I ever used DHL. I received coilovers basically overnight from Taiwan.