"why don't they just deliver my package "

"AestheticsInMotion" (aestheticsinmotion) 08/15/2020 at 14:32 • Filed to: None

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Let’s go over the most common reason your package isn’t being delivered. As someone who’s been in the delivery industry as a driver, and various levels of management, I’ve got a unique perspective on this. And don’t forget, I still order things to my home all the time, so I see this from both sides.

1. House number not clearly visible. You’d be amazed how many homeowners give zero thought to this. If your house number is directly behind a shrub, to the point where I need to pull the shrub back to see it ? That’s not good enough. If you’ve got your house number painted on the curb and it’s faded to the point that i t’s i llegible, again. Not good enough. Brushed aluminum l etters on Grey paneling? Black letters affixed to a large black stone at the end of the driveway? White plastic letters attached to a white p illar by the front door? Are you an adult bequithed with a functioning br ain? Use it.

A surprisingly high number of homes don’t even *have* house numbers. Could be they remodeled and never got around to putting the numbers back up. D itto for an exterior paint job. C ould be somewhat new construction and this important step was forgotten. Who knows... Regardless, take care of your home numbers. Make sure they’re visible day and night, from both directions of the street. This is the single easiest way to insure you get your deliveries.

The photo above was taken by me, and I can promise you that that homeowner gets their packages.

I’ll go over some of the other more common delivery issues another time.

And as always, remember to be kind to your drivers. Their jobs are incredibly difficult even during the best of times, and these aren’t the best of times.

ranwhenparked > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 14:35

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Businesses, too. As a traveling sales rep, its crazy how many commercial properties have no visible street number at all. And when there’s two similar businesses right next door to each other, with similar names, Google Maps isn’t much help when it thinks the address is the middle of the intersection down the street.

AestheticsInMotion > ranwhenparked 08/15/2020 at 14:39

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Business delivery is where I started, so that hits close to home.

It’s much worse with businesses actually. Between suite numbers not matching up between the package and the actual business, no business name being present on the building, packages addressed to a person within the business with no mention of the company name, a massive building with no clear delivery area, etc...

There’s a reason why it takes a long time to train someone to deliver successfully on a business route.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 14:40

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Would it be weird to tip a delivery driver with some sort of fresh baked goods or a can of pop or something ? I want make sure our delivery people know they are appreciated.

AestheticsInMotion > BaconSandwich is tasty. 08/15/2020 at 14:43

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Not at all. Food/drink tips are hugely appreciated. There were many a day when I was starting out where a bottle of water and gronala bar left at the front door were the only things that got me through a long shift . My only reccomendation would be to leave a note on your door so drivers know that the snacks are for them and not a grocery delivery or something!

BaconSandwich is tasty. > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 14:46

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Good idea on the granola bars. We've usually got a good supply for the kids, and they come individually wrapped.

Nom De Plume > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 14:50

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200 WAYS TO YELL WAY TOO LOUD

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 14:51

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I’ve long maintained that there needs to be some regulation on sizing and placement of house numbers, i.e. be to the left of the door and a minimum of eight inches tall. On the rural woodland roads here people like to put them halfway up the side of a tree at the end of the driveway and it’s always impossible to find them.

One of my neighbors at the last place I lived had it painted in foot tall numbers on an old mooring bouy at the end of their driveway. I always assumed delivery drivers loved that.

The main reason I’m currently not getting packages is because our p resident is actively crippling the postal service in order to tamper with the election.

HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 15:02

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I deliver pizza. Can confirm that way too many houses do not have clearly visible numbers.

Not a HUGE problem in a normal block by block suburb. But when you get into a weird place with cul de sacs  or curvy roads it can be a HUGE problem.

AestheticsInMotion > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/15/2020 at 15:20

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I’ve had that thought too. Sure would be nice.

Rural has it’s own set of unique and challenging issues...

USPS has had a lot of issues for years, and what's going on now is making all of those issues many times worse. I'd like to think this gets resolved with the next president, but I don't think it will

onlytwowheels > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 15:47

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A coworker had large yellow signs made with her house number and street name, one for each street, so delivery drivers could find her. Her house in on a corner lot, buried behind overgrown shrubs and bushes, under old growth trees, with tall grass and 10 or 12 mostly unregistered cars in the yard. When the pandemic hit, she started or dering all her essentials on lin e, and was upset when the driver’s couldn’t find her house.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 16:03

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my packages dont get delivered sometimes coz the bell doesnt work

i mean..it says bell dont work right above the bell....but everyone still mashes that button

its almost like they just dont look at what they are doing

(okay okay..it is hard to pay attention whilst juggling 3 phones a scanner and a parcel and in at least one driver i worked withs case wondering how to fit a tinder hookup in your round...but goddamnit)

Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 16:07

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I delivered for doordash in a place with notoriously confusing grid, or lack thereof, patterns and very little regulation and standardization of home related things, so I feel you. Often there is no house number at all and sometimes the one letter I need to see is absent for some reason. Especially when the numbers follow no logical pattern, sometimes you just have to make a guess. Like, the numbers went from 1205 to 1307 and I want 1294 so is the driveway even facing the street I'm on? Who knows?

MM54 > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 16:18

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I have numbers on my mailbox near the end of my driveway and large black numbers on the (white) post on the corner of the porch nearest the driveway . I usually get my packages .

shop-teacher > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 16:26

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I learned this lesson delivering pizza in high school. You get real good at figuring out number systems, otherwise you're boned. That was before cell phones were cheap and common, and GPS was not a thing for mere mortals.

Nick Has an Exocet > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 16:40

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Here’s a picture of the windshield cowl that showed up yesterday... 2.5 months after it shipped with UPS. If it looks a bit weird, that’s because UPS snapped it in half and re-taped it back together. Needless to say, the cowl is toast. Weirdly, they still delivered it - despite the claim having been already filled for the lost package and the replacement having already arrived. 

AestheticsInMotion > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/15/2020 at 16:41

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Lol. That second part describes every single city in in charge of. There are no grids here

AestheticsInMotion > Nick Has an Exocet 08/15/2020 at 16:44

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Very strange that it was sent to you and not the shipper after being damaged . Either s omeone on the warehouse side fucked up, or the shipper requested you get the broken part as well.

GLiddy > HFV has no HFV. But somehow has 2 motorcycles 08/15/2020 at 16:47

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I’ve been doing Doordash in my off-time and I loathe houses and more often apartments that aren’t clearly marked.  Building numbers should be in huge letters on all sides.

AestheticsInMotion > GLiddy 08/15/2020 at 17:02

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Grab apartment maps of any places you frequent often. They help quite a bit for the first few months before you have an encyclopedic knowledge of every building

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 17:02

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USPS p ackage delivery was working absolutely perfectly (often got things a day early) until about a month ago.

Urambo Tauro > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 17:11

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Not just important for deliveries, but for contractors and really anyone who hasn’t visited the address before. And not just as a matter of convenience or efficiency for them in particular, but I firmly believe that it’s also a matter of public safety for other road users as well. Because when the number isn’t readily, clearly visible, the driver becomes VERY distracted trying to find it. Their driving becomes erratic: slowing, stopping, and even turning without warning.

fhrblig > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 17:45

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Fortunately I now deliver exclusively to hospitals. They tend to make themselves easy to find. But when I was a courier I HATED doing residential deliveries to the mountains. Almost none of those people make any attempt to clearly identify their addresses.

You’d be surprised how many businesses do this, too. No legible address, signage that’s tiny, quirky locations, etc. One that has always bothered me is 2000 S. Colorado Blvd in Denver. It’s 3 different buildings. People would call in for a courier and then completely fail to tell you which building. I think they built a 4th tower there now too, but I’m not sure if it shares the same address or not.

Berang > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 18:48

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UPS delivered a package to my house last saturday. Wrong address. Same numbers, different order. I thought I’d just walk it a couple blocks down the street to the right address after I finished running errands. Looked at the package before walking it over to the right house and realized they didn’t even drop it off on the right street. I know where the right street is, but it’s a bit too far away to carry something while walking, and I’ll be damned if I wast gas/time driving it over there to fix their mistake.

Called UPS customer service on monday to arrange a pick up and explained what happened. Was told a driver would be by in about an hour to get it. Took a nap, and when I woke up I looked out my front window and it was still there. Called UPS again, and was told it’d be picked up by thursday, and well it’s Saturday, and it’s still here. Decided to bring it in over the weekend so no kids steal it. But I’ll be calling again on Monday. I’m wondering if maybe the driver for my neighborhood is incompetent or doesn’t want to fess up to dropping the package off at the wrong house, on the wrong street.

fintail > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 19:22

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Ha, I know where that house is (on the lake). 

fintail > If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent 08/15/2020 at 19:22

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Look at the postmaster general appointee.

These people couldn’t be more corrupt.  There needs to be a 21st century Nuremberg trials for these piles of shit.

If only EssExTee could be so grossly incandescent > fintail 08/15/2020 at 19:28

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I's well aware.

Textured Soy Protein > AestheticsInMotion 08/15/2020 at 21:29

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Can you confirm the existence of the tactic of some drivers marking packages as “customer not home” even though they never attempted delivery, as a way to cover their ass for running late?

https://oppositelock.kinja.com/my-goddamn-fedex-driver-keeps-not-delivering-packages-a-1832573262

AestheticsInMotion > Textured Soy Protein 08/15/2020 at 22:35

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I’ve erased most of my response to this and instead will just say :

That note is one of the worst possible ways I can imagine dealing with this situation. As someone in HR I imagine you understand that.

You will get much better results by befriending your local drivers. If all else fails, try to contact the manager for your service area. You can do this by contacting your local terminal, or get the info from your driver. 

AestheticsInMotion > fintail 08/15/2020 at 22:36

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It's hard to miss! Someday I'm going to stop by and ask what the story is behind the massive numbers

AestheticsInMotion > fhrblig 08/15/2020 at 22:38

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I could write a book on rural and business delivery issues. Maybe after finding a new line of work! 

fintail > AestheticsInMotion 08/16/2020 at 00:14

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Maybe he got complaints from delivery people, or once worked in logistics or emergency response and wanted to make things easier.  I am sure both sets approve.

Textured Soy Protein > AestheticsInMotion 08/16/2020 at 11:50

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I’ll admit this was done in anger but it was after multiple times where the same thing happened, and after contacting various FedEx people.