So you may have heard that BIG Brother is watching you. There may be others that are keeping track of you also, and that would be the shipping companies, i.e. Fedex and UPS.
If you are a running a business and ship regularly, be aware that this is a fast changing game, and it changes almost from day to day. So, what you are reading now may not be accurate by the time that you get around to finishing the reading.
For a long time, if something weighed less than 2 pounds, if was almost a default to the United States Postal Service. In many cases, that may still be the case depending on where the shipment is being made, i.e. source and destination. For a long time, my preference of shipping for items 2 lbs or over was UPS. But that has changed.
Before continuing, I would suggest that you read this entire article before making any decisions as to what is best for you.
For shipping lighter items to the states including Hawaii and Alaska and the US terrorities of Puerto Rico and Guam, it appears that first class articles actually go by air. I have not tried shipping anything parcel post, but am told that it will go by boat and could take months. When using USPS, if the item has value, then insurance must be purchased. Since the insurance for the first $50 is currently $1.35, I always insure for $50, regardless of the true value. The next break point is $100, so if between $50 and less than $100, I always request $100. I have never had an insured item lost so I haven't had the pleasure of hassling the Post Office to get a claim serviced. I do understand that regardless of what the insured value is, that they will require proof of the value of the item shipped. [If I pay for $50 of insurance, if lost I feel that they should pay for the $50 with NO Questions asked!]
As for UPS and Fedex, they have worked at trying to increase their revenues and that doesn't necessarliy mean by improving their efficiency. They both now have a "residental delivery" charge if a package is delivered to a residence. If you run your business from your home and do NOT have a separate building where the business is located, then the charge is added. They also have another charge if the shipment is going to a low volume area where they don't provide a lot of service. So, a small shipment that could cost $4 if going to a business in a small town when shipped to a residence in that same town could incur a shipping charge from $7 to $8. [Last week, I received a 1 lbs UPS package shipped from Kansas to Texas where the shipping was over $7. THAT SUCKS!!!!]
I mentioned Big Brother earlier at the top of the article. If you go to either Fedex or UPS and give them a business name and city, their computer will tell you if it is listed as a business or residence. It really doesn't make any difference if the truck is stopping next door at a business and then your place, or if you receive deliveries every day, the category that you fit into determines what the shipping cost will be.
At this time, both Fedex and UPS carry a default amount of insurance on like the first $100 worth of value. Both have online tracking that is nice to use. In much of my regular shipping that comes from the northest to Texas, I find that Fedex Ground arrives about 2 days quicker than if shipped by UPS.
As for customer service, neither of them [Fedex or UPS] have anything to brag about. I've seen UPS employees hassle shippers in an attempt to force them to buy packing supplies from them. I've seen them force shippers to disassemble what appeared to be reasonably packaged shipments for their inspection [again, attempting to sell more shipping supplies]. From my own experience, I attempted to ship a TV in the origianal manufacturer's packing, and was forced to add UPS peanuts to get them to take it. At the same time, I attempted to ship a firearm that had been wrapped to hide the fact that the package contained a gun, and was forced to ship it in the bare box, like inviting one of their employees to steal it. In all the times that I have shipped firearms with UPS, I always carry my FFL and the receiving party's FFL, but have NEVER ONCE been asked to show them.
As for my limited experience with the Fedex personal, I've never seen the rude abuse of that of UPS and their desire to sell shipping supplies. Their shortcomings have been that the staff was short handed and highly disorganized. My experience with the delivery personal from both companies has been excellent. I have heard horror tales about Fedex leaving pickup notes without making a proper attempt to deliver a package, but I have never experienced this to date.
About a year ago, I found DHL at the SHOT Show[The largest Shooter Hunters Show in the world]and was anxious to talk with them. At that time, they were more interested in the large and international shippers and weren't really dedicated into joining the Fedex/UPS/USPS race here in the US.
Shipping costs can about make or break a business. If you aren't already doing it,
I'd suggest the following steps.
The shipping business is constantly changing and it's not to help the people using
their service either. You have to periodically check and see if the rules of the
game have changed. Remember, this can make or break a business if operating on a thin
margin.
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