HOT: Screw USPS priority, Airborne launch its ground shipping service ...

[jimmyhaha]

recently I shipped a 3.5 lb stuff through priority mail and USPS charged me $8 ?!!
+ around $2 for insurance and delivery confirmation,

they don't even scan the delivery confirmation barcode and I have NO way to track it online..
I am DONE with USPS, crappy overcharged service with bureaucracy operated by monkey and still losing money every year..

btw, The lines in the post office is FREAKING long.. 30 ppl and 2 staffs working.. and u will be lucky if u are done in 15 minutes

Here is the alternative

Airborne Ground

rate is definitely cheaper than USPS and UPS, compareable to Fedex

Free pickup for >= 5 shippment, otherwise $3 for each pickup

u can drop off your shipment in drop box

u can order some free nice laser printing shipping label too, no other supply for ground service though

Free 1st shipment up to 2 lb

Nice Transit Times and pricing zone map

I can't really comment on the quality of airborne service, coz I only receive itme but never send it
Pls share your experience if u use airborne b4..

now I need someone to point me to hot deal in electronic scale up to 10 lbs

 

[Optical]

Good info. Thanks.

 

[villagepeople]

:|
USPS Priority is the last choice of shipping for me.

Sometime USPS takes same or more time than the regular mail.
Last time when I sent, It appeared on their tracking system only after it was delivered.

Couple months ago, I sent an item from GA to MA. It took 8-9 days.
It was a priority mail with Insurance and delv conf. recpt.
When I called USPS after 4 days, they told me to claim my insurance after 30 days.
Once you pay, it is gone. They don't refund it. No guarentee on no of days.

I sent once by Airborne, it did not reach the destination on the scheduled date (Friday).
But they made a Saturday delivery free of cost.
I was impressed. They took the responsibility of delivering next day. And Money refunded.

I am for ABX.

 

[Epinephrine]

Recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported on the USPS own internal audit. Priority mail and regular mail go on the same truck..Hence, priority was not faster than regular, they even said so themselves... LOL!!

 

[Coraanu]

Thanks for the info!

 

[Braxus]

There is a thread about this on FW... From what I've read, FedEx Ground is seems to be the cheapest for shipping items. However, they are currently not opening any new FedEx accounts as they've been flooded with them since the USPS rate hike.

Some questions I posted on FW which I think some people here might be asking:

1. 
   1. Does UPS/FedEx care if I only say ship four packages a month?
   2. How hard is it to open an account?
   3. Where can I buy a decent scale to weigh packages? (assumming they don't weigh it for you and charge it to your account)
   4. Can you have UPS/FedEx driveby and pickup the packages? If not does dropping them off at a 3rd party shipper cost you anything?
   5. Does UPS/FedEx provide you with sticky labels or can you print them on plain paper and tape them on?

Someone should make a little FAQ on how to do things as I'm sure most of us are used to shipping via USPS and not via UPS/FedEx/Airborne.

EDIT: Can't type

 

[MontyBurns]

Nice post. I've always been a big fan of Airborne Express. Their ground rates seem extremely competitive.

The only downside to them is convenience. The one thing USPS does have going for it is drop-off locations everywhere.

 

[Karsten]

Airborne Express is SUCK

I have trouble with them EVERY SINGLE TIME someone is using them to ship to me. Mylast purchase never arrived but went back to the shipper because "They couldn't find my address". That after I called, gave directions and provided for an alternate delivery point. I was never informed by Airborne. Rather received an e-mail from the vendor that they credited me back the amount of my purchase. WTF?!

I am not the only one. A friend of mine at a different location in the city is having the same exact problem. Funny... UPS or Fed-Ex never had trouble finding me.

STAY AWAY from Airborne!!! I will!

 

[stso]

Originally posted by: Karsten
Airborne Express is SUCK

I have trouble with them EVERY SINGLE TIME someone is using them to ship to me. Mylast purchase never arrived but went back to the shipper because "They couldn't find my address". That after I called, gave directions and provided for an alternate delivery point. I was never informed by Airborne. Rather received an e-mail from the vendor that they credited me back the amount of my purchase. WTF?!

I am not the only one. A friend of mine at a different location in the city is having the same exact problem. Funny... UPS or Fed-Ex never had trouble finding me.

STAY AWAY from Airborne!!! I will!

I guess I'll go with Fedex

 

[RideFree]

With AE, I think YMMV by locality.

I have had good service from them in three locations...Miami, The Keys (Islamorada) & Denver.

 

[dundevil]

I never thought that the USPS meant PRIORITY mail to be faster than 1st class.

I always used it as a cheaper way to ship when I was not in a hurry. They used to let you cram as much as you could into one of their special packages for the base rate of $3.25 (3.40).

The books of the USPS are in worse shape than those of WoldCom.

Dundevil

 

[jasonja]

FedEx ground is the way to go... average things like mobo's and stuff cost $4-7 to ship... trackable, insured, etc. I sold my Koolance case that weighed like 60lbs and it only cost me $17 to ship... I was expecting double that.

 

[Eskimo]

The USPS does a pretty decent job when you consider the order of magnitude of volume they deal with. The History channel had a good documentary recently on the USPS. According to it the USPS does more volume in 1 day then FedEx does in a year. USPS volume for 3 days is equivalent to what UPS handles in a year. Maybe they can't compete in the overnight/guarenteed shipping but they do a pretty good job in general I think.

 

[grimmgrinn]

Say what you want about the service you get with USPS, at least they ship to EVERY SINGLE ADDRESS in the US. Can AE/Fedex/UPS say they've got that kind of coverage?
Plus, I'm in the military serving overseas; USPS is the only way I can get stuff shipped over here without paying int'l rates.
So say what you want about the service, they're still my first choice for shipping.

 

[RDMustang1]

I've received many packages sent through Airborne express.. Every time someone ships me something through AE they hand it off to the USPS to deliver.. kinda funny... AE shipping label and everything but hand delivered by the post man...

Personally for shipping, there is a USPS office on every corner, but the closest UPS office is 35 minutes away, closest Fedex office is over 60 minutes away, and I don't think there are any AE offices anywhere near here.. So unless I want to drive a half hour to UPS it seems I'm stuck with USPS no matter how much they charge....

 

[labgeek]

Airborne Express uses USPS for delivery here. Every morning the AE truck pulls up to the local post office and unloads. Then the regular carrier delivers the packages later. But then it is a rural area.

 

[nickdigger]

fedex would be fine, except for (a) $2.80 residential delivery fee, and (b) the a-holes @ local office don't accept cash, even though the bills say "Legal Tender for all debts, private and public"

 

[slycat]

airborne rocks...

they rule more than ups
problem is finding a drop-box etc...

 

[scottrico]

airborne express is the worse!

We use them here at my workplace and they f-up half the time.

I will pay a little more to make sure it gets there.

I like fed ex.
Ups is only ok, sometimes.
and the usps is cool, not the fastest but trustworthy.

 

[jimmyhaha]

ok.. some say airborne rock, some say it sucks..
so .. what is the verdict ?

 

[chksi]

The way to go is UPS.
To answer your questions Braxus:

>>1. Does UPS/FedEx care if I only say ship four packages a month?
UPS absolutely does not care how frequent or the quantity of pkgs you send. You can

2. How hard is it to open an account?
Registering online with My UPS.com takes 3-4 min. total. There are no stupid questions. And as you see, everything is done over https.

3. Where can I buy a decent scale to weigh packages? (assumming they don't weigh it for you and charge it to your account)
Staples is a good place to buy or use your own scale at home. They do not care if it is a little bit off. Or at any hardware store.

4. Can you have UPS/FedEx driveby and pickup the packages? If not does dropping them off at a 3rd party shipper cost you anything?
UPS provides the best pickup service in the delivery business, especially if you are regular shipper.
You can become one if you get a shipper number assigned to you by UPS.
If you do not have a shipper number, you can schedule a pickup for an extra $3 (does not matter how many packages are in a shipment, it doesn't have to be the same destination either). For Saturday pickup it is $10.

You can schedule a pickup over the phone at 1-800-PICK-UPS option 2 or ONLINE.

It does not cost you to change delivery address if someone is not home.

5. Does UPS/FedEx provide you with sticky labels or can you print them on plain paper and tape them on?
By registering at My UPS.com, you can print your label on your printer on regular paper right on the spot and then tape it to the box or letter you are trying to send.


To add to the above,
- they have been in business for over 95 years;
- they have the best tracking system in the world;
- they GUARANTEE their service (Next Day Air, 3 Day Select, Second Day Air) or refund your shipping cost;
- they deliver to any zip code in the U.S, which none of others can do, e.g. FEDEX, Airborn, with the exception of USPS.
- if you are not home, they leave you a yellow sticker on the door with a Delivery Notice Number, which is trackable through
the phone or online ;
- get Proof of Delivery with signature image, full name and delivery address, and more;
- track, look up shipping costs, and find drop-off locations with your wireless device - anytime, anywhere.
- shipping rates are very competative with the others, sometimes even much lower.

They handle over 13 million packages a day, every single one of them is trackable.

I guess that is enough info for them to be the best in the business so far.
That's my 2c.

 

[monckywrench]

When Airborne couldn't find my (rural & hard to notice) house I had to track them down to give them delivery directions.
When FedEx gets a new driver who dosen't know the area I always get a prompt phone call.
As for the USPS, I get good service but I always choose internet delivery tracking and confirmation. The few cents is well spent.

 

[etee]

the verdict is FedEx ground.

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: chksi
The way to go is UPS.

You know that it's pronounced "oops!" don't you?

 

[Optical]

I found out something really interesting about package dropps. There one time I drop off an UPS package to Post Office by accident and the package got delivered. So I asked and was told that everyday the major shippings companies come by and do pickups.

Don't know how true this is with all PO's. It may solve the drop off location problem.