Wait... so its okay to ship through UPS?

Originally Posted by scaledverts

I wonder though, do you guys really think that shipping employees in general (fed ex, UPS, USPS, etc) actually handle a box differently because it says fragile? I often wonder this when I am packaging up animals or anything else that is fragile. I would think that they see so many packages in a small amount of time that they really don't pay much attention to any scribbling we have put on them. This also applies to the "this direction up" arrows that are on the boxes.

The other thing to consider here is that much of the shipping process is automated now days (hence the VERY large bar code on the packages) with laser scanners for destination, box dimensions, etc. I wonder how many times during a typical reptile shipping event the box actually touches someone's hands (other than at the counter and the delivery driver).

I am a package handler at for UPS (i load the delivery trucks), and i can tell you, that no, we do not handle a package any differently because it says "fragile" or "this side up" or anything else you write on it. They push us to work so fast that literally if we slow down to give certain packages proper attention, we risk getting written up and disciplined. I of course can recognize a box with an animal in it by site and always treat them with the proper care, but as a general rule, and this goes for fed ex workers too as i know a few guys who have worked there, no special attention is given regardless of what is written on the box. (with the possible exception of hazardous materials like acids and such)

Originally Posted by scaledverts

The other thing to consider here is that much of the shipping process is automated now days (hence the VERY large bar code on the packages) with laser scanners for destination, box dimensions, etc. I wonder how many times during a typical reptile shipping event the box actually touches someone's hands (other than at the counter and the delivery driver).

Also to address this fact, alot of ppl handle every box. A general outline of what happens after you drop it off and who touches it would be

Person you drop it off too
driver who takes it the a hub
one person unloads it from the first truck
one person loads it on another truck to go to the airport
one person takes it off that truck
one person puts in on a plane that flies to one of the national air hubs
one person unloads it off that plane
one person sorts it the another plane
one person puts it on a plane to the destination city.
one person takes it off a plane
one person loads it on another truck to go to the delivery hub
one person unloads it off that truck
one person scans it.
as it rides the conveyor in the building up to 4 people will sort it to get it to the right deliver truck
one person loads it on the delivery truck (this is what i do)
one driver delivers it

Thats 19 different people who will touch one next day air package to get it to the right place, and it could very well be more than that.

Again this is from my personal experience working at UPS, but FedEx is run much that same as we are.

Originally Posted by scaledverts

I wonder though, do you guys really think that shipping employees in general (fed ex, UPS, USPS, etc) actually handle a box differently because it says fragile? I often wonder this when I am packaging up animals or anything else that is fragile. I would think that they see so many packages in a small amount of time that they really don't pay much attention to any scribbling we have put on them. This also applies to the "this direction up" arrows that are on the boxes.

The other thing to consider here is that much of the shipping process is automated now days (hence the VERY large bar code on the packages) with laser scanners for destination, box dimensions, etc. I wonder how many times during a typical reptile shipping event the box actually touches someone's hands (other than at the counter and the delivery driver).

I can tell you FedEx might have a way of knowing. Everytime I receive a package, my fedex lady acts like she is handing me a delicate, dirty diaper. The two times I received a snake from UPS, I heard the door bell, a knock, and found a package on the door. FedEx has always handed me my snakes. This could all be coincidence because honeslty, I have no clue. I'm sure some people don't care but if I worked for UPS and say, 1 of 100000 packages I deliver that week had a snake, or marked as such, I would probably miss it. However, if I knew reptiles were a usual part of my shipments, maybe 1 to 1000, I would look more often.

Originally Posted by AltitudeExotics

Person you drop it off too
driver who takes it the a hub
one person unloads it from the first truck
one person loads it on another truck to go to the airport
one person takes it off that truck
one person puts in on a plane that flies to one of the national air hubs
one person unloads it off that plane
one person sorts it the another plane
one person puts it on a plane to the destination city.
one person takes it off a plane
one person loads it on another truck to go to the delivery hub
one person unloads it off that truck
one person scans it.
as it rides the conveyor in the building up to 4 people will sort it to get it to the right deliver truck
one person loads it on the delivery truck (this is what i do)
one driver delivers it

Thats 19 different people who will touch one next day air package to get it to the right place, and it could very well be more than that.

Again this is from my personal experience working at UPS, but FedEx is run much that same as we are.

Here's a good video on how things work for a Next Day Air package at UPS. It focuses on Worldport, where I work, but you get the idea. People don't just load packages into planes, they are loaded into "unit load devices", a fancy name for container (we call them "cans", the guy in the video calls them "pods", no telling where he got that name from).

The video is a bit old, and Worldport is about twice the size as in the video, running about two million packages a day, or three million at Christmas. Even so, usually only two people touch each box once it gets here. The rest is all automated.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hows...orks-video.htm

Originally Posted by RustyNuts

Here's a good video on how things work for a Next Day Air package at UPS. It focuses on Worldport, where I work, but you get the idea. People don't just load packages into planes, they are loaded into "unit load devices", a fancy name for container (we call them "cans", the guy in the video calls them "pods", no telling where he got that name from).

The video is a bit old, and Worldport is about twice the size as in the video, running about two million packages a day, or three million at Christmas. Even so, usually only two people touch each box once it gets here. The rest is all automated.

http://videos.howstuffworks.com/hows...orks-video.htm

Only 2 people touch it in that one building. But a package will go through 3 different buildings, and far more than 2 people touch it.

Originally Posted by AltitudeExotics

Only 2 people touch it in that one building. But a package will go through 3 different buildings, and far more than 2 people touch it.

I never said they wouldn't. Just saying that people don't actually load the packages on the planes, they put them into containers which are placed onto the planes.

"That one building" is 5.2 million square feet, and if you walk around it outside its walls, you'll be walking over seven miles. Pretty impressive stuff when you think about it, only two people touching a package through all of that.

oh ok, i was confused, yea, its pretty amazing the things they do these days.

I used to work at Fedex and none of us even looked to see what was in a package. You have so many packages come through each day you don't have the time to see what might be in them. It is almost a waste of time to even use boxes indicating "this way up", "handle with care", "fragile" etc. If they took the time to properly handle each package the overnight service wouldn't exist because it just takes too much time. They could hire more people to accomplish this but then the prices would go even higher than they already are.

When a friend of mine worked down in St Louis MO for FedEx he told me that a lot of the people got fired from there while he was working.
I guess he found out through scuttlebutt that a lot of them were damaging and handling the "this side up" and "fragile" boxes with less than normal care.
I mean, you figure people would handle them gently, but my friend learned that they would throw, kick, toss, twirl, and just "play" with the boxes roughly while they were going through the office.
A lot of them got fired, so im not sure if it was because of that or because a lot of them were just jerks in general (he didnt like many of those employees and told me some horror stories as well).

I think that shipping reptiles through ANY shipping company, whether it be USPS, FedEx, or SYRs.

Some colleagues needed to ship some very critical equipment. Before trusting the shipment to a commercial shipping company, they made a trial run with a package of similar size, shape and weight. They placed accelerometers throughout the package. They labeled the package "FRAGILE" and "THIS SIDE UP" etc., and shipped it.

When it arrived, the data on the accelerometers were similar to the package being dropped or thrown several feet.

They ended up driving the package the 2000 miles.